SkyNews making the most of rare solar eclipse

SkyNews has put a special 4-page insert into its Sept/Oct issue, which is on newsstands since August 8, just before the August 21 solar eclipse which is tracking across the mid-U.S. They're also binding in special solar-safe viewers in those newstand copies (subscribers got theirs in the July-August issue.) 

"To promote these bonus items, we stickered the newsstand issues and we’re running an eclipse on the cover once again," says Janice McLean, the art director at SkyNews told Mastheadonline. "This is generally our Astrophoto issue, but we do have one story running in the main issue about future eclipses, which gave us the opportunity to run an eclipse image and coverlines on the full run of the magazine.”

The thousand biggest U.S. newsstand titles saw 6.1% drop in sales in Q2 of 2016

The sales of single magazine copies in the U.S. proceeds apace, according to a story posted on MediaPost.

According to MagNet, in dollar terms, total magazine newsstand sales for the thousand biggest titles in the U.S. and Canada fell 6.1% from $571.2 million in the second quarter of 2015 to $536.3 million in the second quarter of 2016, while the number of units sold at newsstand tumbled 10.9% from 108.5 million to 96.6 million. 

For the year to date, total magazine sales fell 6.2% from $1.16 billion in the first half of 2015 to $1.09 billion in the first half of 2016. In terms of units, newsstand activity for the top thousand titles fell 10.8% from 220.4 million magazines sold to 196.7 million over the same period.

Weekly celebrity and women’s titles together dropped 14.3% in unit sales and 12% in dollar sales. Some categories -- in food and wine, games, puzzles and crosswords, recreation, lifestyle and science collectively saw total unit sales up 3% and dollar sales up 10%.

Atlantic News, the much-loved Halifax newsstand is offering its customers a "surprise bag" wrapped to hide what is inside. In this case, sight unseen, you pay $6.50, including tax, to find out what magazine you get. 

The unlamented demise of the Apple Newsstand and the uncertain prospects of replacement

Magazine publishers have pretty consistently been wary of, or disappointed by, the Apple Newsstand. It was created -- and sold to the industry -- as a place where readers could search out and purchase digital versions of their favourite titles. Or, their favourite digital titles. 

Sometimes the Newsstand worked and sold some subs, but more often publishers complained that, lost in the jungle of thousands of apps out there, readers couldn't find their titles either through deliberate search or serendipitously. 

Well now that's no longer an issue since Apple is quietly killing the Newsstand and replacing it this fall with a content aggregating app called Apple News, a sort of Flipboard clone. It was so indifferent to its Newsstand and thought so little of its participants that it didn't even bother to mention its demise.

A column in Publishing Executive  by Ron Matejko says that Apple's decision.amounts to a mercy killing. 

"The end of Newsstand amounts to the mama bird kicking its baby off the tree branch to see if it can fly on its own, as digital magazines will now join the general public in the iTunes App Store. 

"Discoverability was a major issue for publications in a world of a few thousand apps. Swimming in the same pool as hundreds of thousands of other choices in the App Store will push all but the top titles further into needle-in-the-haystack territory."

Apple hopes publishers will benefit from ad sales: 

“Earn 100% of the revenue from ads you sell," it says "and 70% when iAd sells ads for you. iAd provides campaign management, targeting and reporting capabilities that help drive your business.” 

One Canadian publishing insider said

"I'd like to know how Apple News's ad-supported model will pay off vs. the paid circulation (read: high engagement) model we've built with our digital magazine editions. Likely they'll run as complementary products with complementary sources of revenue, but [if] Apple News is the only place anyone is looking, that could force us away from reader-paid content altogether." 

 A story in Nieman Lab says Apple Newsstand was launched with promise but quickly turned into a ghetto where news apps went to die.

"There’s no guarantee Apple News will be a big hit; Google Currents, probably the closest analog up to now, was a flop. But the broader narrative is clear: Individual news apps and individual news brands aren’t the primary point of contact with news any more. They’re raw material, feeding into broader platforms. The loss of power for publishers in that exchange is obvious; the potential benefits remain mostly undiscovered."

Next Issue Canada launching French-language newsstand and app on April 20

For the first time, starting April 20, Rogers is launching a French version of Next Issue Canada, the digital magazine newsstand. It will feature an all-French interface with more than 20 Quebec-based French magazines and access to more than 100 English titles (the French titles will continue to be available in Next Issue in English).

The French magazine titles are 5-15, Allô Vedettes, Châtelaine, Custom Tour,Déco Réno $, Enfants Québec, Full Fille, Gabrielle, Géo Plein air, JE cuisine, JE décore, L'actualité, LOULOU, Maison & Demeure, Moto Journal, Protégez-vous, Quadnet/le monde du VTT, Québec Science, Sélection du Reader's Digest, Ricardo, Riches et célèbres, and Vélo Mag.
Brinda Luckoo, Senior Director, Next Issue Canada, Rogers Media said

"With Next Issue now available in both French and English, we're committed to reaching more content lovers across the country and continuing our investment in the digital future of the magazine industry."

The Next Issue app will now be downloaded in preferred language device setting, and for popular mobile products including Android™ tablets and smartphones, and iPad®, iPod® Touch, iPhone and Windows 8 devices (English service only for Windows 8). As with the English service, one account is shareable across five devices and the service is available at $9.99 per month for all monthly and bi-weekly magazines and $14.99, subscribers including access to all weekly publications with back issues included. Next Issue Media is a joint venture of six leading U.S. magazine publishers - Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp., Rogers Communications, and Time Inc. Next Issue Canada. launched in 2013, is a joint venture with Rogers and Next Issue Media.  

There's two sides to every story in the Feathertale Review

One of my favourite little but mighty magazines, Feathertale Review, has created its latest version (no. 14) with 152 pages of satirical poetry, fiction and illustrations. That's not unusual, but the format is: a magazine with two beginnings and no end, as demonstrated by the trailer below. (The magazine, which comes out twice a year and won the 2012 National Magazine Award for best single issue, is on the newsstands now for $15.)

"This issue is the end result of a creative and social experiment: a magazine with two beginnings and no end, presented to you like an old vinyl record. Like an LP, this issue has two sides. Unlike an LP, those two sides are equal in merit: that is, the stories, poems and illustrations you find on the B-side are just as entertaining as those on the A-side.

"What’s more, the two sides of the magazine mirror each other. We recently approached thirty writers and told them we had fifteen story titles they could choose to write from. Each writer could take on one title, but each title required two writers. The pairings were not meant to spur a creative duel, but rather a creative duality. And in the end to prove that old adage: that no two minds actually think alike."

Second thoughts about single copy sales comparisons

Last week, in reporting sudden editorial management changes at Canadian Living,a post here referred to the recent circulation data to suggest that the drop in single copy sales may have somehow contributed to the departure of editor-in-chief Jennifer Reynolds and art director Stephanie White: 

"There have been no reasons given for the departure of the CL editorial team, and no public announcement, but it may not be entirely coincidental that the most recent newsstand sales numbers declined by 13.9%, something vitally important for a title which places such emphasis on the checkout. (During the same period competitor Chatelaine saw single copy sales increase 17.6%.)"

However a friend who is knowledgeable about such things points out that the detailed audit data from the AAM tells a different story than the publicly available topline data. Newsstand sales, in other words, may have had nothing to do with these key departures at TC Media.

For instance, the figures show that, in a fair comparison, Canadian Living outsold Chatelaine 2:1 on the newsstand: 

• Chatelaine had 117,883 single copy sales, of which 42,943 were single issue in-store sales, plus another 50,000 sponsored per issue (which means someone paid at least a penny a copy for these to be reported as paid.) And there were 24,940 reported as digital replicas, which could be someone opening up an issue on Next Issue. Chatelaine single issues went from 49,417 in June 2013 to 42,943 this year, a decline of 13%.
• Canadian Living had 85,033 in single issue sales and 256 digital replicas, without such devices as sponsored circulation. It went from 98,950 in June 2013 to 85,033 this year, a decline of 14%.

NMAs partners with Indigo to promote winners in Chapters stores

The National Magazine Awards has partnered with Indigo Books & Music to display -- and sell -- Canada's top award-winning magazines. The nationwide newsstand promotion will feature a special NMA display in 91 Chapters superstores across the country from September 22 to October 18. The object of the initiative, says a release, is 

"to significantly increase single-copy sales of award-winning magazines by providing publishers with the opportunity to leverage their prestigious, nationally recognized award through a group marketing effort to increase newsstand sales, magazine awareness and future subscriptions in a cost-effective manner.

"While print publications are rising to meet the challenges and opportunities of the digital era, the newsstand remains a significant place of reader engagement. With this promotion, the NMAF's goal is to provide magazines with a unique opportunity to showcase their award-winning status and to maximize their impact on the newsstand."

Participating magazines include Magazine of the Year winner Cottage Life, as well as award winners Chatelaine, ELLE Canada, FASHION Magazine, fshnunlimited (f.u.), Little Brother, Maclean's, Prefix Photo, Sharp, Sportsnet, The Walrus, This Magazine, Toronto Life, and the United Church Observer.

The initiative was supported financially by the Ontario Media Developmemt Corporation (OMDC). 

The complete list of this year's winners at the 37th annual NMAs, presented in June, are at magazine-awards.com as well as a free and searchable public archive of past winners. 

Source Interlink newsstand wholesaler files for bankruptcy

Source Home Entertainment, operating as Source Interlink Distribution, until quite recently the second-largest magazine wholesaler in the United States market, has filed for bankruptcy, owing $290 million on assets of $205 million. The company had been losing money on trucking magazines to retailers for years (the bankruptcy does not involve the separate, related publishing company Source Interlink Media which publishes special interest pubs such as Motor Trend, Automobile and Hot Rod.)

According to court documents and reporting by the New York Post, the company -- which is owned largely by a hedge fund -- owes Time Warner Retail Sales $54 million, Curtis Circulation Company $49 million, CoMag Marketing Group (national distributor for Conde Nast and Hearst) $33 million. In addition, there are other claims, some disputed, totalling $40 million. 

The company closed a month ago, putting 6,000 employees out of work, after its biggest client, Time Inc., pulled it titles, saying it hadn't been paid. Bauer Publications had pulled its titles only weeks earlier. Time moved most of its titles to Jimmy Pattison's News Group TNG which, with Hudson News, now remain the last two major single copy wholesalers available to magazine publishers.

Canadian Cover Awards winners announced

August 2012

The new Canadian Cover Awards were presented last night in Toronto -- successor to the Canadian Newsstand Awards. The new competition, co-presented by the Circulation Management Association of Canada (CMC) and Magazines Canada, differs in several respects from its predecessor, including being agnostic about circulation size.  

The new awards are strictly based in seven categories on success of covers in Canadian single copy sales (50% of score based on sales, 50% on jury selection for cover excellence). Previously, small circ titles such as This Magazine were repeat winners among entries under 10,000. This year the smallest circulation winner was Sky News (25,000).

Winners were: 

• Fashion, Shopping and Bridal: Elle Québec, August 2012
• General Interest, Arts, Lifestyle & Regional: Legion Magazine, January/February 2012
• Home & Decor: Style at Home, September 2011
• News, Business & Celebrity: Canadian Business, February 2012
• SIPs and New Magazines: Maclean's, Royal Wedding special issue
• Sports and Leisure: SkyNews, May/June 2012
• Women's Service: Chatelaine, February 2012
• Newsstand Marketer of the Year: Greg Keilty, SkyNews

For details of the editorial and circulation teams behind the winners, see this release from Magazines Canada.

Related posts:

• Revived Canadian Cover Awards and new logo take flight
• Magazines Canada and CMC will run Canadian Newsstand Awards

Quote, unquote: On the checkout line attention deficit

One of the reasons given for the precipitous fall in newsstand sales is the "mobile blinder", the name given to the habit people now have of using their mobile phone while waiting to pay in the supermarket, where once they would have browsed magazines or picked up some chewing gum.  

"We do find a number of people, if stalled for a minute, will steal a look at their email or news feed," David Carey, president of Hearst Magazines, told the FT. "Everyone that has products at checkouts has to battle for consumer attention," he added.

-- Linking the drop in US newsstand sales to mobile phone use, the so-called "mobile blinders" effect. [from the site of research firm, WARC]

Magazines to play smaller part in profit of UK's largest newsstand distributor

The largest distributor of magazines in the UK, Smith News Plc (better known popularly as W H Smith, a high street mainstay) reports that is intends to reduce its dependence on newspaper and magazine distribution, though it accounted for three-quarters of its operating profit in fiscal 2012. 
According to a story from Reuters, Smiths said it expected that half of its profit by 2016 will come from books and educational supplies. The news sent its share price up as much as 8 per cent.
The company's diversification strategy is similar to that of rival John Menzies Plc (MNZS.L), which receives most of its profit from aviation support services, said the story. Smiths' newspaper and magazine business slipped 4.3 per cent last year, mainly because of poor magazine sales.

Is Kobo e-reader a missed opportunity for magazines?

More than a year after it launched, the Kobo e-reader newsstand still does not carry a single Canadian magazine. 

While it offers a range of Canadian newspapers, ranging from the Globe and Mail ($15.95 a month or $0.65 an issue) and the Edmonton Journal ($13.99 a month or $0.55 an issue) the only magazines it offers has not changed or grown and all are U.S.-based. For instance, Harvard Business Review ($7.95 a month), The American Scholar ($7.95), PC magazine ($2.49) or The Nation ($2.49).

Wondering why, and particularly wondering whether there was something that Canadian magazine publishers might want to consider, I sent a note to Michael Serbinis, the chief executive officer of Kobo Inc. Here was part of the exchange:

Q: I'd be interested (for publication) to know why the Kobo e-reader newsstand carries no Canadian magazines, though it does carry a range of Canadian newspapers. I have nothing against Harvard Business Review or The Nation, but why isn't Canadian Business or This Magazine available, too? Does this indicate a lack of interest on the part of readers, or publishers or both?

A: I would love to provide more magazines to customers in Canada e.g. Walrus, Maclean's, Canadian Business are some of my favourites. Some of the challenges:

1. Availability - Not many Canadian magazines are available in digital ePub format by their publishers.

2. Market readiness - related to #1 - The magazine industry is still in flux as to the direction it will take on digital content. Therefore, investing in one approach, only to throw it out in 6 months, is risky.

3. Little customer demand to date. It's not something our customers are jumping up and down for today.

I responded that Maclean's, The Walrus and Canadian Business all have iPad versions available, so it's not so much of a leap. As for a threshold of customer demand  can customers opt for something that is not offered? Are they likely to call you and ask for specific titles? The Kobo e-reader is attractive because it is open source and works across many different platforms. (It is ironic that there seems to be so little appetite for magazines on it, the more because Chapters/Indigo is both a major player in the traditional single copy supply chain and a major shareholder in Kobo.)

While some 150 Canadian magazine publishers are participating in the Digital Newsstand offered by Magazines Canada in collaboration with Zinio, what would the reason be for not pursuing other options such as Kobo? Comments welcomed...
Kobo has announced a new edition of its reader that has  easier-to-navigate "touch screen" version of the reader.

the new Kobo eReader Touch Edition features an amazing new Real Touch ‘page turn’ experience. Now easily turn pages by swiping or tapping the new Pearl 6” eInk technology 16 level grey screen that provides a superb, high contract reading experience even in bright sunlight.

the new Kobo eReader Touch Edition features an amazing new Real Touch ‘page turn’ experience. Now easily turn pages by swiping or tapping the new Pearl 6” eInk technology 16 level grey screen that provides a superb, high contract reading experience even in bright sunlight.

Major U.S. newsstand distributor tacks on a $50 monthly "service charge"

This is an ominous development for independent publishers. Source Interlink, one of the largest wholesalers in the magazine business in the U.S. has unilaterally announced that it is tacking on a $50 per month charge to all accounts to cover chain solicitation, distribution analysis, allotment management, and online sales tracking. And here we thought that these things were paid by their cut of the cover price. A post by columnist Linda Ruth on Audience Development says

This is the kind of action—unilaterally increasing the cost of doing business for publishers on the newsstand—that caused a firestorm in our industry and put Anderson News Company out of business. This time, of course, no one will go out of business—unless maybe it’s an independent publisher.

Isn’t that putting it a bit strongly, you may ask? After all, it’s only $50 a month, six hundred a year—not enough to cause major industry backlash. And certainly not enough to put a distributor—or a publisher—out of business.

Unless, of course, you are one of those publishers for whom the line between profitability and unprofitability is so thin that it’s a toss up, each issue, which it will be. One of those publishers that wonders, each month, if they still can make their publications available to readers via the newsstand channel.

Two royal wedding commemoratives rushed out by Rogers Publishing

Depending on your degree of interest in the royals, you'll think it is good news or bad new that Rogers Publishing is hitting Canadians with a double-whammy of hefty newsstand issues about the forthcoming nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Maclean's is putting a 132-page, perfect-bound commemorative issue on the newsstands today, priced at $6.95. It will be staff written with special guest writers including John Fraser, Leah McLaren and Karen von Hahn. The news release says

It's a romantic, good-news story, though not without the tragic undertones of Diana's fraught marriage and her untimely death under the glare of insatiable media attention. William's and Kate's marriage, scheduled for spring or summer next year, is Britain and the world's new hope for a happy ending.

• The couple: How they met and the hearts they broke; The long eight-year courtship; The ring.
  
• The families: The royals and the Middletons. The unpredictable brother, Harry; and Remembering Diana.
  
• The wedding :Everything from bets on the dress to the music (and the colour of the Queen's hat on the big day). Plus, a sneak peak at the Canadians who are most likely to make the invitation short list.
  
• The history: A10-page photo album of previous royal weddings. And the five Queen Catherines before Kate. (Not one of them had it easy.)
  
• The future: The houses, the jewels and the glass coach for her wedding day (seriously) versus the job: the charity grind, the public appearances, the pressure to produce an heir and the endless scrutiny.

Hello! Canada has come out with a 132-page, perfect-bound special collector's edition, retailing for $9.95. Here's what's inside:

• Prince William: We look back on the extraordinary life of the man who will rule with Kate by his side
• Kate Middleton: With insights into Kate's childhood, we reveal how the outgoing girl from an unassuming background grew up to win the heart of a prince
• William and Kate's love story: From the moment they met to becoming college sweethearts and then soulmates, we tell their epic tale of true love
• Prince Charles and Diana: Remembering the last "wedding of the century"
• Kenyan paradise: An exclusive peek inside the place where William proposed to Kate (and the note they wrote afterwards)
• Royal love nests: Where the newlyweds will lay their heads
• Bridal Jewels: a trove of historic gems that Kate may wear on her wedding day
• Here comes the bride: Designers share sketches of the gowns the bride might choose for her big day
• Kate's look: From casual chic to gala glamour, her style will be copied around the world 

Royalty junkies of the world, this is only the beginning...

Style at Home trumpets newsstand performance

Style at Home magazine wants everyone to know that even though its management has changed (a new publisher and new editor-in-chief in the past year) it is achieving record-breaking success in single copy sales. A release from the Transcontinental magazine says that the May 2010 issue was the best performing May issue on record and the July 2010 "white cover" issue (shown) is the second-best performing cover since 2005 when the magazine moved from having a combined summer issue. 

Canadian Newsstand Awards entry deadlines loom

The early-bird deadline for the Canadian Newsstand Awards is this Friday, June 18 and the final entry deadline is Friday, July 9. Winners will be announced at a special reception in the fall. The competition is open to all English and French-language magzines and recognizes excellence in newsstand sales and cover execution. The event is sponsored by HDS Retail/ Great Canadian News/ Maison de la Presse, CMC (Circulation Management Association of Canada), ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) and Masthead.

Prizes include $18,500 worth of promotion credits for HDS Retail-owned stores, national promotion, and additional prizes are available to be won. New for 2010, the top three entries in each of the circulation categories will receive Gold, Silver, and Bronze designations for their respective finishes. Gold winners will also receive $3,500 each in credits while the winner in the Small Magazine Category will win $1,000 in credits, plus $500 cash. The prestigious Newsstand Marketer of the Year also receives $500 cash.

Last year's winners included Châtelaine, Maclean's, The Hockey News and This Magazine; the newstand marketer of the year was Mike Hughes, national marketing manager at Transcontinental Media.

9th annual newsstand awards launched; early bird entries by June 18

This year's Canadian Newsstand Awards have been launched, with the early bird deadline for entry June 18. Now in its ninth year, the awards have one new category, more prizes, and more prize money. The competition is open to all English and French-language Canadian magazines and recognizes excellence in newsstand sales and cover execution by Canadian magazine publishers. Publishers, circulators, editors, designers and newsstand managers are encouraged to enter their best performers in newsstand sales and cover design for 2009.

Entrants compete in categories based on circulation size from small to extra-large, or the new Special Interest/New Launch category. The Newsstand Magazine Cover of the Year, is chosen as “best in show” and given special recognition. The awards also recognize an individual as the Newsstand Marketer of the Year, selected from mailed-in nominations.

Prizes include $18,500 worth of promotion credits for HDS Retail-owned stores (increased from last year), national promotion, and additional prizes .

New for 2010, the top three entries in each of the circulation categories will receive Gold, Silver, and Bronze designations for their respective finishes. Gold winners will also receive $3,500 each in credits while the winner in the Small Magazine Category will win $1,000 in credits, plus $500 cash. The prestigious Newsstand Marketer of the Year also receives $500 cash.

Last year’s winners include Châtelaine, Maclean’s, The Hockey News, The Beaver, and This Magazine. Mike Hughes, National Marketing Manager at Transcontinental Media was awarded recognition as the Newsstand Marketer of the Year.

Final entry deadline if Friday, July 9,with winners announced in the fall.

The Canadian Newsstand Awards are sponsored by: HDS Retail/ Great Canadian News/ Maison de la Presse, CMC (Circulation Management Association of Canada), ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations), Masthead. A gallery of past winners, information on contest rules,and online entry are available at www.newsstandawards.ca

Quote, unquote: On the benefits of hitting bottom

The newsstand sales decline the last two years has been devastatingly steep, but it may have had a long overdue newsstand cleansing effect. Despite the record sales declines there are several reasons to be, at least partially, optimistic that newsstand sales may have bottomed out in the second half of 2009.

-- from a posting on Audience Development

Paid subs up, particularly in women's titles, in latest U.S. data

Most major titles in the women's category in the U.S. have seen moderate increases in paid subscriptions during the second half of 2009, according to a post on Audience Development's website, based on latest Audit Bureau of Circulations data. Total paid and verified circulation remained relatively stable; newsstand sales declined, but at a slower rate than in previous periods.