MediaWeek Report (Vol 13, No 16): Big Mergers - Simon & Schuster, S&P Global, Copyrights & Libraries, Pearson

Bertelsmann buying Simon & Schuster.

No doubt you've read about this acquisition and here are some of the articles.  Many are taking 'it's the Amazon problem' approach:

In The Atlantic: The merger isn't the gravest danger to the business.

NYTimes: The biggest publisher is about to get bigger

The Economist: A biblio-behemoth 

The New Republic: Heading towards monopolistic singularity

In other big media merger news:

WSJ - S&P Global agrees to buy IHS Markit for $44Billion combing two of the largest data suppliers to wall street firms.

Also Benzinga - The merger of the two companies will create a financial data behemoth.

I'm sure that's fine. 

According to Fortune a new copyright champion has arrived from the Internet Archive.  Are publishers on board with this I ask?

For Bailey, the debate is personal. Growing up in an artistic family of modest means on Long Island, she never encountered the Internet until arriving at Brown University in 1995. There, Bailey made friends with a circle of creative types thrilled by the culture and community they discovered on web, from the music-sharing bazaar Napster to blogging platform LiveJournal.

"The Internet seemed like this amazing new thing to distribute knowledge and information," she recalls.

After college, Bailey landed in the midst of New York's cultural elite with a job as an executive assistant to a creative director at magazine giant Conde Naste. But she soon became disillusioned, concluding the publishing industry prioritized money over artistic ideals.

 (Yes, Nast is incorrectly spelled).

Speaking of Random House, here is a good obit of Harold Evans - The Economist

People looked pityingly on him now. That was unbearable, so he left for the United States and a teaching job. His second wife, Tina Brown, soon joined him as editor of Vanity Fair, and he too took up the pen again, editing US News & World Report and founding Condé Nast Traveller before becoming, in 1990, president of Random House. There the copy on his desk was by Gore Vidal and Norman Mailer, William Styron and Richard Nixon, as well as the businessmen, artists and poets he added to the list. The glittering Manhattan literary scene revolved around their garden brownstone, enjoyably so. America performed its reinventing magic, and in 1993 he became a citizen. Yet the country’s deepest effect on him had happened years before, when he visited on a Harkness fellowship in 1956. He was already in love with newspapers; with the smell of printer’s ink, and with Hollywood’s depiction of brave small-town newspapermen standing up to crooks. Papers in America might be slackly edited and poorly designed, but they showed a crusading desire for openness that was still rare in Britain.

Bookstores are struggling but rich folk are buying first editions (Bloomberg)

The market for extremely rare books has been healthy for years, dealers say, but quantifying its ups and downs is difficult, because “if you’re talking about a book with many comparables over time, you’ve missed the top of the market,” says Darren Sutherland, a specialist in Bonham’s rare books department in New York.

“It’s so anecdotal,” agrees Christina Geiger, the head of the books and manuscripts department at Christie’s New York. “Everything depends on the quality of the material.” 

Still, consensus among dealers is that the overall market has sustained itself even as the rest of retail has been thrown into turmoil, and that the peak of the market has soared past many participants’ expectations.

UK University staff urge probe into e-book pricing 'scandal' (BBC)

"It's a scandal. It's public money," she said. "Students are shocked when I tell them just how much it costs to get them their texts.

"People just assume we can get books for the prices they see on Amazon and Kindle. It just doesn't work like that for universities.

"The academic publishing business model is broken, and as you can see from the number of people who have signed the letter we think it is time for an investigation," she said.

Lectures are increasingly having to be designed around what texts are available and affordable, not what is best for learning, Ms Anderson said.

Pearson Creates New Direct-to-Consumer Division (Pearson)

Pearson, the world's leading learning company, today announces the creation of a new direct-to-consumer division as it looks to further strengthen its focus on building a direct relationship with learners around the world.

The new division will be co-led by two senior executives: Ishantha Lokuge joined Pearson from Shutterfly last year and now steps up to the role of Chief Global Product Officer and co-President, Direct-to-Consumer.

 As always, more in my flipboard magazine.

MediaWeek Report (Vol 3, No 45a): Recent Publishers' Financial Headlines- Peason, Hachette, Simon & Schuster

The past few weeks have seen a resurgence of sorts in the fortunes of some of publishing's biggest players. Here is a summary: Pearson noted that their markets were 'subdued' however they continued to produce market gains their competitors probably envy (Press Release):

Demand in some of our markets remained subdued in the third quarter, and the macroeconomic outlook is still uncertain. Even so, Pearson increased sales by 7% and adjusted operating profit 15% in the first nine months of 2010*. All parts of the company continued to perform strongly, with sales growth of 5% in Penguin, 7% in education and 11% at the Financial Times Group. ...

In North America, this strategy enabled us to gain share and grow faster than our market, with sales growth of 5% in the first nine months. Our Higher Education business grew strongly once again. Its market remains healthy (industry sales up 10% in the first eight months, according to the Association of American Publishers) and our leadership in digital learning continues to produce market share gains. More than 3.5m students have enrolled in an online course provided by eCollege in the first nine months, an increase of almost 39% over last year. More than 6.5m college students have registered for our subject-specific digital learning tools (MyLabs), an increase of almost 34%. Our Assessment and Information business remained resilient as we won or renewed a number of contracts including a teacher certification contract in Pennsylvania and student data systems in Utah. The breadth of our School Curriculum business and its strength in digital is enabling us to grow despite weakness in state and local funding and uncertainty around the impact of new Common Core standards. We are planning on the basis that school funding remains under pressure in 2011 and that the total new adoption opportunity will be lower than in 2010. We are accelerating the transformation of our School business, investing to broaden the range of products and services we offer to schools to help them boost student performance and institutional efficiency. Sales in International Education are up 8% after nine months. We are benefiting from strong demand in developing markets and for assessment services, English Language learning in China and digital, while developed markets and school publishing are generally soft. In the first nine months, MyLab registrations outside North America were up almost 40% on the same period last year to more than 460,000. ....

At Penguin, sales are up 5%. Physical retail markets are tough, but are offset for Penguin by strong publishing and rapid growth in eBook sales (which have increased threefold). Penguin continues to lead the industry in innovation in digital publishing, with 16,500 eBook titles now available and a number of children’s apps for bestselling brands. The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry became a bestseller in five formats (hardback, ebook, enhanced ebook, app and audio), a publishing first. The fourth quarter is an important selling season in consumer publishing and Penguin has a strong line-up of bestselling authors including Tom Clancy, Patricia Cornwell, Barbra Streisand and Nora Roberts in the US; and Michael McIntyre and Jamie Oliver in the UK.

Hachette (Grand Central Books) reported declines attributed to reduced sales of the Stephanie Meyer 'saga' (Press Release):

As expected, the erosion in sales of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn) had a marked impact on revenue trends not only in the United States, but also in France and the United Kingdom. In France, the postponement of deliveries of secondary school textbooks from the third quarter to the fourth quarter (due to the late announcement of new curriculums) also had a temporarily negative effect. And in Spain, the Education market was more challenging than last year.

After a like-for-like revenue fall of just 4.5% in the first half of 2010, there was a more marked fall (of 6.8%) in the nine months to end September; this was largely due to the sharp decline in the Stephenie Meyer phenomenon and the non-recurrence of the sale of the international rights to the saga, booked in the first half of 2010.

However, revenues for the first nine months of 2010 are slightly ahead of those for the comparable period of 2008, demonstrating the remarkable resilience of the Lagardère group. Numerous literary successes - James Patterson and Nicholas Sparks in the United States, David Nicholls and Sarah Waters in the United Kingdom, and Jacques Attali and Erik Orsenna in France - are testimony to the dynamism of our publishing houses.

Sales of e-books remain strong, accounting for some 9% of revenues in the United States in the first nine months of 2010.

Simon & Schuster (Part of CBS)

For the three months ended September 30, 2010, Publishing revenues decreased 6% to $217.7 million from $230.4 million for the same prior-year period reflecting lower book sales in the adult group from the soft retail market, partially offset by growth in sales of digital content. Best-selling titles in the third quarter of 2010 included The Power by Rhonda Byrne and Obama's Wars by Bob Woodward. For the three months ended September 30, 2010, Publishing operating income increased 11% to $29.4 million from $26.6 million and OIBDA increased 10% to $31.1 million from $28.4 million for the same prior-year period reflecting the impact of cost containment measures, lower royalty expenses and lower production costs from a change in the mix of titles. Nine Months Ended September 30, 2010 and 2009: For the nine months ended September 30, 2010, Publishing revenues decreased 3% to $559.1 million from $573.5 million for the same prior-year period reflecting the soft retail market, partially offset by growth in digital sales of Publishing content. For the nine months ended September 30, 2010, Publishing operating income increased 47% to $44.9 million from $30.6 million and OIBDA increased 36% to $49.9 million from $36.6 million for the same prior-year period reflecting the impact of cost reduction measures and lower production expenses from a change in the mix of titles, partially offset by higher royalty expenses. Restructuring charges of $1.8 million incurred during the nine months ended September 30, 2010 reflect severance costs associated with the elimination of positions.

NewsCorp is done separating out the Harpercollins unit from their other publishing assets. (SeekingAlpha)

McGraw-Hill Education and Professional publishing reported as follows (Press Release):

Education: Revenue for this segment increased by 5.5% to $1.1 billion in the third quarter compared to the same period last year. Including a $3.8 million pre-tax gain on the divestiture of a secondary school business in Australia, the operating profit for the third quarter grew by 19.9% to $357.5 million. Cost controls contributed to the increase in the segment's operating margin to 33.9%, the best third-quarter performance for McGraw-Hill Education since 2007. Foreign exchange rates had an immaterial impact on revenue and operating profit in the third quarter. Revenue for the McGraw-Hill School Education Group increased by 6.7% to $534.7 million in the third quarter versus the same period last year. Revenue for the McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Professional and International Group grew by 4.3% to $520.0 million in the third quarter, compared to the same period last year. A strong performance in the state new adoption market was the major factor in McGraw-Hill School Education Group's third quarter results. The McGraw-Hill School Education Group is on track to capture approximately 30% of the estimated $825 million to $875 million state new adoption market in 2010. In 2009, the state new adoption market was about $500 million. ... In professional publishing, online sales of books and digital products produced solid growth in the third quarter. Double-digit e-book sales were a bright spot in the sluggish retail book market, which continues to be buffeted by difficult economic conditions. More than 5,000 McGraw-Hill professional titles are now available to customers as e-books.

Harlequin a division of TorStar is often beset by forex changes (PR)

Book Publishing operating profit was $23.0 million in the third quarter of 2010, up $0.1 million from $22.9 million in the third quarter of 2009, as $1.4 million of underlying growth offset a negative $1.3 million from the impact of foreign exchange. Year to date, Book Publishing operating profit was $66.1 million, up $3.0 million from $63.1 million last year as $6.2 million of underlying growth more than offset a negative $3.2 million from the impact of foreign exchange. In both the quarter and the year to date, operating results were up in the North America Direct-To-Consumer and Overseas divisions and down in the North America Retail division.

Earlier this month Wolters Kluwer reiterated their full year guidance (PR)

In the third quarter, growth in online and software solutions continued in all divisions. With improving retention rates across the business, subscription revenues, which represent 72% of total revenues, showed improvement over the prior year, especially for electronic revenues. This growth helped to offset the impact of print publishing declines and the continued pressure on advertising and pharma promotional product lines. Book performance improved in the third quarter driven by strong results in legal education and health book product lines. The Health & Pharma Solutions division performed well, with strong growth noted at Clinical Solutions, Ovid, and books. Within Tax & Accounting, new sales and retention rates for software solutions grew at a solid rate which helped offset pressure on print-based publishing. Financial & Compliance Services saw double-digit growth in its audit risk and compliance product lines and cyclical revenues associated with mortgage lending improved in the third quarter. In the Legal & Regulatory division, transactional revenues at Corporate Legal Services continued to grow, reflecting the steady economic recovery underway in the U.S. While online and software products grew globally within Legal & Regulatory, macro economic conditions continue to put pressure on publishing and cyclical product lines such as training, consulting and advertising, particularly within Europe, offsetting the positive trends for electronic revenues.

S&S and Proactive Digital

When the Bowker team launched our first online product we learned by experience, but one thing we got right was perspective. Even though nearly 100% of our revenue was in print, from that day forward we became an online database company. There was nothing we didn't consider to elevate our online product in the consciousness of our customers minds: not pricing, content, sales support or marketing. Our goal was to migrate all our customers from the print to the web product as fast as possible. Admittedly, there were many before us in the online database world who we could point to for guidance but we still managed to make mistakes. For example, we quickly understood that customer service was no longer about tracking a book shipment as it was about technical support, and selling wasn't about cold calling from New Jersey rather it became training on-site. Still, we were fast learners.

In the process of proactively migrating our customer base we aggressively increased the price of our print version while also reducing the content. We continued to add new content and new functionality to the on-line product while only moderately increasing pricing. We pulled back from third party data licenses and migrated these customers to our platform so we could maintain a direct relationship with all our customers. We placed sales reps in the field which hadn't been done for many years, and later added trainers in the field to ensure our customers were using the product to its capability.

All of these proactive tasks were established to not only support our new on-line business but also eliminate our print business. We always knew online and electronic was our future and we wanted to get there as fast as possible. Our product was better online and our relationship with the customers was more positive and engaged than it ever had been in the print environment. Most importantly, the company was able to survive and gain in strength which never would have happened had we not proactively engaged a digital strategy.

This week Simon & Schuster appears to have taken a similar proactive step in defining their own online future by placing 5,000 titles with Scribd. Many trade publishers at BookExpo seemed content in commenting on eBooks counting less than 5% of revenues (I'm being generous). In shugging off the (in)significance of the stat they also seemed to be saying 'it's not really up to us' to drive these numbers faster. And why would they want to drive eBooks when print is still so important? (This is the point where I point back to my example above).

In working with Scribd, S&S has said "we want to have some say in our digitial future" are we are not going to leave it in the hands of Amazon to dictate to us. I applaud this somewhat isolated example of a publisher taking control of their fate - however small the effort may appear to some at this stage - and look both for S&S to seek other relationships and for other publishers to join them. Which publisher will be first to eliminate a first edition print in favor of digital only?

Simon & Schuster Report Higher Quarter

S&S saw revenues increase for the quarter by 5% over the same period last year although the performance was not enough to push them into positive growth for the year. Year to date revenues are $612mm vs $643mm in the period last year and Operating Income was $59.9 vs $67.7mm last year. Summary details from the CBS press release as follows:

Publishing revenues for the third quarter of 2008 increased 5% to $225.0 million from $214.2 million for the same prior-year period reflecting the success of best-selling titles in the third quarter of 2008, including The War Within by Bob Woodward and Real Life: Preparing For the 7 Most Challenging Days of Your Life by Dr. Phil McGraw. Publishing OIBDA and operating income both increased 8% to $25.8 million and $23.4 million, respectively, driven by the revenue growth partially offset by higher royalty expenses and selling and advertising costs. Publishing results included stock-based compensation expense of $1.2 million and
$.9 million for the third quarter of 2008 and 2007, respectively.

Simon & Schuster Reports

CBS released their half year results with top line revenues and operating income up 1%. The company is re-evaluating their assets portfolio given the general economic environment and has announced the sale of 50 mid-sized radio stations. They are also aggressively managing expenses. How all this impacts Simon & Schuster if at all was not mentioned. Here is the relevant section from the press release on S&S:

Publishing (Simon & Schuster) Publishing revenues for the second quarter of 2008 declined 7% to$186.0 million from $200.3 million for the same prior-year period, as best-selling titles in the second quarter of 2008, including The Broken Window by Jeffery Deaver and Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger,did not match contributions from prior year titles which included Blaze by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman, and The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. Publishing OIBDA and operating income decreased 15% to $17.0 million and 19% to $14.6 million, respectively, with lower revenues partially offset by lower royalty expenses. Publishing results included stock-based compensation expense of $1.2 million and $.9 million for the second quarter of 2008 and 2007, respectively.

S&S Revenues Off 12%

Directly from the CBS press release on the performance of Simon & Schuster,

revenues for the first quarter of 2008 decreased 12% to$201.6 million from $229.3 million for the same prior-year period, as best-selling titles in the first quarter of 2008, including Duma Key by Stephen King, Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark and Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult, did not match contributions from prior year titles, which included The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. Publishing OIBDA and operating income decreased 28% to $17.1 million and 32% to $14.6 million, respectively, principally reflecting the decline in revenues partially offset by lower royalty expenses, production costs and selling and advertising expenses. Publishing results included stock-based compensation expense of $1.0 million and $.7 million for the first quarter of 2008 and 2007, respectively

.

Simon & Schuster Reports

Jack Romanos' final year in charge at S&S continues to go well as the company posted third quarter revenues of $214.2 million up 9% from $197.4 million for the same period last year. Top-selling titles included Become A Better You by Joel Osteen and the continued success of The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. Operating income of $21.6 million was up 6% from $20.3 million versus last year, and which reflected the revenue increase and lower bad debt expense partially offset by higher royalty expenses, employee-related costs, volume-driven advertising and selling expenses and digital archive costs. Year to date company revenues are up 16% to $643.8mm and operating income is up a dramatic 73% to $67.7mm. A better than 10% margin is tremendous work in trade publishing.

Full CBS press release: Here

Seeking Alpha Transcript: Here

Comments from the earnings call:

The company has also made steady progress in the digital warehouse project. This is new storage distribution and transactional system that will digitize and house all Simon & Schuster content and manage license of our intellectual property. By year-end we expect to have 13,000 titles incorporated into the system.

During the quarter we also announced the promotion of Carolyn Reidy to the role of President and CEO of Simon & Schuster effective January 1, 2008, after Jack Romanos retires at year end. Carolyn previously ran Simon & Schuster's Dell publishing division which accounts for the lion share of the division's revenue and as you recall Simon & Schuster had its best year ever last year. Particularly gratifying when you have a deep management bench that allows you to replace one top tier executive with an internal candidate of Carolyn caliber. She is extremely well regarded not only in the industry but, also inside Simon & Schuster as well. We think she will do great things here.

Headline Guaranteed to Get Attention

It is the silly season and there is no less evidence of that in a report from the New York Post's page6 which noted that a new title from S&S will document the required etiquette for orgies and sex games.

"Be accompanied by a trusted boyfriend, girlfriend or friend; bring protection," she advises about orgies. "As a general rule, it is the uglier men who perform the best, simply because they have more to prove." She also recommends three New York City sex clubs.

(I don't have the addresses).

Curiously, in the title description on Amazon.com there is no mention of the above chapter.

Twenty-first-century women are called upon to perform any manner of tasks, recall even the most random bits of information, and all the while carry on a charming conversation. Thankfully, from historian and British television personality Francesca Beauman comes this indispensable and authoritative survival guide that will allow women to tackle any problem and work any party with ease, style, and grace. Everything But the Kitchen Sink is a compendium of delightfully witty facts, figures, diagrams, lists, charts, quotes, and practical advice. True, you may not ever need to know how to roast a hedgehog, treat a shark bite, or say "No, thank you. Please leave me alone" in Russian. But isn't it good to know you can?

Looks like anyone buying this book is in for a surprise.

Simon & Schuster Report Strong Revenue Growth

They don't get a lot of play in the press release, but operating results for S&S were up sharply against the same period last year. For the first half, revenues were up 20% to $429mm and operating income was up 169% to $44mm.

For the quarter:

Publishing revenues for the second quarter of 2007 increased 14% to$200.3 million from $176.0 million for the same prior-year period,principally reflecting higher sales from best-selling titles, including Blaze by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman and The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. OIBDA increased to $20.1 million from $10.6 million and operating income increased to $18.1 million from $8.2 million, reflecting the revenue increase partially offset by higher production and royalty costs.Publishing results included stock-based compensation of $.9 million and $.5million for the second quarter of 2007 and 2006, respectively.

Press Release

It may be no secret why the S&S results are so good. Assuming Bryne's book continues to sell into the third and fourth quarter and with the addition of ancillary titles, then S&S executives at S&S should be in line for nice bonuses this year.

Gather The Romance Authors

Gather.com is looking to find the great american romance novelist (my words). The company has teamed with Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster) to launch a writing contest, the winner of which will win a publishing contract.

Would-be novelists have until late August to submit manuscripts to romancenovel@gatherinc.com, and Gather.com members will have a say in selecting the winner, the company said.

Some of you will recall that Gather.com launched a similar competition earlier this year that resulted in a mystery writer winning a contract.

In this case, I doubt they will get anything like the kind of substantial and repeat participation that Harlequin gets from their eharlequin.com site. More on this next week.

Book Videos and Simon & Schuster

The New York Times (via Associated Press) has a short article on video promotions for books. It is becoming all the rage now. Here is the McEwen (Chesil Beach) video produced by Powells Books mentioned in the article.



Also mentioned is Susan Wiggins' novel The Shadow Catcher which is one of the new crop of videos launched by Simon & Schuster today. From the article:

Wiggins is one of 40 writers featured on a video site launched Thursday by Simon & Schuster that includes clips of Wiggins, Zane, Jeannette Walls and Sandra Brown. The publisher expects to add videos for books by Vince Flynn, Michael Connelly and Jodi Picoult among others.

Once a novelty, book videos are increasingly common and, publishers say, essential. Hyperion Books, HarperCollins and Penguin Group (USA) are among those using them. Powell's Books, a leading independent store based in Portland, Ore., plans its own series of films, starting with a video for Ian McEwan's new novel, ''On Chesil Beach.''

''I don't know if we're reaching people we wouldn't otherwise be reaching, but we are reaching people who are not necessarily reading book review sections, or always watching a TV show,'' says Sue Fleming, Simon & Schuster's vice president and executive director for online and consumer marketing.

Here is the link to the Wiggins video and here is the link to Bookvideos.tv where you can watch videos of favorite authors (when they do a video) and learn more about the books.

New Rules on Out of Print

Fast on the heels of their epistle on the business of publishing, The New York Times tells us about how new fangled on-demand printing is complicating the publishers' definitiion of 'out of print'. Here we hear of Simon & Schuster who are changing their contracts to accomodate this radically new technology. You be the judge;

But with the advent of technologies like print-on-demand, publishers have been able to reduce the number of back copies that they keep in warehouses. Simon & Schuster, which until now has required that a book sell a minimum number of copies through print-on-demand technology to be deemed in print, has removed that lower limit in its new contract. In effect, that means that as long as a consumer can order a book through a print-on-demand vendor, that book is still deemed in print, no matter how few copies it sells.

The unfortunate thing may be that the authors that sell less than an initial 1000 units may still be tied to a publisher for a very long time dispite the changes made to author contracts. Some of these authors would be better served by self-publishing their titles - perhaps a story for another day. As far as 'established' authors that regain their rights, companies such as iUniverse.com have offered 'back in print' programs with the Authors Guild for over 8 years now.

Bear Sterns Media Conference

For those interested in the publishing company participants for the current (Mon/Thur) Bear Sterns media conference at the Breakers in Palm Beach here is the approximate schedule:

Monday 3/5
Moodys - 10am. Webinar
Meridith - 11.00am. Webinar
CBS - 12.20pm. Webinar
Thomson - 2.40pm. Webinar
McGraw Hill - 3.20pm. Webinar

Tuesday 3/6
NYTimes - 9.25am. Webinar
Primedia - 10:05am Webinar
Dow Jones - 10:40am Webinar
Scripps - 2:40om Webinar

Simon & Schuster Strong Finish

CBS reported fourth quarter and and full year numbers this morning with the publishing unit (Simon & Schuster) up 6% over last year and as a result helping to cover some of the decline in radio at CBS.

The publishing unit revenues were $252.5 and $807mm for the quarter and year respectively and operating profit was $38.9 and $78.0mm. A full year operating margin of just short of 10% is good going in the consumer market and is virtually unchanged from last years margin performance. Penguin reported yesterday (with Pearson) and their operating marging was slightly lower than S&S at 7.8% on higher sales.

Here is more detail from the CBS press release:

For the quarter, Publishing revenues increased 7% to $252.5 million from $237.0
million, reflecting sales from top-selling fourth quarter 2006 titles, including YOU: On a Diet by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz, Lisey's Story by Stephen King and Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Editionby Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker. OIBDA increased 8% to $38.9 million from $36.1 million, and operating income increased 7% to $36.3 million from $33.9 million, reflecting the revenue increase partially offset by an increase in bad debt
expense.

For the year, Publishing revenues increased 6% to $807.0 million from $763.6 million in 2005 due to sales of top-selling titles as well as higher distribution fee income. OIBDA increased 5% to $78.0 million and operating income increased 4% to $68.5 million, reflecting the revenue increase partially offset by higher expenses, primarily resulting from an increase in bad debt expense and higher production, employee-related and selling and marketing costs. Publishing results included stock-based compensation of$1.9 million and $.5 million for 2006 and 2005, respectively.

Sounds like the AMS situation had some impact but on the other hand it looks like the bonus' this year were relatively better than last year.

Simon & Schuster

There hasn't been too much M&A activity in publishing this year (TWBG/Hachette) and when we think about what might happen we routinely think of S&S which is stuck like some coelacanth in the belly of big media giant Viacom/CBS. Well, the boss Les Moonves says there are still synergies to be had but not many - actually he said "few". As reported by MediaPost from a Goldman Sachs investor conference yesterday S&S is not currently on the block. In fact CBS has "no plans to do anything with it" a comment which hopefully sounds more negative than he really meant...

No doubt, CBS will be getting a few calls from the usual suspects and I would suspect 'fire sale or no" that a deal will be made either with PE or with a house other than Harpercollins or Random House.

12/5/97: Dialog, Tribune, Thomson, Reuters, Reed Elsevier

Summary:
Dialog To Offer Free Services To Investors
Tribune-Review Publishing Company Acquires North Hills News Record And Valley News Dispatch
Advance Publications Inc Newspaper Purchase
United News Considers Selling Regional Papers
Thomson Financial Services' Asian Publishing Business Acquires Philip Jay Publishing
Newspapers Expecting 'Strongest Year In A Decade'
L.A. Daily News Goes To Denver Post
Reuters Reorg Big Payday For Shareholders
Simon & Schuster To Feature New Authors On Authorlink.Com
Ziff-Davis
Reed Elsevier

RECENT NEWS:

DIALOG TO OFFER FREE SERVICES TO INVESTORS
DIALOG CORPORATION, the online information company, is to offer some of its services free to armchair investors through a deal with Institutional Investor International (III), the Website operator. The venture, which was planned before MAID and Knight-Ridder Information merged to become Dialog, will give III's 100,000 Internet users free access to headlines and summaries from 4,000 news sources. The limited service, which will include share prices, will be freely available through III's Internet site, http://www.iii.co.uk. Full articles will be available for a £1 charge, with the proceeds split between the two companies. From February, the Website will offer real-time prices from London, New York and Nasdaq, fuelling a free sector which analysts say could challenge the lower end of the market held by the likes of Bloomberg and Reuters. The enlarged Website should be complete within two weeks, when it will become the first service in the world to combine information about pensions, life insurance and stock market prices. Dialog, which draws its customers almost exclusively from large institutions, hopes the move will give it access to small-time investors who may not be willing to pay the basic £6,000 annual subscription for its full service. MAID's new subscriptions tailed off while it was discussing the merger, leading to a third-quarter pre-tax loss of £592,000 (£2.42 million loss), it said yesterday. Sales were £7.37 million (£5.18 million). The loss for the quarter was 0.33p (2.62p loss) per share. NEW YORK, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- BY SUSAN EMMETT AND FRASER NELSON

TRIBUNE-REVIEW PUBLISHING COMPANY ACQUIRES NORTH HILLS NEWS RECORD AND VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
PITTSBURGH, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- On the heels of the opening of its $43 million NewsWorks production center in Marshall Township last month, the Tribune-Review Publishing Company has announced an agreement to acquire two newspaper properties from Gannett Publishing Co., Inc. The North Hills News Record and the Valley News Dispatch, both of which publish evening and Sunday newspapers, join the growing list of newspapers owned by the Tribune-Review Publishing Company. (Three former Thomson newspapers joined the Company in May of this year.) Effective immediately, the newspapers will become subsidiaries of the Company, and Larry Jock, formerly publisher of the Valley News Dispatch, will serve as general manager of both publications. The purchase includes a long-term agreement under which the regional editions of USA Today and Baseball Weekly will be printed at the Company's NewsWorks production center. The Tribune-Review Publishing Company publishes the Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Standard Observer, The Daily Courier., The Valley Independent, Leader Times, and The Dispatch (Blairsville). Source: Tribune-Review Publishing Company

ADVANCE PUBLICATIONS INC NEWSPAPER PURCHASE.
Advance Publications Inc. plans to acquire 23 weekly Ohio newspapers from Sun Newspapers for an undisclosed amount, reported the Associated Press. The deal is to close in January. Advance's newspapers include the Star-Ledger in Newark, NJ. The company also publishes consumer magazines including the New Yorker and Vogue, 36 weekly business journals and owns book publisher Random House.

UNITED NEWS CONSIDERS SELLING REGIONAL PAPERS ----
LONDON -- United News & Media PLC may sell its U.K. regional newspapers, fetching an estimated (STG)400 million ($674 million) or more. United News confirmed that prospective buyers have approached it, but said it may also retain the newspapers, which include the Yorkshire Post. "The board confirms that it has received a number of approaches from third parties indicating their interests in acquiring these businesses," United News said. "The board is considering a range of alternatives, including the further development of its regional newspaper businesses." WJEviaNewsEDGE Copyright (c) 1997 Dow Jones and Company, Inc.

THOMSON FINANCIAL SERVICES' ASIAN PUBLISHING BUSINESS ACQUIRES PHILIP JAY PUBLISHING BUSINESS
(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 3, 1997-- Thomson Financial Services today announced the acquisition of Philip Jay Publishing, which will be folded into its Asian Publishing business. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. "The acquisition of Philip Jay Publishing is part of our strategy to become Asia's leading financial publisher," said Adam Bryan. "Philip's titles can capitalize on the marketing opportunities presented by our regional and international titles. It also provides us with expertise to create a new range of print-based products to serve our growing customer base in Asia's financial sector. Philip has been very successful in developing a strong client list among the local finance houses, thus providing a good complement to our current customer base in the international financial sector." Reporting into Adam Bryan, newly appointed managing director of Thomson's Asian Publishing business based in Hong Kong, the Philip Jay acquisition provides strong growth opportunities and expanded market reach for the Asian publishing group. Run by local Hong Kong entrepreneur, Philip Jay, the company has been successfully publishing directories on the Asian financial sector for more than seven years. Its core products include The Asia Pacific Securities Handbook, The Greater China Banking Directory, The China Securities Handbook and The Asia Pacific Fixed Income and Debt Securities Directory. Thomson's Asian Publishing operations include such prestigious titles as IFR and IFR Asia, Finance Asia and Thomson Bankwatch. Its offices are located in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

NEWSPAPERS EXPECTING 'STRONGEST YEAR IN A DECADE'
Total newspaper ad revenues rose 8.9%, to $29.31 billion, for the first three quarters of 1997 compared to the same period last year, according to an announcement made Tuesday by the Newspaper Association of America. By sector, national ad spending was said to be up for the nine months by 13.48%, to $3.956 billion; retail was up 6.25%, to $13.673 billion; while classified was up 10.72%, to $11.681 billion. "Third quarter growth (7.84%) was slower, as expected, due to the stronger growth in the second half of last year," acknowledged Miles Grove, the NAA's chief economist. "However, when coupled with a longer Christmas season for '97 we can expect the strongest year in a decade," he added. Last year 21.88% of all advertising dollars were spent on newspapers, compared to television's 20.7% share of the market. Mediacentral – Cowles Business Media

L.A. DAILY NEWS GOES TO DENVER POST
The Los Angeles Daily News has been acquired by MediaNews Group, the parent company of the Denver Post. The purchase price was not disclosed. The newspaper had been put up for sale in October by the family of its former owner, the late Jack Kent Cooke, who died in April. The acquisition makes MediaNews the eighth-largest newspaper publisher with 35 dailies and 106 nondailies. The Daily News, which has a circulation of 203,000 weekdays and 218,000 on Sundays, is MediaNews' 12th Californian daily. Observers expected the sale to fetch as much as $200 million to $250 million. At the time the prospective sale was announced, potential buyers were thought to be MediaNews, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., Orange County Register-parent Freedom Communications and Toronto-based publisher Thomson Corp.

REUTERS REORG BIG PAYDAY FOR SHAREHOLDERS
Reuters announced on Thursday its plans to reorganize the company and return US$2.52 billion in surplus capital to shareholders. In addition the company said it would return up to another $336.2 million in an ongoing stock buyback plan through 1998. The reorg will result in the creation of a new holding company, Reuters Group PLC, which will acquire the existing Reuters Holdings PLC. Separately, in an interview with a Reuters reporter, company CEO Peter Job dismissed industry speculation that he might make an offer for the ailing Dow Jones Markets information services group. "First of all, there is probably a considerable anti-trust problem that would arise ... Secondly ... there is a great overlap in the two businesses," he reportedly said. The shareholder windfall was said to reflect the company's continued success.

ONLINE PUBLISHING NEWS:

FOR ALL YOU BUDDING AUTHORS…..SIMON & SCHUSTER TO FEATURE NEW AUTHORS ON AUTHORLINK.COM
NEW YORK, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Simon & Schuster Online has become a key sponsor of Authorlink! (http://www.authorlink.com), the online information service for writers, editors and literary agents. One of the first major book publishers to partner with an online writers' service, Simon & Schuster will create a special section on the Authorlink's site to showcase new book releases, especially those by first-time authors. Authorlink! kicked off the program's first phase in November, with a live link to Simon & Schuster's Consumer Publishing website (http://www.SimonSays.com). Authorlink! is also featuring the newly released, revised edition of JOY OF COOKING through the holidays, to be followed by the special new author section. The 18-month-old Authorlink! has a loyal annual readership of more than 60,000 writers, editors and agents. In addition to featuring major publishing industry news, the site showcases and markets ready-to-publish manuscripts to the publishing industry. The service is currently sponsoring its first International New Author Awards Competition, in which nine New York editors and agents are finalist judges. Simon & Schuster Online, was formed in January 1996, to create a strategy for Simon & Schuster's consumer books and authors on the web. Simon & Schuster Online launched SimonSays.com, (http://www.SimonSays.com), in June 1996. The site, which provides an unparalleled level of reader interaction, is home to Simon & Schuster's Consumer 11,000+ titles and has successfully launched fan areas for many authors and brands including Star Trek Books, Mary Higgins Clark, Clive Cussler, Frank McCourt and most recently Joy of Cooking. SOURCE Simon & Schuster

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS:

Ziff-Davis today announced the promotion of Michael J. Miller to Executive Vice President and Editorial Director of ZD Publishing. Miller, who has been named one of the top computer journalists by Marketing Computers for three years in a row, will also retain his position as the Editor-in-Chief of PC Magazine. At the same time, Ziff-Davis announced the promotion of Kathleen Goodwin to Vice President of Marketing for ZD Publishing, and the expansion of the responsibilities of Tom McGrade, Executive Vice President, Business Operations, to include ZD Publishing's circulation and production departments. Michael Miller Claude Sheer, the President of ZD Publishing, said, "Michael is not only a leader among his peers within Ziff-Davis, he is also a well-respected journalist and industry advocate. PC Magazine has grown to a paid circulation of more than 1,175,000, more than any other computer publication or business magazine. SOURCE Ziff Davis

REED ELSEVIER
Reed Elsevier Inc. named Hans Gieskes president and chief executive of Lexis-Nexis. Reed Elsevier is jointly-owned by Reed International PLC (RUK) and Elsevier NV (ENL). In a press release Monday, Reed said Gieskes has been with the parent company for 19 years, most recently serving as vice chairman of the legal division. Gieskes will continues to lead Lexis Nexis' operations in Europe. DOW JONES NEWS

11/15/97: Thomson, Simon&Schuster, KnightRidder, Amazon.com,

Summary:
Thomson Corp.: Publishing, Travel Units Help Boost Earnings 14%
Stephen King And Simon & Schuster In Book Deal
Knight-Ridder Sells Newspaper
Ziff-Davis And Warner Publisher Services Announce Revolutionary Magazine Distribution Agreement
Golden Books Family Entertainment
Avon Products, Inc. And Hachette Filipacchi
Idg Books Worldwide To Buy Mis: And M&T Computer Presses From Henry Holt
Oracle 8 Selected As Database To Fuel The Unisys Hermes Publishing System
Amazon.Com And @Home Network Sign Multi-Year Agreement To Sell Books Over The @Home Service
Oxford University Press And Imark Announce Electronic Publishing Agreement
CMP Media Expands Internet Management Team With The Addition Of Two New Positions
Princeton Media Group Inc. Announces New Chief Financial Officer

RECENT NEWS:

THOMSON CORP.: PUBLISHING, TRAVEL UNITS HELP BOOST EARNINGS 14%
Thomson Corp., buoyed by higher earnings from its publishing and travel operations, reported a 14% increase in third-quarter earnings and boosted its quarterly dividend by 6.9%. Thomson, Toronto, reported third-quarter earnings of US$342 million, or 56 cents a share, compared with $301 million, or 50 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue was $2.74 billion, up 10% from $2.49 billion a year earlier. Thomson, which has interests in newspapers, publishing, databases and travel services, increased its quarterly dividend to 15.5 U.S. cents a share from 14.5 cents a share. Thomson rose 1.50 Canadian dollars (US$1.07) to C$35.50 in Toronto Stock Exchange trading.

WSJviaNewsEDGE Copyright (c) 1997 Dow Jones and Company, Inc. Received via NewsEDGE from Desktop Data, Inc.: 11/07/97 02:15:18

STEPHEN KING AND SIMON & SCHUSTER IN BOOK DEAL
Best-selling author Stephen King and Simon & Schuster struck a tentative deal Thursday to publish his novel ``Bag of Bones'' in an unconventional arrangement that will give the horror writer a share of nearly 50 percent of the profits. The negotiations came after King's highly unusual public search for a new company to replace Viking, his longtime publisher. His original $17 million asking price prompted much complaining in the publishing industry that such a conventional deal was a money-losing proposition. But Thursday, Simon & Schuster, a unit of Viacom Inc., announced a three-book ``co-publishing venture'' with King that will give him a share of the profits and of the risks and responsibilities for pricing, marketing and packaging his books. King, who was traveling to New York for a meeting with Simon & Schuster on the agreement, could not be reached for comment. According to a person close to the negotiations, King will share in almost 50 percent of the profits and will receive an advance that is small by his standards - almost $2 million a book. He will not receive bonuses or royalties. The three books are ``Bag of Bones,'' a collection of short stories and a work on the craft of writing.

NYTviaNewsEDGE Copyright (c) 1997 The New York Times Co.

KNIGHT-RIDDER SELLS NEWSPAPER
MIAMI – Knight-Ridder Inc. said it sold the Long Beach Press-Telegram to Garden State Newspapers Inc. for an undisclosed price. The sale completes Knight-Ridder's previously announced plan to sell five newspapers. Garden State Newspapers is a unit of Affiliated Newspapers Inc., Denver.

WSJviaNewsEDGE Copyright (c) 1997 Dow Jones and Company, Inc. Received via NewsEDGE from Desktop Data, Inc.: 11/10/97 02:08:13

ZIFF-DAVIS AND WARNER PUBLISHER SERVICES ANNOUNCE REVOLUTIONARY MAGAZINE DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
Entire Stable of Ziff-Davis Magazines to Receive Increased Distribution and Exposure at the Retail Level

NEW YORK, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Ziff-Davis, a SOFTBANK Company, and Warner Publisher Services (WPS), a TimeWarner Company, announced today an agreement whereby the entire 13-title line of Ziff-Davis paid-circulation magazines in the U.S. will be distributed nationally by WPS. In announcing the new agreement, Claude Sheer, President, ZD Publishing, and Dan Rubin, President of WPS, emphasized the unique benefits of this new publishing partnership. Rubin said, "We're combining the strengths of three unique industry leaders: Ziff-Davis, the world's leading publisher of computer and video game magazines; the vast distribution capabilities of WPS; plus retail-level merchandising and marketing support from Time Distribution Services. We believe it's a fortuitous combination of resources that will help raise Ziff- Davis' already strong, newsstand sales to new heights." In discussing the agreement, James Gerth, ZD Single Copy Sales and Marketing Director, explained: "This new arrangement will allow us to more efficiently serve both the wholesaler and retailer communities. Given the big changes we've seen recently in the newsstand environment, we're especially pleased, and optimistic, now that this unique agreement is in place." Sheer added, "While Ziff-Davis has seen tremendous growth in its Internet business, growth for all ZD print products remains strong, including those for our flagship, PC Magazine, as well as for Computer Shopper, PC Computing, and Electronic Gaming Monthly." Sheer continued, "Magazines are a vital part of our business, and newsstand sales are integral to our publishing plans. We believe this new agreement will carry us to even greater growth in this important area. That's good news for us, and also for our readers, advertisers, and the wholesalers and retailers who handle our publications."

SOURCE Ziff Davis

Business Brief -- GOLDEN BOOKS FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT: Loss Narrows Amid Decline In Costs From Restructuring

Golden Books Family Entertainment Inc. reported that its third-quarter net loss narrowed, in part because of a decrease in costs related to a continuing restructuring program. The New York company posted a net loss of $17.9 million, or 76 cents a share, compared with a loss of $96.8 million, or $4.29 a share, a year earlier. Results for the latest quarter include a restructuring charge of $3.3 million, or 12 cents a share. Results for the year-earlier period include charges of $80.1 million, or $3.01 a share, largely for restructuring. Revenue decreased 21% to $53.3 million from $67.5 million. The company's main operations include children's publishing and entertainment products for children and families.

WSJviaNewsEDGE Copyright (c) 1997 Dow Jones and Company, Inc. Received via NewsEDGE from Desktop Data, Inc.: 11/12/97 02:15:53

AVON PRODUCTS, INC. AND HACHETTE FILIPACCHI JOIN TO LAUNCH NEW MAGAZINE DISTRIBUTION THROUGH AVON REPRESENTATIVES AND NEWSSTAND

NEW YORK, Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) and Hachette Filipacchi Magazines today announced that they will launch a new magazine for women. The two companies -- global leaders in their respective fields -- will together publish Athena: Common Sense, Uncommon Style, designed to provide insightful information about beauty, well-being, and lifestyle for women. "Athena represents a new dimension in publishing," explains David Pecker, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hachette Filipacchi Magazines. "The magazine will deliver the spirit of beauty and high fashion along with accessible information and service. We are thrilled to be in this unique joint publishing venture with Avon."
Debuting in the U.S. with the May/June launch issue in April 1998, Athena is set for a bimonthly schedule. The publication will be initially distributed through the 440,000 U.S. Avon Sales Representatives, as well as newsstands. Cover price will be $3.50, with special pricing for Avon Representatives and their customers. Future global opportunities will be explored to bring Athena to other markets around the world, tapping the powerful distribution network of more than 2 million Avon Sales Representatives worldwide. In both domestic and global markets, Avon's key objective for Athena is to strengthen the company's image and role as a beauty authority. Avon will be the exclusive beauty advertiser in Athena, but the publication will be open to all advertisers in non-competitive categories, such as consumer packaged goods, travel, and automotive, who wish to reach the Athena reader.
Hachette Filipacchi Magazines currently publishes 29 consumer titles reaching over 47 million readers, including American Photo, Audio, Best Selling Home Plans, Boating, Car and Driver, Car Stereo Review, Cycle World, ELLE, ELLE Decor, Family Life, Flying, George, HOME, Metropolitan Home, Popular Photography, Premiers, Road & Track, Showboats International, Stereo review, TopModel, Travel Holiday, Video, Woman's Day, and Eating Well, as well as a number of quarterlies and special publications. HFM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hachette Filipacchi Medias, the world's largest magazine publisher, with diverse holdings in printing, newspaper, film production, and outdoor advertising.

IDG BOOKS WORLDWIDE TO BUY MIS: AND M&T COMPUTER PRESSES FROM HENRY HOLT

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. has signed a letter of intent to purchase MIS: Press and M&T Books from Henry Holt Publishers in New York for an undisclosed sum. The deal takes Holt out of trade computer book publishing and reinforces IDG Books Worldwide's leadership in technology publishing. IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., founded in 1990, is the number two computer book publisher with total FY1997 gross revenues in excess of $150 million. Final terms of the agreement are expected by the end of this month.
IDG Books Worldwide President and Publisher Steven Berkowitz characterized the acquisition as a strategic move in an industry that is seeing more consolidation. "MIS: Press and M&T Books produce well-written books and series that are in keeping with our commitment to publishing high quality editorial content. Our strengths in building and marketing brands will help us to expand our market share in the tightening book publishing arena."
IDG Books Worldwide, best known for its 40 million selling ... For Dummies(R) series, has made branding a phenomenon in book publishing. The company has created highly identifiable, successful brands for users ranging from beginners using the ...Simplified (R) 4-color illustrated books to high- end professionals using the certification series for Novell and Microsoft engineers and system administrators. IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading IT media, research and exposition company. IDG publishes more than 285 computer magazines and newspapers and 500 book titles and offers the largest network of technology specific sites around the world, located at http://www.idg.net, which comprises more than 170 targeted Web sites in 45 countries. IDG is also a leading producer of 110 computer-related expositions worldwide, and provides IT market analysis through 49 offices in 41 countries worldwide. Company information is available at http://www.idg.com. Information about IDG Books is available at http://www.idgbooks.com. SOURCE IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.

ORACLE 8 SELECTED AS DATABASE TO FUEL THE UNISYS HERMES PUBLISHING SYSTEM

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL) and Unisys (NYSE: UIS), a leading newspaper-system supplier, today announced they will deliver an integrated system, based on Sun Microsystem's Solaris platform, that answers the increasingly complex information technology needs of the publishing industry. Unisys has chosen Oracle8(TM) to power the Unix-Based version of Hermes, its global, integrated publishing system. Hermes will meet user requirements for scalability, reliability and tight-system integration in order to redefine workflow, reduce costs and help in the migration to electronic publishing. This combination will enable publishers to streamline their business from editorial, production and archiving processes to management of all news information electronically to support for hundreds of concurrent users.
"The core competencies of Oracle8 -- the ability to handle more data, support more users, deliver results faster and at a lower price - directly address the needs being expressed in the publishing industry today," said Polly Sumner, senior vice president of Communications Industry, Oracle Corp. "Unisys' Hermes system with Oracle8 as the database backbone provides publishers with the ability to globally manage and deliver information for both traditional and electronic publishing mediums."
"For publishing groups that are looking to reengineer their publishing systems and to reengineer their productions processes, the Unisys Publishing Solutions offer global, scaleable, integrated applications," said Franco Giglio, director of Publishing Center of Excellence Systems, Unisys. "Oracle8 provides the database engine needed to support the scalability and reliability requirements of our customers." The Hermes publishing system, a major component of the Unisys Publishing Solutions, has been expressly designed for metropolitan newspapers which face large organizational issues and complex production processes in highly mission-critical environments. Hermes is applicable for both text-driven and layout-driven publications, as it can support several editorial organizations' needs for design layout, text and headline editing, image processing, ad display creation, page planning, production tracking and full-page output.

ONLINE/INTERNET NEWS:

AMAZON.COM AND @HOME NETWORK SIGN MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT TO SELL BOOKS OVER THE @HOME SERVICE

SEATTLE, and REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), the leading online book retailer, and @Home Network (Nasdaq: ATHM), the leader in high-speed Internet services via the cable infrastructure, today announced a multi-year agreement whereby Amazon.com (www.amazon.com) will be the premier bookseller throughout the @Home service. @Home users will have high-speed, direct access to browse and purchase books from Amazon.com's catalog of more than 2.5 million books. These services are expected to be integrated into @Home's service by the end of the year. This agreement marks the first time Amazon.com has formed a strategic alliance with a cable Internet service provider.
Based in Redwood City, California, @Home Network (http://www.home.net) distributes high-speed interactive services to residences and businesses using its own network architecture and a variety of transport options including the cable industry's hybrid-fiber coaxial infrastructure. The cable connection provides users significant increases in speed over conventional Internet services. Leveraging the "always on" attributes of cable, @Home allows for unique multimedia applications that go beyond current Web experiences. Since its founding in May 1995, @Home Network has reached affiliate agreements with eight leading cable companies in North America, including Tele-Communications Inc., Cablevision Systems Corp., Comcast Corporation , Cox Communications, InterMedia Partners, Marcus Cable, Rogers Cablesystems Limited, and Shaw Communications

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS AND IMARK ANNOUNCE ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING AGREEMENT

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 6, 1997--Imark Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: MAXX) a leading provider of electronic commerce solutions to the information industry, announces an agreement with Oxford University Press USA (OUP) to develop an e-commerce version of "The Computational Intelligence Library" to be available commercially in 1998. Through this collaboration, OUP will employ Imark's award winning NET-MAX(TM) Internet billing system, which enables information providers to outsource the complete development and maintenance of all electronic commerce functions. Imark's NET-MAX metering and billing system is the winner of the 1997 Information Industry Association Award for the Best Enabling Technology of the Year.
The Computational Intelligence Library, a joint publication of OUP and the Institute of Physics Publishing, is a comprehensive reference tool for computer scientists, engineers, psychologists, mathematicians, and physicists, providing a continuously updated overview of the dynamic field of Computational Intelligence. The Computational Library is positioned as an all-encompassing reference that collates research findings from various sources into one authoritative work. Imark will assist OUP in optimizing the online version of the library, designing an online customer registration system with tracking and reporting of customer usage, and advising on possible future enhancements to the pricing model. "We are very pleased to enter into this exciting new relationship with Imark Technologies. What Imark offers Oxford University Press is the ability to bring a niche product to market quickly and cost-effectively with an award winning e-commerce system to back it up" said Royalynn O'Connor, Online product director at Oxford University Press-USA.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE:

CMP MEDIA EXPANDS INTERNET MANAGEMENT TEAM WITH THE ADDITION OF TWO NEW POSITIONS

MANHASSET, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 1997-- CMP Media's (Nasdaq: CMPX) rapidly-growing CMPnet, the technology network at http://www.CMPnet.com, has created two new management positions and concurrently named a new Associate Publisher for sales and a new Director of Marketing. Chris Tice, most recently CMPnet's Associate Publisher, Sales and Marketing, has assumed the new position of Associate Publisher, Business Development and will retain responsibility for marketing and research. Meryl Otis, previously Associate Publisher for NetGuide Magazine, has been named Associate Publisher, Sales for CMPnet. Aimee Levine joins CMPnet from Time Warner as Director of Marketing. Helen Flaum, formerly a Director of Information Technology in CMP's corporate IT department, has moved over to the Internet Media Group as Director of Operations for the group, which produces CMPnet. In announcing the staffing changes, Rebecca S. Barna, Vice President/Group Publisher of the Internet Media Group, said: "These management moves reflect our commitment to bring users the best information and advertisers the most targeted and cost-effective buy in technology online."

PRINCETON MEDIA GROUP INC. ANNOUNCES NEW CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

PALM BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 10, 1997--Princeton Media Group Inc. (Nasdaq:PMGIF) announced Monday that Hugo Barreca has been named the new chief financial officer for the company. Robert F. Kendall, formerly CFO, has become senior vice president of Finance. Barreca, who joined the company in September 1997, brings over 20 years of experience in the publishing industry, including senior positions with Time Inc., The New York Times Magazine Group and Gruner+Jahr USA Publishing. His responsibilities have included strategic business planning, financial planning and management, contract negotiations and purchasing, and computer systems development, including inventory database systems, financial management systems, logistic models and telecommunications systems. Barreca received an M.B.A. from New York University and a J.D. from Fordham School of Law, as well as other academic degrees and professional honors. Barreca will be responsible for the company's overall financial planning and management. He will also direct the company-wide consolidation of current operations and implement the company's expansion program through continued acquisitions of related business operations in publishing, advertising, websites and other related media.

11/1/97: Harpercollins, KnightRidder, SimonShuster, Amazon.com, Readers Digest,

Summary:
New Head Of Harpercollins Publishers
A.H. Belo Corp.: Net Income Declines 21% But Beats Analyst Forecast
Apple Begins Program To Support Position In Education Market
Reader's Digest Posts $56.4 Million Loss, Citing Weak Mailings
Knight Ridder Sells Newspapers
Harpercollins Signs Jewel
Bookwire Offers Redesign
Bookpages - Another Internet Bookstore
Harpercollins Gets Mystery Web Site
Simon & Schuster Recognized For Having Best Commercial Web Site
Amazon Marches On

RECENT NEWS:

NEW HEAD OF HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS
News Corp. named Jane Friedman, one of the publishing industry's best-regarded executives, to lead HarperCollins Publishers, its troubled book publishing unit.

Ms. Friedman, currently a senior executive at Advance Publications Inc.'s Random House unit, will assume her new position next month. She will succeed Anthea Disney, who last month was elevated to the post of chairman of News America Publishing Group, a newly formed News Corp. unit that includes both HarperCollins and TV Guide magazine. Ms. Friedman will report to Ms. Disney.

HarperCollins has had a variety of problems in recent months. In August, the company said it would take a $270 million charge -- the biggest in the history of book publishing -- to cover write-downs for losses on author advances and unsold books as well as other restructuring costs. Some of News Corp.'s major investors have encouraged Rupert Murdoch to unload the unit, and there have been repeated rumors that he might do so, unsettling the publisher's employees. Ms. Friedman went to Los Angeles to meet with Mr. Murdoch in late September, and she says she came away believing that "he is in it for the long term." She also said HarperCollins's difficulties didn't cause her to hesitate joining the publisher. "They have had some tough knocks," Ms. Friedman said. "But I believe the company has turned the corner, and it now has a pretty clean slate."

The Wall Street Journal via Dow Jones
Copyright (c) 1997 Dow Jones and Company, Inc.

A.H. BELO CORP.: NET INCOME DECLINES 21% BUT BEATS ANALYST FORECAST
A.H. Belo Corp. said third-quarter net income decreased 21% to $15 million, or 24 cents a share, from $18.9 million, or 42 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Earnings per-share were affected by the issuance of about 25 million common shares, related to an acquisition. The Dallas television and newspaper concern said sales increased 58% to $319.1 million. The company also said a 51% revenue increase in its newspaper publishing division, combined with strong advertising demand in all of its broadcasting markets, contributed to the earnings results. A survey of analysts by First Call had estimated Belo would report net of 18 cents a share.

Copyright (c) 1997 Dow Jones and Company, Inc.
Received via NewsEDGE from Desktop Data, Inc.: 10/29/97 02:22:31

APPLE BEGINS PROGRAM TO SUPPORT POSITION IN EDUCATION MARKET
Apple Computer Inc., seeking to shore up its sagging U.S. education stronghold, has launched a special promotion to credit schools with 10% of the purchase price of computers bought by students' parents.

Under the "Power of 10" program, which began Oct. 15 and is to run through Jan. 31, the schools will be able to use those credits towards purchase of their new Apple computers. The program was conceived by Apple interim Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs, and is designed to strengthen the company's presence in a market that has been beset by competitors allied around the industry's dominant standard of Microsoft Corp. software and Intel Corp. microprocessors.
Under the promotion's terms, parents can buy directly from Apple any of 10 computer models, including some which previously had been offered only to schools. They can then designate the 10% credit to the K-12 school of their choice. If a school receives 10 of those credits, it can apply those to a free computer.

The Wall Street Journal via Dow Jones
Copyright (c) 1997 Dow Jones and Company, Inc.

READER'S DIGEST POSTS $56.4 MILLION LOSS, CITING WEAK MAILINGS
Reader's Digest Association Inc. reported a loss of $56.4 million, or 53 cents a share, for the fiscal first quarter, reflecting weak customer response to mailings and costs related to a corporate realignment of operations.

The loss for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compares with year-earlier net income of $34.6 million, or 32 cents a share. Revenue fell 13% to $561 million from $644 million. The latest results included a pretax charge of $70 million, or 49 cents a share, reflecting severance costs for staff reductions in Europe, the U.S. and at the corporate level, as well as a discontinuation of certain businesses.

The results reflected increased spending in product development and direct-marketing operations, the company said. George V. Grune, chairman and chief executive, said revenue in the quarter reflected lower customer response to company mailings and fewer mail solicitations sent out in major markets.

Revenue from the U.S.-based special-interest magazines and Reader's Digest magazine were higher than last year, reflecting gains in both circulation and advertising.

Copyright (c) 1997 Dow Jones and Company, Inc.

KNIGHT RIDDER SELLS NEWSPAPERS
MIAMI -- Knight-Ridder Inc. said it agreed to sell three newspapers that it had previously put on the block -- the Boca Raton News, Florida; the Union-Recorder, in Milledgeville, Ga.; and the suburban Newberry Observer, in South Carolina -- to Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., Louisville, Ky. Terms weren't disclosed, but media giant Knight-Ridder said the transaction includes the transfer to Knight-Ridder of the Daily Sun in Warner Robins, Ga.; the Byron Gazette, a Georgia weekly, and a shopper, also in Georgia. The transaction is expected to close by Thanksgiving.

Copyright (c) 1997 Dow Jones and Company, Inc.

HARPERCOLLINS SIGNS JEWEL
HarperCollins was very busy this week and they topped off their activity by contributing to one of the major problems in the publishing industry. HarperCollins bid and won -for $2MM- a book of poetry and a memoir from Jewel, the 23-year-old photogenic folk singer whose debut album Pieces of You has been on the charts for two years and sold six million copies to date. Regardless, many analysts have bemoaned the tendency by publishers for overpaying for book rights for ‘media stars’ who’s celebrity it turns out is fleeting.

Jewel's poetry book, which had been shopped around last year and was rumored to have received offers at that time of up to $1.5 million, is now expected to be published in June, followed by a memoir (she’s 23!) in fall 1998.

ONLINE PUBLISHING NEWS:

BOOKWIRE OFFERS REDESIGN
BookWire -- www.bookwire.com -- Wednesday offered a redesign featuring daily news, original reviews and features, and a new "behind-the-scenes" column from industry insiders. FLAP, a daily column covering insider news and behind the scenes intrigue about the book business is part of the redesign. Other new original BookWire content includes Soapbox, a place where people in and around the book business can talk about everything from their favorite books to hot trends in book selling, and Publisher's Spotlight, a sponsored feature where publishers and authors put their titles in the spotlight, and readers can see the cover, read flap copy, excerpts, testimonials, and more.

BOOKPAGES - ANOTHER INTERNET BOOKSTORE
For busy executives, preparing for Christmas can often be a nightmare. New U.K. Internet bookstore Bookpages, however, is hoping to lend a helping hand. A recent addition to the bloody Internet book wars, Bookpages is looking to capture an audience by offering snazzy new services to its site. Top of the list are new features for hurried Christmas shoppers.

First, swing by Bookpages' gift-selector service. The Bookpages staff have sifted through their 1.2 million titles and put together a list of books for specific friends and relations. Need something quick for a nine-year-old niece? Bookpages suggests the Roald Dahl Treasury or the Dorling Kindersley World Atlas. Prices are reasonable: Because it can cut out overhead costs, Bookpages manages to offer most wares at a discount below traditional bookstores.

Buyers, for their part, also get a present. Hoping to attract more customers, Bookpages offers a loyalty program. Once registered, buyers receive one Bookpoint for every 20 pence spent. Members with more than 500 points can redeem them against Bookpages books. Christmas gift recommendations however, earn buyers 50 points a shot.
http://www.bookpages.co.uk/

Copyright (c) 1997 Dow Jones and Company, Inc.

HARPERCOLLINS GETS MYSTERY WEB SITE
Following a trend that is becoming increasingly familiar, HarperCollins has entered a co-marketing agreement with online mystery publisher Newfront of San Francisco to have advertising and HarperCollins content featured on The Online Mystery Network (http://www.mysterynet.com). “The HarperCollins Mystery Corner” will be incorporated into the Newfront site, and will highlight popular novelists Tony Hillerman, Virginia Lanier and others by providing exclusive peeks at first chapters. MysteryNet.com will also host banner advertising for the book publisher and run special book promotions.

Newfront believes this alliance will be just the first of many as publishers realize how powerful Internet distribution can be for niche markets.

Cowles/Simba Media Daily 10/31/97
Copyright 1997 Cowles Business Media. All rights reserved.

SIMON & SCHUSTER RECOGNIZED FOR HAVING BEST COMMERCIAL WEB SITE
Technology Managers Forum has named Simon & Schuster's College NewsLink Web Site the "Best Vehicle For Conducting Commerce."

College NewsLink is a unique educational service that brings the leading newspapers of the world to the college campus via the World Wide Web. For the first time, these stories are organized by academic discipline and linked to other Web sites as well as to print information in textbooks. These links make Simon & Schuster's textbooks are current as today's newspaper. Topics in the news are linked to relevant university Web sites, textbooks, government sites,
political organizations, world leaders and more.

College Newslink is the first time a publisher has created an electronic product sold directly to colleges, and not through bookstores to students.

Recognition for the site was part of The Best Practice Awards, co-sponsored by PC Week and Technology Managers Forum International, a professional organization comprised of IT executives from large organizations. Technology Managers Forum is the only organization in the industry that has an awards program that is designed to establish Best Practices for IT Management

AMAZON MARCHES ON
Amazon.com reports another quarterly sales increase. For the third quarter that ended Sept. 30, 1997, sales were $37.9 million, a 36% increase over second-quarter sales and an 808% gain over the $4.2 million reported in the 1996 third quarter. For the first nine months of the year, Amazon reported sales of $81.7 million, it appears likely going into the Christmas buying season they could achieve full year sales of $120MM. For the first nine months of 1996, Amazon had sales of $7.3 million.

Net (Loss) income was higher than prior year periods reflecting increased marketing and sales expenses. For the quarter Amazon had a net loss of $8.5 million, compared to a loss of $2.4 million in the same quarter last year. The loss for the first nine months was $18.2 million, up from $3.5 million.

Amazon noted that cumulative customer accounts increased to over 940,000 by the end of September, compared to 610,000 at the close of June. Repeat customers represented 55% of sales in the period.

DID YOU KNOW:

There Are More Than 7 Million North American Children With Internet Accounts.

According to Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU), the percentage of teens who say that it is ``in'' to be on-line has jumped from 50 percent in 1994 to 74 percent in 1996 to 88 percent in 1997. It's now on par with dating and partying!

65%of all Book printing jobs are for less than 5,000 units.

18% all of New Yorkers are on line.

8/30/97: KnightRidder, ReedElsevier, John Wiley, Pearson, Thomson, SimonShuster,

Summary:
Petersen Publishing Opens Trading With Strong Day
Knight Ridder sells Dialog:
Reed Travel Launches Probe Into Circulation Overstatements
JOHN WILEY & SONS INC.: Announcing Wiley InterScience
Pearson Appoints Peter Jovanovich to Head Addison Wesley Longman
Anthea Disney named Chairman and CEO of News America Publishing Group
THOMSON Corp
Simon & Schuster
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

Recent News:
Petersen Publishing Opens Trading With Strong Day:
(Folio: First Day) In its first day of trading as a public company, Petersen Publishing Co.'s stock
closed Thursday at $20.25 per share after opening at $17.50 and hitting a high of $20.625 on the
New York Stock Exchange.

The opening price was barely half the original filing price floated by Claeys Bahrenburg and his fellow investors, who purchased the Los Angeles-based consumer magazine publisher last year for $400 million-plus (Bahrenburg was a former president of Hearst Magazines.) Registration papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission underline the 78-title publisher's reliance on its three top publications: For the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 1996, the 1-million circulation Motor Trend, 1.8-million circulation Teen and 800,000-circulation Hot Rod, brought in $32.5 million, $25.8 million and $19.3 million respectively -- combining for 50.1% of Petersen's operating "contribution."

Knight Ridder sells Dialog:
(Media Daily) Knight-Ridder has agreed to sell its database unit, Knight-Ridder Information Inc. (KRII), to London business information publisher M.A.I.D. for $420 million. The sale, expected to be completed in November, would create the world's largest online information service.

KRII's final price tag turned out to be 15% lower than the $500M the unit had been expected to go for (MD, 8/25/97). "This is a business we did not want to lose, but in light of our recent acquisition of four newspapers from the Walt Disney Co., the sale is necessary," said Tony Ridder, chairman and CEO of Knight-Ridder Inc. The Disney newspaper deals had reportedly cost the company a total of $1.65 billion.

Reed Travel Launches Probe Into Circulation Overstatements:
(Folio: First Day) Reed Travel Group company announced that it had detected "irregularities" in RTG circulation statements -- overstatements to advertisers -- dating back to 1991 for its hotel and airline directories, and that this discovery has moved the company to begin "a full investigation."

LONDON (AP-Dow Jones)--Reed Elsevier PLC has appointed Freshfields to lead the team investigating the irregularities at Reed Travel Group. The company had said it discovered irregularities in circulation statements at its Reed Travel Group unit that affect some 500 million GBP ($800MM) in advertising revenues between 1991 and 1996. The Anglo/Dutch publishing company said it will make an unspecified charge against 1997 earnings to meet the cost of compensating advertisers in the affected Reed Travel Group publications.

It will also make a 'substantial' write down of intangible asset values at Reed Travel group.

ONline/New Media News:

JOHN WILEY & SONS INC.: Announcing Wiley InterScience:
(Wall Street Journal) New York, N.Y., September 9, 1997. Charles R. Ellis, President and Chief Executive Officer of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE: JW.A and JW.B), the global publishing company, today announced the launch of Wiley InterScience, a service which will provide access to nearly all of the company's more than 400 scientific, technical, medical, and professional journals over the World Wide Web. Searchable contents listings, abstracts, and informative Web sites for the majority of Wiley's journal program, together with open access to the full-text electronic files of 50 journals, are scheduled to go online October 1 in the pilot phase of this initiative. Other journals will have full-text presentation phased in through 1997 and 1998. The company will continue to publish its journals in print as well, and is embarking on this electronic publishing initiative to augment its strengths in scientific, technical, and medical publishing.

Wiley has been collaborating with Zuno, a Mitsubishi Electric Company based in London and Boston, which developed the innovative software application Wiley has used to create Wiley InterScience. Zuno Digital Publisher (ZDP) is a component-based software system for organizing, managing, and publishing information and journals over the Web and gives publishers tools to create new and dynamic electronic products and services for their customers. ZDP is customizable, meaning Wiley has developed its own "look and feel" for the service and has implemented numerous business models for different types of customers and content.

Executive Changes:

Pearson Appoints Peter Jovanovich to Head Addison Wesley Longman:
Pearson plc, today announced the appointment of Peter Jovanovich as chairman and chief executive of Addison Wesley Longman, Pearson' s educational publishing business. He will succeed J. Larry Jones, who is stepping down from the post after 30 years with the company.

Since 1995, Mr. Jovanovich, 48, has been president of McGraw-Hill's Educational and Professional Publishing Group, which comprises all of the company's book publishing worldwide. Under his leadership the company has grown rapidly to become the largest school and college publisher in the world, with a 29% increase in operating profit in the second quarter of 1997.

Anthea Disney named Chairman and CEO of News America Publishing Group
New York, N.Y. -- September 23, 1997 News Corporation has formed a new U.S. publishing entity called News America Publishing Group that will combine HarperCollins Publishers and the Companys U.S. magazine and on-line publishing divisions and has promoted Anthea Disney as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, it was announced today by Rupert Murdoch, News Corporations Chairman & Chief Executive, and Peter Chernin, President & Chief Operating Officer.

Disney will oversee the Companys U.S. print and on-line publishing operations, including HarperCollins; TV Guide, the countrys highest circulation weekly magazine; the opinion-leading highly influential political magazine The Weekly Standard; the electronic publishing business including TV Guide Entertainment Network; and new business development in all of these areas.

THOMSON Corp. (Toronto) -- Richard Harrington, 50 years old, was named president and chief executive officer of this publishing and travel-services concern, three months ahead of schedule. Mr. Harrington was expected to assume the new positions Jan. 1, but the appointments were pushed ahead because of Mr. Harrington's success in the temporary position of chief operating officer, a job created in July specifically to groom him for the positions of president and chief executive. The job of chief operating officer no longer exists. Mr. Harrington, who has held several executive positions with Thomson since 1982, succeeds Michael Brown, 62, who becomes deputy chairman at Thomson. Mr. Brown will hold this new position jointly with John Tory, 67, through the end of December, when Mr. Tory will step down. Mr. Tory will remain on Thomson's board after Dec. 31.

Did You Know....

Simon & Schuster is the world's largest English-language, educational and computer book publisher, distributing products to more than 150 countries through an international 25,000-title catalogue handled by sales offices and subsidiaries in 43 countries. Simon & Schuster has international operations in Europe, Asia, Australia, South Africa and Latin America.

The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a digital 'License plate number' for intellectual material proposed by the Association of American Publishers. Use of this identifying number will help users track down who owns an item and access whatever further information the owner (publisher) would like to provide. Customers can them purchase the requested information on-line. The DOI consists of three parts:
1. Two part identifying number identifying the publisher and the document
2. An automated directory composed of a computer system that will accurately link an object, be it a book, picture, etc to whomever owns it
3. The databases maintained by the publisher that provide further information (meta data) for the user.
The goal is to create a global internet based system in which publishers and other owners of copyright(s) will regularly tag their peices of intellectual property with DOIs in the way that publishers now use ISBN numbers. The AAP will be presenting their recommendations on the proposed adoption of the DOI standard at the Frankfurt Book Fair in late October. Simon & Schuster among others are expected to trial these recommendations.

End of Newsletter.