Father Rémi steps down and Isabelle Marcoux becomes chair of TC Transcontinental

Rémi Marcoux steps down as chair of Transcon

The orderly transition at the top of TC Transcontinental Inc.took its next step today at the company's annual general meeting in Montreal with the retirement of Rémi Marcoux as chair of the company -- the largest publisher of consumer magazines in Canada -- and the succession by his daughter, Isabelle. M. Marcoux will remain on the board as a director.

Isabelle Marcoux steps up

“My dream was to found a company that was built on my values and that would last for a long time," said Marcoux . "Every day I have had the great pleasure of realizing this dream. In addition to enjoying seeing Transcontinental grow, I also have a great feeling of pride. We are members of the select group that has been in business for 35 years or more, and this is a wonderful achievement. It shows our ability to weather storms and change. We had to adapt, anticipate trends, transform ourselves and take calculated risks. In this period when the print, media and marketing communications industries are in a state of transformation, I am certain that Transcontinental will continue to find excellent opportunities for growth.”

Francois Olivier, the president and chief executive officer of TC Transcontinental, which makes most of its money from the printing side, told the AGM

“I would describe 2011 as a year of major change at Transcontinental. We have redefined the basis of our future development. Whether this involved modernizing our values, positioning and our new branding; or setting up programs to promote innovation; or markedly improving the performance of our print network; or announcing the acquisition of Quad/Graphics Canada; or amalgamating our Media and Interactive sectors, we have had a single aim throughout: to serve our customers better.”

He emphasized the continuing high effectiveness of print, with 46% of advertising spending going into print. He also reported that TC's more than 1,000 websites now reach more than half of all Canadian web users and that digital and interactive marketing now accounts for 10%, or about $200 million, of TC Transcontinental's consolidated revenue. 

Related posts:

• Isabel Marcoux to succeed father Remi as chair of Transcontinental Inc. 
• Transcon a family business once again
• Transcon Vice-chair Isabelle Marcoux named to board of Rogers

Isabelle Marcoux to succeed father Remi as chair of Transcontinental Inc.

Remi Marcoux, the chair of Transcontinental Inc., will be stepping down effective with the company's annual general meeting in February, to be succeeded by his daughter Isabelle, who is at present vice-chair and vice-president of corporate development. The retirement is consistent with a number of steps that have been taken in recent years to ensure succession in the family-dominated company. A story in the Montreal Gazette says

Marcoux, 71, has been gradually handing the reins to Isabelle and husband and CEO François Olivier in recent years. Transcontinental will remain very much a family-run publishing, printing and media and communications marketing group with 10,500 employees.

Isabelle Marcoux, who studied law at the Université de Montréal and later joined McCarthy Tetrault LLP, switched to the family firm in 1997 and has been vice-chair since 2007 while continuing as vice-president of strategic development.

Marcoux said Isabelle “will lead the board with energy, vision and discipline,” but added that while he wants to slow down, he’ll “continue to monitor the business.” He will remain a director.

Ms Marcoux was named vice-chair of Transcon in April of 2007.  Her husband, Francois Olivier was appointed president and CEO in February 2008. Her brother, Pierre, was named senior vice-president business and consumer solutions group in 2009, responsible for the consumer publishing operations of Transcontinental Media.

It's not known if assuming the chair at Transcon will affect Isabelle Marcoux's membership on the board of Rogers Communications Inc.  Transcon is Rogers ' principal printer for its consumer magazines, which rank second only behind the consumer magazine operation of Transcontinental Media. 

The company has done a good deal of rationalization in the past few years, particularly in the printing sector which represents three quarters of Transcontinental's activity. 

Revenues in the third quarter ended July 31 were slightly below analysts' forecasts, but rose two per cent year-over-year to $493 million and adjusted earnings (excluding one-time items) were $32.8 million, or 40 cents a share, down two per cent from $33.4 million, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier. Magazine advertising (Transcontinental is Canada's largest consumer magazine publisher) fell 10 to 15 per cent, but digital media improved and the company said it will continue to invest in it. 

Related posts

• Hearst assumes partnership share with Transcon in ELLE Canada and ELLE Quebec
• Transcontinental closes Madame magazine, French counterpart to Homemakers
• Major shakeup at Transcon Media
• Transcontinental Media cuts 29 jobs in magazine division
• Pierre Marcoux steps up to head Transcon's consumer magazine publishing
• Transcon vice-chair Isabelle Marcoux named to board of Rogers
• Transcon a family business once again
• Isabelle Marcoux gives a careful interview
• Isabelle Marcoux named vice-chair of Transcontinental
• Questions being asked about Transcontinental succession plans

We can live with the new Apple subscription model, says Transcon CEO

Apparently, a 30% subscription commission taken by iTunes, while steep, is something that the CEO of Transcontinental Inc., Francois Olivier says his company can live with, according to what he told the Montreal Gazette. Transcontinental Media publishes the largest number of consumer magazines in Canada. The new sub model will help newspapers and magazines  make money, Olivier says.

Apple this week announced a new subscription model that will allow the sale of daily, weekly or monthly subscriptions whereas the previous iteration made subscribers buy each issue of any publication separately.

“That was one of the things that was missing in the Apple model,” Olivier said. “It was used to selling songs on iTunes piece by piece, but in the newspaper and magazine industry, the bulk of our readers are subscribing to the publications.”

Olivier said he doesn’t mind the 30 per cent cut that Apple will take off the top of any subscriptions, which has been criticized by other industry leaders as too steep. “When we sell magazines through news stands, the stores often take more than that, so it doesn’t feel like a totally unreasonable number.”

According to Advertising Age writer Nat Ives, however, many U.S. magazines are still  staying away from Apple's new iPad subscription system to protest the fact that Apple won't tell them who's subscribing through the App Store unless subscribers specifically say they can.

"Without the demographics, which iTunes won't release, the print world is castrated," said Gary Armstrong, the former Wenner Media executive who is now consulting on branded content development for media brands.That means the iPad won't help the magazine business as much as many publishers fantasized, Mr. Armstrong said. "Is it a complete failure?" he said. "No, but it's obvious it will now never be the panacea they long hoped for, and they'll have to readjust their entire business model."

Waiting and seeing may be the wisest course for publishers, since already there is competitive pressure on price that can only increase over the next few months. Google's announcement this week of a competing tablet sub system with only a 10% fee is the first of what could be many. According to the Wall Street Journal

Google said it will charge publishers 10% of revenue from sales through its One Pass service. It will let publishers set prices and give them more control over customer data.

"The publisher is the merchant of record," said Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt in Berlin on Wednesday. "We don't prevent you from knowing, if you're a publisher, who your customers are, like some other people" do, he said, a tacit reference to Apple.

 James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research, said in the story that some publishers might sign up for the Google service purely to show Apple they aren't happy and to encourage competition. 

Would a Lagardère sale have some impact on Transcontinental Media?

The French media company Lagardère says it may sell its international magazines in order to concentrate on its domestic publishing operation. The company, which publishes Paris Match, owns Elle magazine and a change in ownership would obviously be of some interest to Transcontinental Media, which publishes Elle Canada (right) and Elle Quebec under license from Lagardère subsidiary Hachette Filipacchi Media.

Lagardère is reportedly in talks with up to five publishers over the possible sale and is reported to have held presentations to US media giant Hearst – which owns NatMags in the UK - as well as Bauer Media Group [said a report in Press Gazette.]

The suggestion of a sale may affect titles such as Car and Driver and Woman's Day that it owns through its Hachette division.

A story in Mediaweek says that the company is close to a deal to sell Hachette to Hearst.

Transcon's Larivière joins ABC Canada board

Natalie Larivière, the president of Transcontinental Media (which publishes all its consumer and trade magazines)has joined the board of the Audit Bureau of Circulations' ABC Canada Board Committee.

She has been with Transcontinental since 2006, having previously been president and CEO of the Quebecor Media Book Group.

The Hockey News's mobile applications downloaded more than 1 million times

The Hockey News's mobile application (thn.mobi) has been downloaded over 1 million times since it was launched in October 2008, the publisher has announced. 

The Transcontinental Media title was an early adopter of mobile application, believing that hockey fans were hungry for news on the game, trades, stats and other articles. Apparently they were right. Now, in terms of usage, it is among the top 5% of mobile applications worldwide. It is available to smartphone users, including iPhone, BlackBerry and Android devices. Other Transcon mobile apps are Canadian Living and Elle magazine. 

"Transcontinental shoots to win when developing products—whether print, online or mobile—that are relevant to our readers no matter how they like their content," said Natalie Larivière, president, Transcontinental Media,in a release  "With over sixty years covering hockey, The Hockey News has the experience in the sport to give hockey fans exactly what they're looking for on the hugely successful application."

Transcontinental Media's affaires plus magazine redesigned to become a+

Transcontinental Media's affaires plus magazine has undergone a transformation, with a new design and a rebranding as a+, effective with the issue just now on the newsstands in Quebec.

The monthly magazine was a line extension to the the publication Les Affaires.  While it continued to be aimed at a business audience, affaires plus two years ago shifted its editorial positioning to distinguish itself from the parent publication and put more emphasis on lifestyle subjects and make the magazine more interesting to read, said Daniel Germain, the editor-in-chief . 

Now, by adding fashion, cooking and wine coverage and rebranding, the magazine also hopes to reach a wider readership and to become more attractive to advertisers in the retail, clothing, beauty and automotive sectors.

New EIC at Elle Canada promises openness and approachability

The new editor-in-chief of Elle Canada, Noreen Flanagan, has submitted to an interview with the Globe and Mail for its Saturday edition (up now on the web) in which she goes to some lengths to explain how her editorial management approach will differ substantially from that of her recently turfed predecessor, Rita Silvan. The leitmotif of the article is access and openness (which not so subtly suggests that the previous regime had neither). For one thing, Flanagan puts a lot of stock in social networking:

“I think that, through Facebook and Twitter, the level of intimacy that people are comfortable with today is so dramatically different than [it was] five, even three years ago,” she said. “People right now want intimacy and immediacy and that’s something that print has to adapt to. We’re a little late in the game but we’re catching up.”

Flanagan told Globe writer Tiyana Grulovic that her style is both retro and futuristic -- retro in the sense of injecting more storytelling in the magazine, futuristic in taking maximum advantage of blogging, e-readers and the like.

Transcontinental Media lauches first issue of business digest bimonthly Premium

Transcontinental Media has launched Premium, a bimonthly business intelligence magazine associated with Les Affairs Group (publishers of Les Affaires and Affaires Plus magazines). 

The March-April issue is 92 pages and, following the model promised in December, contains French adaptations of feature articles from other publications such as the Harvard Business Review, Strategy+ Business, Rotman Magazine and MIT Sloan Management Review as well as origianl articles and book reviews from Quebec leaders and experts.

The new publication was announced in the wake of the decision by Transcon to close down the 114-year-old Revue Commerce magazine.

Transcontinental has improved first quarter results

Transcontinental Inc. confirms that it received $100 million by selling its U.S. direct mail business, as it reports positive news for its first quarter ended January 31, according to a story in Canadian Press. The Montreal-based printer and magazine publisher earned $27.9 million in profit for Q1, compared with a $6.4 million loss in the same period a year ago. Net earnings were 32 cents a chare (versus an 8-cent loss a year ago). This was despite revenues being down 11 per cent to $559 million. 

"I attribute our strong performance to four main factors: continued customer confidence in our products and services, the reorganization and sale of some of our operations, the rationalization plan that we quickly implemented last year, and the concerted efforts by our employees to develop greater efficiency [said president and CEO Francois Olivier]"

The company's announcement cautioned that some segments of their business were "sensitive to market conditions" -- specifically magazine, book and catalogue printing, which was likely to experience lower page and copy counts, with less demand for specialty products.

Through its Transcontinental Media division, the company is Canada's leading publisher of consumer magazines.

Transcontinental ends 2009 fiscal with strong 4th quarter, but annual loss of $82 million

Transcontinental Inc., the printer and Canada's largest consumer magazine publisher, ended fiscal 2009 ended October 31 with a loss of $82.3 million --a decrease of 6% in revenue and a loss of net income of 6%. Revenue was $2.29 billion compared with $2.5 billion a year ago. The loss per share was $1.02.
The year was capped by a strong 4th quarter in which net income grew 15%. The company attributed the quarter-over-quarter improvement on its aggressive cost-cutting in the face of inflation -- some $ 80 million, some of it in job cuts, in 2009 or about $110 million expressed on an annual basis.

"I am particularly proud of our operating performance in the fourth quarter-one of the best in our history-and the steady improvement in our financial results over the course of the year in very turbulent conditions," said François Olivier, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are making it through this serious recession by doing better than most of our main competitors and gaining back much of the ground lost compared to 2008. We are dealing with the recession responsibly and with discipline. We also reacted right from the very start, and we did it in the Transcontinental way, calling on our people across the company to mobilize, be innovative and execute."

Notable acquisitions during the year were the acquisition of Redwood Custom Communications and Conversys, an e-flyer provider.  The company also began long-term printing contracts, including the San Francisco Chronicle and producing all the magazines for Rogers Communications.

Major shakeup at Transcon Media

Major and game-changing management changes are being made at Transcontinental Media, Canada's largest consumer magazine publisher, with this morning's announcement that Jacqueline Howe, vice president and group publisher English Canada consumer publications in Toronto, and Marilyn Kielly, director, finance, will be leaving the company as their positions have been eliminated. There is a major consolidation of all business management across the company, driven by Denis Aubin.

Howe in particular has been a key player in consumer publishing at Transcon ever since the takeover of Avid Media titles in 2004.

Caroline Andrews,group publisher, sports & entertainment/home & garden group, Lynn Chambers, group publisher, Canadian Living/Homemakers group, Pat Strangis, director of newsstand and Chris Purcell, vice president of consumer marketing will now report to Pierre Marcoux, senior vice-president and member of the controlling family of Transcontinental Inc. Rita Silvan, editor-in-chief of ELLE Canada, will report to Francine Tremblay, senior vice president, consumer publications - Montreal.

Aubin, in effect becomes the one, national business manager for the company's publishing operations. As director of business management for the business and consumer solutions group, he will be responsible for business and consumer publications in Toronto and Montreal while retaining his role as business manager for the western group. 

Why I won't sign the Transcontinental contract, by Kim Pittaway

A post by Kim Pittaway on the site Bad Writing Contracts is both brave and thought-provoking, and by rights should provoke some reconsideration by Transcontinental Media about the master contract it is imposing on freelancers. It's headed "Why I won't sign the Transcontinental contract".

Pittaway, former editor-in-chief and managing editor of Chatelaine magazine and past president of the National Magazine Award Foundation, has been a frequent contributor to Transcon magazines. Here is what she says:

I’ve had great working relationships with editors at More and Homemaker’s, and know and respect many others who work for Transcontinental–which is why I was so deeply disappointed by this new contract, one which conveys a fundamental disrespect for the creators who contribute so much to the success of Transcon’s publications.

Why does this contract seem disrespectful to me?

• Because it grabs a whole bundle of new rights with little or no additional fee. I know that print publications are struggling to find new revenue streams. I get that the media mix is shifting. And I’m eager to work with editors and publishers to find new ways to reach readers. But publishers already get a bargain on the print rights they purchase from copyright holders–those rates haven’t gone up in over 30 years. And to now say you’re taking a whole whack of new rights for the same bargain-basement rate is simply unfair. I own those rights on my work. And I choose not to sell them to you at that low rate.
• Because it was imposed with no consultation with writers. One day, I had a great working relationship with my editors, was juggling three or four assignments, and all was right with the world. Oh–and I’d just garnered Transcon mags two National Magazine Award nominations. The next day, I was told that if I didn’t sign the contract as is, no changes, that I wouldn’t be working for them any longer.
• Because it is a sign-once, live-with-it-forever contract. This contract applies to my work with Transcon in perpetuity and applies to all work for all Transcon properties. So Transcon is locking in the rights they want at a point when suppliers are vulnerable because of the current economic situation, and preventing writers from renegotiating the contract at any point in the future. Who in their right mind signs a contract that applies forever?

I’m mystified by this contract–perhaps because I have difficulty believing that the good folks I know at Transcon actually intended to send such a negative message with it. Maybe they’re getting bad legal advice. I hope that’s the reason. But even more than that, I hope we’re able to engage in a constructive conversation to change it. Because a bad contract is bad for writers, it’s tough on editors and it’s ultimately bad for magazines and their readers. And that’s a shame, for all of us.

Related posts:

• Boycott of Transcontinental Media titles now promoted by new website
•  Derek Finkle of Canadian Writers Group responds to Marcoux statements
• Transcontinental contract is misunderstood, says senior executive
• Transcontinental Media said to be prepared to modify controversial freelance contract
• Transcon being pressed by industry reps to change proposed freelance contract
• Freelancers dismayed by Transcon’s new “take it or leave it” freelance contract

Boycott of Transcontinental Media titles now promoted by new website

The coalition of Canadian writers' organizations that are promoting a boycott of Transcontinental Media magazines, have launched a website called Bad Writing Contracts. The site is another tool in a kit that includes a blog, a Facebook group and posts on Twitter.

The boycott focuses on a proposed master agreement that Transcontinental is imposing on all freelance writers who work for any of its dozens of consumer or b2b magazines. Spokesmen for the coalition, Derek Finkle of the Canadian Writers Group (an agency) and David Johnston, then executive director of the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) met with Transcontinental executives in July, but were rebuffed. On September 30, the coalition issued a press release calling for all writers to boycott all Transcontinental Media magazines.

The new site calls on writers and their supporters to get involved by (among other things) refusing to sign the contract and encouraging other writers to do the same, phoning Transon editors, urging their friends and families not to subscribe to Transcon titles and writing letters to local MPs saying that federal funding should not support magazines that refuse to treat writers fairly.

Little has been heard from either side since the press release was issued at the end of September, but the launch of the website is an indication that a settlement of this dispute is nowhere in sight.

Related posts:

• Derek Finkle of Canadian Writers Group responds to Marcoux statements
• Transcontinental contract is misunderstood, says senior executive
• Transcontinental Media said to be prepared to modify controversial freelance contract
• Transcon being pressed by industry reps to change proposed freelance contract
• Freelancers dismayed by Transcon’s new “take it or leave it” freelance contract

Derek Finkle of Canadian Writers Group responds to Marcoux statements

Derek Finkle of the Canadian Writers Group responds to statements by Pierre Marcoux of Transcontinental:

1) Marcoux should not have been surprised to learn yesterday that fourteen groups - not just PWAC and CWG - had serious concerns about his company's new Master Author Agreement. The letter sent to Jacqueline Howe back in June that lead to our meeting on July 16, was signed by ten groups, in addition to CWG and PWAC. David and I both made it clear during the meeting that we were there representing all of these groups, which accounted altogether for thousands of writers. We also mentioned that Michael Levine of Westwood Creative Artists had planned to be at the meeting but had to leave town on short notice that day. Further, when I spoke with Pierre Marcoux on September 1, and he informed me that Transcontinental Media was now unwilling to make any changes to its contract, I told him that all of the groups represented at the meeting would continue to oppose the contract - only now we would be doing so "in a very public fashion." Those were my exact words. Marcoux was silent for a few moments before he said, "Okay."

2) Marcoux says his only intention for the meeting on July 16 was to clarify the contract. As it turned out, we were the ones who showed up at the meeting with a media lawyer. At one point, when discussing why Transcontinental publications needed the non-exclusive copyright outlined in clause 1.2, Jacqueline Howe said it would allow Transcon editors to go on television shows to discuss features in her magazines (the example she cited was a story about new barbecues). Our lawyer, Iain MacKinnon, said that they didn't need clause 1.2 for such an activity, as this would be covered under fair usage. Marcoux also conceded that Transcon was not likely to get into the book, movie, or television businesses, to which MacKinnon replied, "Then why do you need to ask for all of these rights?" I don't recall there being a reply, though it appears from your conversation with him that they are consciously preparing for the day when they may very well be in those businesses.

I would add that towards the end of the meeting, Marcoux said that he was not a lawyer and that he would arrange for us to speak to one of their lawyers in Montreal. I asked him how long it would take to address some of our concerns because we had a number of writers with stories on hold because of this contract. He said he figured it could be taken care of in a couple of days (it wasn't). David and I both left that meeting under the distinct impression that our conversation with their lawyer would be about making amendments to the contract (it wasn't).

3) Marcoux did point out to us that the Author Master Agreement only pertains to the Brand in question, not the Publisher (Transcontinental). First, I would point out that the contentious clause 1.2 refers to the Publisher, not the Brand ("...as well as to authorize others to do so on behalf of or in association with the Publisher." Second, as we told Marcoux and Howe, it doesn't really matter to the writer whether it's Transcontinental or one of its brands taking on non-exclusive copyright to make TV shows etc. It's a distinction without a difference, really.

4) I have heard from many writers who've spoken to editors at Transcontinental about this contract. All of these writers have been told that if they don't sign the Master Author Agreement, they won't get paid. In fact, I've seen an email from an editor at Transcontinental to a writer that says editors at Transcon were told to use the new contract as of July 16. July 16 just happens to be the day of our meeting at Transcontinental, for what it's worth. Coincidence? The same editor then tells the writer that she can't assign anything to the writer without a signed Master Agreement because that would put the writer at risk for not getting paid. So I'm not sure the editors working under Marcoux have been told about this flexibility regarding the contract. It sounds like it's actually the opposite.

5) Howe mentioned during our meeting that it took her and her colleagues a year to put this new Master Author Agreement together. I asked her if she consulted any writers or writers groups during this process. I also asked if she'd consulted any editors at Transcontinental regarding the new contract.I leave it to your imagination what her answers were. She then went on to say that she'd consulted a number of contracts at other companies during the process. She happened to mention a couple of large American publishing outfits that pay three to four times what her publications usually offer. I suggested that she was comparing apples and oranges. There are a couple of other troubling contracts at use in Canada, though no one I know of licenses copyright permanently on a non-exclusive basis. I'm sure that Transcontinental's valued contributors would have hoped Marcoux had aimed a little higher than "certainly not the worst" when formulating a progressive and fair new freelance agreement.

Derek Finkle
Canadian Writers Group

Transcontinental contract is misunderstood, says senior executive

[This post has been updated]

[UPDATE: In a conversation with Canadian Magazines, Pierre Marcoux, Transcontinental's vice-president of business solutions and book publishing said that the company was surprised by the press release and the suggestion of a boycott.

"We received this communication [the press release] the same as everybody else and we were suprised that 12 groups had joined with the Canadian Writers Group and PWAC, especially since we've never talked to them."

A more complete precis of the conversation is included below*.]

Freelance writers have misunderstood the Transcontinental master agreement, according to Pierre Marcoux, the vice-president of business solutions and book publishing. He told the Montreal Gazette that writers retain the copyright to their work, and Transcontinental pays them a fee each time the work is reused in paper form at other publications, he said.

But writers will not be paid if the work is republished on different media of the same brand, for instance on Canadian Living magazine, canadianliving.com, or a Canadian Living iPhone app.

''The media environment has changed and is changing fast," Marcoux said. "Our brands are required to live across different platforms."

He added that 80 per cent of the company's freelancers in Quebec have signed the contract, along with 60 per cent of those in Ontario.

[UPDATE: *A conversation with Pierre Marcoux:

Pierre Marcoux says when it met with Derek Finkle of the Canadian Writers Group and with David Johnston of PWAC in July, it was Transcontinental's goal only to explain the terms of the contract.

"Our intention has never been to negotiate the contract, but to clarify. We think it is a good, coherent and fair contract. We don't see it as a rights grab. It clarifies the rights we now have with writers and clarifies copyright."

He said that after Transcon exercised its negotiated first rights, the author retains copyright, although it is no longer exclusive.

"What we have is a subsequent right to use the work, but only in association with the brand that first published it. We've even defined what that includes -- web, mobile, radio or TV shows." He said he didn't want to over-emphasize radio and TV since this wasn't an area Transcon is into currently, but the provision was intended to ensure that any such arrangement was "manageable".

"Where we can reuse an article or content is on digital platforms. We see our business as a business of brands. It has to be clear that [the contract] only applies to use in association with the same brands." He added that Transcon is somewhat unusual in that it pays for use in translation, in special-interest publications, in books. "Not all publishers do that in French and English, pay for translations, but we do it because we think it's fair."

He said that writers who have concerns about the contract should talk to the editor or publisher with whom they normally deal. He said that any writer who did not want to sign the master agreement could continue to sign contracts with Transcon on an article-by-article basis (though he pointed out that the intention of the master agreement was to avoid unnecessary paperwork for both company and freeelancer.) He added that Transcontinental is considering what further public response it will make to the CWG/PWAC statement.

"We looked at a lot of other contracts [in the business] when we were drawing this up and while this may not be the best, it is certainly not the worst, " he said]

Related posts:

• Freelancers urged to boycott Transcon mags over refusal to budge on master contract
• Transcontinental Media said to be prepared to modify controversial freelance contract
  
• Transcontinental being pressed by industry reps to change proposed freelance contract
• Freelancers dismayed by Transcon's new "take it or leave it" freelance contract

Rogers and Transcon team up to cut ad insertion lead times to 2 weeks

Canada's two largest magazine publishing companies, Rogers Publishing and Transcontinental Media, have announced that they are cooperating in cutting the lead times for advertisers' insertion in the companies' monthly magazines. Pressexpress is an ad-close schedule that means ad creative can be sumbitted only two weeks prior to publication.

Brian Segal, president and CEO of Rogers told Marketing magazine that Pressexpress will make advertising more atttractive.

“Both us and Transcontinental were of the view that we needed to reset the position of magazines within the minds of media buyers,” said Segal. “We think it helps reposition the industry in terms of being more urgent, more timely and more competitive with some of the other media cycles.

“My sense is that [advertisers] will see more opportunities to match merchandising strategy and marketing planning with advertising. If they know they have eight or 10 or 12 merchandising events or cycles that they’re working on for the year, but that [under the previous ad-close schedule] the creative might not be ready, they’ll now have the option to buy magazines where they may not have before.”

Transcontinental now has a long-term contract to print all of Rogers magazines, so the ad insertion system is a natural extension of their business collaboration.

Francine Tremblay, senior vice-president, consumer magazines for Transcontinental Media, said:

“Advertisers are always waiting to see what the latest thing is before making a final decision,” said Tremblay. “Final decisions are critical in our industry, and the more information you have, the best final decision you will make.”

Rogers plans to launch the Pressexpress schedule for the January 2010 issues of Chatelaine and Châtelaine, with the March issues of Today’s Parent, Flare, Glow, Pure and the French and English versions of LouLou to follow. Schedules for the company’s weekly and bi-weekly consumer magazines, such as Maclean’s, Hello! and Canadian Business, will not be affected as the already provide short lead times.

Transcontinental will launch Pressexpress with the January issues of Canadian Living and Coup de Pouce, with other titles to follow in March and April.

Freelancers urged to boycott Transcon mags over refusal to budge on master contract

[This post has been updated] Transcontinental Media has apparently dug its heels in over its proposed master contract, refusing to negotiate with representatives of the freelance community, who as a result are now calling for an "unprecedented" boycott of the company.

A press release has been issued that gives detailed background on the dispute and details the organizations that are supporting the boycott.

Derek Finkle of the Canadian Writers Group, an agency for writers, and David Johnston, executive director of the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) had been involved over the summer in discussions with senior executives at Transcon. But on September 1, Pierre Marcoux, the Transcontinental Media’s senior vice president of the business and consumer solutions group said the company did not intend to make any changes to the contract.

In a memo to CWG writers, republished on the Toronto Freelance Editors and Writers list (TFEW), Finkle says:

"At the conclusion of our first meeting on July 16, they said they would be amenable to making changes. When changes didn't seem to be forthcoming after that, they finally announced at the beginning of this month that they were sticking with the contract as it was unveiled in June.

"As a result, just about every Canadian writers' organization - agencies, associations, unions, alliances, and federations – have banded together in calling on writers across the country to stop writing for Transcontinental publications...."

"Taking action against contracts such as this is incredibly important right now. Showing that writers are united will also help when it comes to the evolution of contracts being used by other publishers. I can't stress how important I believe this effort is to the future of freelancing."

The boycott is part of a wider campaign that includes lobbying the ministers of industry and heritage in Ottawa, launching a national petition, lobbying Transcon editors to intercede with their management on the issue, and undertaking a broad communications campaign, including letting advertisers know of Transcon's "heavy-handed attitude towards an important part of the cultural sector".

[Update: Prolific Montreal-based freelancer Craig Silverman says on his blog:

This has been a long time coming in Canada, if you ask me. Large publishers have been rolling out contracts that are nothing more than unconscionable rights grabs, and now one company has simply gone too far.]

Related posts:

• Transcontinental Media said to be prepared to modify controversial freelance contract
  
• Transcontinental being pressed by industry reps to change proposed freelance contract
• Freelancers dismayed by Transcon's new "take it or leave it" freelance contract

Transcontinental Media cuts 29 jobs in magazine division

Monday morning first thing, Transcontinental Media cut a reported 29 jobs in its newly merged business and consumer solution group, according to a report in Masthead. A staff meeting was told specifically eliminated were 13 jobs in Toronto, 10 in Montreal and 6 in Vancouver, totalling 22; it's not known where the seven other positions are.

Pierre Marcoux, who recently was appointed head of the magazine publishing division, said in a memo to staff:

Unfortunately, during the past months, the economic situation has not improved and our customers are still holding back on their advertising investments. Therefore, the Business and Consumer Solutions Group management team must implement additional cost reduction measures.

These measures are needed to adjust to the current economic climate and to review our work methods. Modifying our work processes during this transition period will allow us to pursue our development in a more efficient way. Unfortunately, these changes involve the reduction of positions.

Among the cuts were three sales staff in Toronto and four positions from the staff of Vancouver magazine, though two of those are to be redeployed elsewhere in the company.

Pierre Marcoux steps up to head Transcon's consumer magazine publishing

Pierre Marcoux, son of the chair of Transcontinental Inc., is assuming responsibility for the Transcontinental Media division's consumer magazine publishing. He had been director of business development. Marcoux replaces senior vice-president and general manager, consumer publishing John Clinton who is moving over to head up digital operations (no title yet). The announcement was made to staff today by Natalie Larivière, president of Transcontinental Media .

Francine Tremblay, who heads up French consumer publishing, and Jacqueline Howe, who heads up the English side, will both report to Marcoux, who has had considerable editorial experience on the newspaper and trade side of Transcon's far-flung holdings.

Some on the editorial side are dismayed to see Clinton depart since, despite the fact he came to Transcon 14 months ago from the ad agency business, he had been a considerable champion of maintaining editorial quality and integrity, even while pursuing integration. Clinton had been Canadian president and CEO of Grey Advertising in Toronto and previously served as chairman of JWT Canada where he also oversaw Kellogg's North American business.

Marcoux joined Transcontinental in 2000 as a journalist for the newspaper Les Affaires, where he successively held various management positions, including assistant editor and editor-in-chief. In 2003, he was named to the position of director of business development at Transcontinental Media. Mr. Marcoux is a member of the management committee at Transcontinental Media and a member of the board for Transcontinental.

It is expected that there will be other restructuring to come at Transcontinental, particularly in the van of the major Q2 loss announced this week.