The News:
Clinton's Activism
Bill Clinton is to write a book on citizen activism and responsibility for Random House UK. The title will be released by Knopf in the US. According to the press release, Clinton will draw heavily on the time he has spent since leaving office where he has championed UN efforts in Africa, East Asia and more broadly through his Clinton Foundation.
Open Access Again..
While journals publishers were united in their disparaging disregard for the open access movement their arguments suggesting that their value add to the editorial and peer review process couldn't be replicated carried a grain of truth. So far, the open access movement has had only limited success and the large journal publishers continue to maintain and build strong revenue streams. The Royal Society in the UK, which has not supported the open access movement has launched a hybrid author pays/reader pays publishing model for journal articles. The RS has been attempting to get industry players to at least try different models for journal publishing and this is their attempt to lead the way. For the most part the rest of the industry appears indifferent to new methods; for them the old way works just fine.
Audio Books at the Library:
Walk into many large metropolitan library these days and the layout can remind one of a cross between Virgin Music and Blockbuster. Audio titles very much in the mix at your local library and are seeing increases in circulation due to the increasing number of titles available, the ramp-up in acceptance of audio books and an aging population that sees audio titles as a legitimate way to entertain themselves. The LA Times recently published an article which focused on the popularity of audio titles as well as pointing out the booming opportunities for web based access to library collections. With the increasing availablity of content downloadable from your local library, I wonder how long the current business model is going to last between publisher and library. It may be that we will see payments per patron check-out and embargoing enter the mainstream. This may not be a bad thing for libraries if a program were developed that reduced the initial purchase price - perhaps to zero - and paid publishers a fixed fee per check out. Libraries continually face budgeting issues and selection is always an issue when funds are limited; a model like this could enable a library to have access to all electronic and audio titles available thereby providing significant increased value for their patrons. "Selection" and to some extent collection development would become user/patron defined. An interesting model, and I think we will see more discussion of the role of libraries in an electronic and download world.
Former LA Times owner Big Second Thoughts:
The Chandler family cashed out a few years ago and threw their all in with the Tribune company, but after a few depressing years they want the whole thing broken up. Tribune on the other hand are content to buy back shares. Unfortunately, the Chandlers don't have enough support or equity to make more than a public fuss. Regretably, for the readers of the LA Times, Tribune, Newsday and others there don't appear to be too many innovative ideas being presented. Given the interest that the Knight Ridder titles eventually generated, it would seem there are many people who have high hopes and interesting ideas for reputable newspaper publishing companies.
Interview with Jane Friedman while on a fact finding trip to OZ.
Summer Reading from The Seattle Times
Friday, June 30, 2006
Friday, June 23, 2006
The Future of Educational Publishing
Educational publishing is an exciting place to be. I know, you think they have a pr problem with pricing and ripping off the poor student and perhaps the print environment isn’t forward thinking and what about used books, but despite all that they are going to gain not loose business over the next five years. Educational publishing is changing rapidly with the largest publishers investing in their content, the distribution of that content, and establishing social networks to engage the educational community. What is really exciting in the higher educational market is that the publishers are in a position to create a community of interest between the publishers, the educator, the student, and the administration. Additionally, it is even possible to see the parent in this community as well.
A few seismic changes have fractured the industry’s paradigm over the past five years. The migration to electronic educational material, the development of electronic platforms at institutions and a more recent focus on the benefits of social networking which take their form in testing and tutoring tools. What a publisher is now able to do is offer a student a range of content – in addition to the material required by the professor – which they can refer to for their entire student life as part of their “ electronic bookshelf”. (Obviously, this relationship can extend to life long learning thereby in theory extending the revenue per student significantly). As an electronic desktop the student may use one of the enterprise-wide educational platforms installed at many schools such as Blackboard and webCT. These tools aid the institution in tracking usage, feedback on materials, grade and maintain advisor to student links. Other benefits enable course management and content management for the institution. Lastly the more recent phenomenon of social networking is taking form in the expansion of testing and evaluation. Pearson for one, has invested heavily in the past twelve months to acquire testing companies that have established positions in the education market. What Pearson and others will do is to forge a tight bond with the students through evaluative testing, additional problem sets and assignments, feedback and tutoring. While these acquired companies may not operate completely as a myspace.com of education now, the intent is there to build a networked community of interest around the content the publisher has created.
Certainly not every course taken by a student is one which will retain their interest for life; however, most normal students will take courses in areas where they have some interest and this interest stays with them for life. Publishers have an opportunity to nurture that interest for an extended period of time and will be actively promoting life long learning programs via online courses, webinars, tutoring, offline seminars and travel, as well as the capacity to interact online with a large group of interested students and faculty.
Part two: How will the Publisher price their content and what is the position of the bookstore in all of this? Coming Soon – when I get around to it.
A few seismic changes have fractured the industry’s paradigm over the past five years. The migration to electronic educational material, the development of electronic platforms at institutions and a more recent focus on the benefits of social networking which take their form in testing and tutoring tools. What a publisher is now able to do is offer a student a range of content – in addition to the material required by the professor – which they can refer to for their entire student life as part of their “ electronic bookshelf”. (Obviously, this relationship can extend to life long learning thereby in theory extending the revenue per student significantly). As an electronic desktop the student may use one of the enterprise-wide educational platforms installed at many schools such as Blackboard and webCT. These tools aid the institution in tracking usage, feedback on materials, grade and maintain advisor to student links. Other benefits enable course management and content management for the institution. Lastly the more recent phenomenon of social networking is taking form in the expansion of testing and evaluation. Pearson for one, has invested heavily in the past twelve months to acquire testing companies that have established positions in the education market. What Pearson and others will do is to forge a tight bond with the students through evaluative testing, additional problem sets and assignments, feedback and tutoring. While these acquired companies may not operate completely as a myspace.com of education now, the intent is there to build a networked community of interest around the content the publisher has created.
Certainly not every course taken by a student is one which will retain their interest for life; however, most normal students will take courses in areas where they have some interest and this interest stays with them for life. Publishers have an opportunity to nurture that interest for an extended period of time and will be actively promoting life long learning programs via online courses, webinars, tutoring, offline seminars and travel, as well as the capacity to interact online with a large group of interested students and faculty.
Part two: How will the Publisher price their content and what is the position of the bookstore in all of this? Coming Soon – when I get around to it.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Newspapers: The Wave of the Future
For years until six months ago, I spent $9.50 a week on the New York Times. Now I only buy the Sunday edition and I wonder how long even this will last. For me, and many others, the NYT website is excellent and more than a replacement for the paper version. Of course, The New York Times and many other newspapers have a problem because increasing numbers of people like me are migrating to the web for free.
Many have written off the newspaper industry as just another – perhaps more spectacular – victim of the internet age. They were saying that five years ago during the first internet boom but it still hasn’t happened. While subscription revenues and advertising numbers are off, many newspapers continue to operate near monopolies in their local markets and the larger metropolitan newspapers are finally starting to proactively incorporate new content and new delivery mechanisms into their web offerings. The NYT is just one example of the integration of traditional reporting and video, audio and extended coverage that is becoming routine. The one aspect of the web site versus the print is that I actually miss seeing the display ads in the print. In a weird way there is a ‘community’ aspect of the newspaper delivered by the local advertising that I don’t get on the web site.
The NYT doesn’t require a fee for access to their site – other than for some premium content and the archive - no doubt the newspaper companies still have to go through that “valley of death” where revenues migrate from the legacy model to the new internet model but the new world on the other side will offer many more opportunities.
If my survey of one is typical with respect to revenues, why do I think that newspapers have a future? Firstly, the World Association of Newspapers recently reported that global advertising revenues increased 5.7% driven by growth in China, India and SE Asia. Newspapers are still a valued part of the media landscape. In the past several years, the NYT has expanded its presence in Europe with the purchase of the International Herald and a number of UK newspapers have announced they will launch US versions of their papers. The WSJ has long had a successful Asia edition of their newspaper. According to the WAN the global advertising market for newspapers was only marginally lower in 2005 versus 2004. While the UK market fell 3% the revenues in the rest of Europe pulled the overall up over 4% versus 2004. In the US circulation was down over 2% but due mainly to evening newspapers. Another report from the Newspaper Association of America, indicates that online newspaper advertising rose 35% last year; the eighth successive year they did so.
While these numbers are hardly compelling enough to run out and buy a newspaper company the numbers are also not catastrophic as some predict. Many commentators have documented the decline in classified advertising – cars, real estate, etc. – as the harbinger of extinction for newspapers which brings me to my next point. Most local newspapers have both a virtual monopoly and strong brand identity in their markets. They are in most cases high margin low capital operations with high customer loyalty. As is becoming clear, and some newspapers are leading the way, search and discovery is increasingly more local. Newspapers are integrating the types of services – mash-ups even – that are familiar to web search users and classified searches are integrated with mapping, video and social networking like user recommendations and reviews. In many local communities, it was the newspaper that helped define the locality – citizens identified with it and what it stood for. I see this continuing as newspapers rebuild an electronic version of their franchise and also extend their revenue model beyond what the print could offer them.
Not to be overlooked is the filtering function that Newspapers can offer. In providing editorial oversight to classified advertising the newspaper can act as an additional layer of ‘protection’ for their users. This is something which free classified ad sites like craigslist.com are unwilling to do. While ads and the local community will drive revenues this is not to forget that the newspapers can continue to deliver the local audience to national advertisers at a very narrow level.
Many newspaper companies have been experimenting/participating with the web for many years and have had reasonably advanced sites for a while. With the integration of video and the rapid deployment of broadband access these newspaper companies will be in a strong position to challenge local television for media dollars. As mentioned above these companies are not cash poor and have ample resources to continue to invest and build their local presence. A good time to be in the newspaper business.
Many have written off the newspaper industry as just another – perhaps more spectacular – victim of the internet age. They were saying that five years ago during the first internet boom but it still hasn’t happened. While subscription revenues and advertising numbers are off, many newspapers continue to operate near monopolies in their local markets and the larger metropolitan newspapers are finally starting to proactively incorporate new content and new delivery mechanisms into their web offerings. The NYT is just one example of the integration of traditional reporting and video, audio and extended coverage that is becoming routine. The one aspect of the web site versus the print is that I actually miss seeing the display ads in the print. In a weird way there is a ‘community’ aspect of the newspaper delivered by the local advertising that I don’t get on the web site.
The NYT doesn’t require a fee for access to their site – other than for some premium content and the archive - no doubt the newspaper companies still have to go through that “valley of death” where revenues migrate from the legacy model to the new internet model but the new world on the other side will offer many more opportunities.
If my survey of one is typical with respect to revenues, why do I think that newspapers have a future? Firstly, the World Association of Newspapers recently reported that global advertising revenues increased 5.7% driven by growth in China, India and SE Asia. Newspapers are still a valued part of the media landscape. In the past several years, the NYT has expanded its presence in Europe with the purchase of the International Herald and a number of UK newspapers have announced they will launch US versions of their papers. The WSJ has long had a successful Asia edition of their newspaper. According to the WAN the global advertising market for newspapers was only marginally lower in 2005 versus 2004. While the UK market fell 3% the revenues in the rest of Europe pulled the overall up over 4% versus 2004. In the US circulation was down over 2% but due mainly to evening newspapers. Another report from the Newspaper Association of America, indicates that online newspaper advertising rose 35% last year; the eighth successive year they did so.
While these numbers are hardly compelling enough to run out and buy a newspaper company the numbers are also not catastrophic as some predict. Many commentators have documented the decline in classified advertising – cars, real estate, etc. – as the harbinger of extinction for newspapers which brings me to my next point. Most local newspapers have both a virtual monopoly and strong brand identity in their markets. They are in most cases high margin low capital operations with high customer loyalty. As is becoming clear, and some newspapers are leading the way, search and discovery is increasingly more local. Newspapers are integrating the types of services – mash-ups even – that are familiar to web search users and classified searches are integrated with mapping, video and social networking like user recommendations and reviews. In many local communities, it was the newspaper that helped define the locality – citizens identified with it and what it stood for. I see this continuing as newspapers rebuild an electronic version of their franchise and also extend their revenue model beyond what the print could offer them.
Not to be overlooked is the filtering function that Newspapers can offer. In providing editorial oversight to classified advertising the newspaper can act as an additional layer of ‘protection’ for their users. This is something which free classified ad sites like craigslist.com are unwilling to do. While ads and the local community will drive revenues this is not to forget that the newspapers can continue to deliver the local audience to national advertisers at a very narrow level.
Many newspaper companies have been experimenting/participating with the web for many years and have had reasonably advanced sites for a while. With the integration of video and the rapid deployment of broadband access these newspaper companies will be in a strong position to challenge local television for media dollars. As mentioned above these companies are not cash poor and have ample resources to continue to invest and build their local presence. A good time to be in the newspaper business.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Publishing News: Ken Thomson, John Cleese, John Steinbeck, WorldCup
The News:
Ken Thomson dies at 82.
Just a week after Thomson head Richard Harrington suggested the company would consider divesting its educational publishing assets, the company patriarch and son of the founder has died. The company under Mr. Thomson was transformed into a content and electronic publishing giant and both culled low growth assets and added new companies with regularity. The comapny also owns the Global and Mail in Toronto. No news on what his passing will mean for Thomson.
Penguin loose one to the Steinbecks.
Who knew Steinbeck's novels were still in play. Today a judge in California has ruled that the rights to Steinbecks novels should revert to the family. Here is the news report from the LATimes. Additionally, here is a review of what this decision means from a legal perspective.
US World Cup Talking Heads are Horrible.
The US broadcasters are spending a lot of money this time around to broadcast every World cup game. Nevertheless, they still haven't got it right. The broadcasters on ESPN and ABC have been horrible and have rightly come under attack from viewers. Apparently, the NYtimes WC blog is the second most visited part of the times site and the post about the announcers received incredible response. Here is the blog That is not withstanding an hilarious Stephen Colbert report on his expectations for the Worldcup.
I am an England fan and my work days for the next four weeks are organized around the games. Last time in 2002 during a business trip, I watched games in Canada, US and Australia but thankfully this time I am not traveling so much. Univision has announced early viewing figures for the Worldcup and they say it is on track to be the biggest ever - possibly double the level last time. Given the appalling US announcers I would rather listen to the German commentary on Setanta than the US commentary on ABC. Apparently, you can hack the UK websites so you can get the blacked out UK commentary. I haven't tried it.
Cleese to Write History of Comedy;
John Cleese has announced he is retiring from performing and will instead work on writing a history of comedy and teaching as a this one myself.
Borders Announces Lay-Offs:
Their results just aren't good enough.
Ken Thomson dies at 82.
Just a week after Thomson head Richard Harrington suggested the company would consider divesting its educational publishing assets, the company patriarch and son of the founder has died. The company under Mr. Thomson was transformed into a content and electronic publishing giant and both culled low growth assets and added new companies with regularity. The comapny also owns the Global and Mail in Toronto. No news on what his passing will mean for Thomson.
Penguin loose one to the Steinbecks.
Who knew Steinbeck's novels were still in play. Today a judge in California has ruled that the rights to Steinbecks novels should revert to the family. Here is the news report from the LATimes. Additionally, here is a review of what this decision means from a legal perspective.
US World Cup Talking Heads are Horrible.
The US broadcasters are spending a lot of money this time around to broadcast every World cup game. Nevertheless, they still haven't got it right. The broadcasters on ESPN and ABC have been horrible and have rightly come under attack from viewers. Apparently, the NYtimes WC blog is the second most visited part of the times site and the post about the announcers received incredible response. Here is the blog That is not withstanding an hilarious Stephen Colbert report on his expectations for the Worldcup.
I am an England fan and my work days for the next four weeks are organized around the games. Last time in 2002 during a business trip, I watched games in Canada, US and Australia but thankfully this time I am not traveling so much. Univision has announced early viewing figures for the Worldcup and they say it is on track to be the biggest ever - possibly double the level last time. Given the appalling US announcers I would rather listen to the German commentary on Setanta than the US commentary on ABC. Apparently, you can hack the UK websites so you can get the blacked out UK commentary. I haven't tried it.
Cleese to Write History of Comedy;
John Cleese has announced he is retiring from performing and will instead work on writing a history of comedy and teaching as a this one myself.
Borders Announces Lay-Offs:
Their results just aren't good enough.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Pearson Acquires Chancery, Macmillan Publishing Wins Borsenverin Contract
Pearson Acquires More
On top of last weeks purchase of the PowerSchool product from Apple, the company announced that it has acquired Chancery Software. The two operations will be merged together and will represent a formidable competive entity in this fast growing segment.
Macmillan (MPS)signs up Germans for Digital Archive.
Interestingly, MPS has had little luck in convincing other publishers that their solution can create a much more controlled environment for their intellectual products than the Google and Yahoo options. So far few takers. This will be a great opportunity for MPS since the company has been aggressively selling the "Bookstore Online" product since the latter part of last year. The MPS product is impressinve and moreover they have both significant expertise in technical development and publishing product knowledge having been one of the first major publishers to create an outsourcing operation in India. At there locations in India I believe they have over 6,000 employees and they do work for both the Macmillan (VHPS) companies and other publishers.
On top of last weeks purchase of the PowerSchool product from Apple, the company announced that it has acquired Chancery Software. The two operations will be merged together and will represent a formidable competive entity in this fast growing segment.
Macmillan (MPS)signs up Germans for Digital Archive.
Interestingly, MPS has had little luck in convincing other publishers that their solution can create a much more controlled environment for their intellectual products than the Google and Yahoo options. So far few takers. This will be a great opportunity for MPS since the company has been aggressively selling the "Bookstore Online" product since the latter part of last year. The MPS product is impressinve and moreover they have both significant expertise in technical development and publishing product knowledge having been one of the first major publishers to create an outsourcing operation in India. At there locations in India I believe they have over 6,000 employees and they do work for both the Macmillan (VHPS) companies and other publishers.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Pearson; Bertelsman, Random House, Quills
Pearson buys Apple “PowerSchool”Pearson has agreed to purchase the Powerschool school information system (SIS) which manages student records including attendance and grades from Apple Inc . This represents a solid strategic move into school administration tools in a core education market for Pearson. As more details become available it will be interesting to see how Pearson integrates content onto the IPOD platform which is assumed to be part of this deal. One could assume under Apple this development work must be significantly underway and will gain greater urgency with a clear path available to the Pearson content. http://www.prnewswire.com/news/index_mail.shtml?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-25-2006/0004368633&EDATE==
Bertelsman buys back stake:As reported earlier this week, Bertelsmann did the expected and purchased the 25% stake owned by Groupe Bruxelles and thereby avoided an IPO. The amount paid $5.8bill was on the high side of expectations. Financial markets had generally anticipated this would be the outcome and therefore there was minimal impact on their debt pricing. Some debt agencies have indicated they may reduce their ratings and are reviewing the deal accordingly. It is doubtful this deal will materially impact the Bertelsmann investment and product development cycle. As noted in earlier releases the company is selling its stake in BMG Music Publishing.http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2006-05-25T105303Z_01_L25267303_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-MEDIA-BERTELSMANN-GBL-DC.XML
Random House, Starbucks and RabbitsThe two companies have announced that Starbucks will sell newly issued copies of the Velveteen Rabbit and The Night Before Christmas audiobooks. The titles will be exclusively available at the end of August for four months at the coffee stores.http://finanzen.net/news/news_detail.asp?NewsNr=401357
Analysts’ Positive View of Educational Publishers.http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8HQ7GSO0.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db
Quills Awards:Further information has been announced on broadcast dates and benefactors of the Quills foundation. The awards will be held at the Natural History Museum on October 10, 2006http://www.wnbc.com/entertainment/9268537/detail.html
Bloomsbury has bought drama publisher Methuen: http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2006-05-25T113351Z_01_L25742994_RTRUKOC_0_UK-MEDIA-METHUEN-BLOOMSBURY.xml
Bertelsman buys back stake:As reported earlier this week, Bertelsmann did the expected and purchased the 25% stake owned by Groupe Bruxelles and thereby avoided an IPO. The amount paid $5.8bill was on the high side of expectations. Financial markets had generally anticipated this would be the outcome and therefore there was minimal impact on their debt pricing. Some debt agencies have indicated they may reduce their ratings and are reviewing the deal accordingly. It is doubtful this deal will materially impact the Bertelsmann investment and product development cycle. As noted in earlier releases the company is selling its stake in BMG Music Publishing.http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2006-05-25T105303Z_01_L25267303_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-MEDIA-BERTELSMANN-GBL-DC.XML
Random House, Starbucks and RabbitsThe two companies have announced that Starbucks will sell newly issued copies of the Velveteen Rabbit and The Night Before Christmas audiobooks. The titles will be exclusively available at the end of August for four months at the coffee stores.http://finanzen.net/news/news_detail.asp?NewsNr=401357
Analysts’ Positive View of Educational Publishers.http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8HQ7GSO0.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db
Quills Awards:Further information has been announced on broadcast dates and benefactors of the Quills foundation. The awards will be held at the Natural History Museum on October 10, 2006http://www.wnbc.com/entertainment/9268537/detail.html
Bloomsbury has bought drama publisher Methuen: http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2006-05-25T113351Z_01_L25742994_RTRUKOC_0_UK-MEDIA-METHUEN-BLOOMSBURY.xml
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
The News:
Bonnier on Shopping Spree:
Swedish publishing company Bonnier has announced it is working with Admediapartners to acquire media assets in the US. The company is a $2.5 billion dollar family owned company operating in 22 countries. In the US they are using as their base World Publications LLC a publisher of niche specialty magazine titles in which they have purchased a "major interest" from Boston Ventures. http://www.bonnier.com/8856.asp?newsid=40101&year=2006
ABE Books Buys a Library:
ABE books have purchased TheLibraryThing.com a web site devoted to book lovers who want to actively manage their book collection. Since the site launched last year they have signed up over 35,000 members. There are two tiers of membership (free and not free) and there is some functionality at the free level but only for a maximum of 200 titles. It is not clear if all the members are paying; nevertheless, the site does represent a cheap way to catalog your book collection, match it against other collections and mingle with other book lovers. I plan to give it a go (luckily I have a bar code scanner). What is also useful about sites like these is that they can serve as a digital archive of your collection if something catastrophic occurs (Fire, Water, both). http://www.abebooks.com/docs/CompanyInformation/PressRoom/library-thing.shtml
Also of note is the announcement that ABE purchased Fillz a book order and inventory management site earlier this month and the acquisition of Alibris by a private equity firm (Oak Hill Partners) which they say will enable them to contine to actively investment in the company. http://www.alibris.com/about/press_releases/050806.cfm
Will it read like a Press Conference?
Senator Chuck Schumer and Rodale announced he will publish a book about democratic policies and strategies for publication in early 2007. http://www.rodale.com/1,6597,5-106,00.html
New York's Village Voice on book retailing.
In May 22rd edition of the VV, they report on the state of US book retailing. http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0621,collins,73282,10.html
Steve McQueen:
Long missed Steve McQueen may soon have his dream movie production hit the big screen as noted in the New York Times earlier this month. The article centers around a collection of diaries and albums that the actor created to document and detail the movie he wanted to make in the dunes of Mexico. What is not mentioned in the article is whether there are any plans to publish the albums which are apparently very detailed. I suspect someone reading the article had the same thought I had. The article written by Paul Callum (May 15, 2006) is now archived on the NY Times site. http://www.nytimes.com
Ottakar's Looking for the Exit:
I didn't think Ottakar's would disappear and perhaps if the market in the UK for retailing had been stronger perhaps they would have remained independent; however, it looks like HMV will absorb Ottakars at a much reduced price to the one they agreed last year. http://www.forbes.com/2006/05/12/hmv-ottakars-giles-cx_cn_0512autofacescan06.html HMV are being cagey about when they might bid and there is some speculation that WH Smith may also jump in. Smith's may do this but it would only be to muddy the waters; there would be limited synergy between WH Smiths and Ottakars and Smiths' have more than enough problems as it is.
Bonnier on Shopping Spree:
Swedish publishing company Bonnier has announced it is working with Admediapartners to acquire media assets in the US. The company is a $2.5 billion dollar family owned company operating in 22 countries. In the US they are using as their base World Publications LLC a publisher of niche specialty magazine titles in which they have purchased a "major interest" from Boston Ventures. http://www.bonnier.com/8856.asp?newsid=40101&year=2006
ABE Books Buys a Library:
ABE books have purchased TheLibraryThing.com a web site devoted to book lovers who want to actively manage their book collection. Since the site launched last year they have signed up over 35,000 members. There are two tiers of membership (free and not free) and there is some functionality at the free level but only for a maximum of 200 titles. It is not clear if all the members are paying; nevertheless, the site does represent a cheap way to catalog your book collection, match it against other collections and mingle with other book lovers. I plan to give it a go (luckily I have a bar code scanner). What is also useful about sites like these is that they can serve as a digital archive of your collection if something catastrophic occurs (Fire, Water, both). http://www.abebooks.com/docs/CompanyInformation/PressRoom/library-thing.shtml
Also of note is the announcement that ABE purchased Fillz a book order and inventory management site earlier this month and the acquisition of Alibris by a private equity firm (Oak Hill Partners) which they say will enable them to contine to actively investment in the company. http://www.alibris.com/about/press_releases/050806.cfm
Will it read like a Press Conference?
Senator Chuck Schumer and Rodale announced he will publish a book about democratic policies and strategies for publication in early 2007. http://www.rodale.com/1,6597,5-106,00.html
New York's Village Voice on book retailing.
In May 22rd edition of the VV, they report on the state of US book retailing. http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0621,collins,73282,10.html
Steve McQueen:
Long missed Steve McQueen may soon have his dream movie production hit the big screen as noted in the New York Times earlier this month. The article centers around a collection of diaries and albums that the actor created to document and detail the movie he wanted to make in the dunes of Mexico. What is not mentioned in the article is whether there are any plans to publish the albums which are apparently very detailed. I suspect someone reading the article had the same thought I had. The article written by Paul Callum (May 15, 2006) is now archived on the NY Times site. http://www.nytimes.com
Ottakar's Looking for the Exit:
I didn't think Ottakar's would disappear and perhaps if the market in the UK for retailing had been stronger perhaps they would have remained independent; however, it looks like HMV will absorb Ottakars at a much reduced price to the one they agreed last year. http://www.forbes.com/2006/05/12/hmv-ottakars-giles-cx_cn_0512autofacescan06.html HMV are being cagey about when they might bid and there is some speculation that WH Smith may also jump in. Smith's may do this but it would only be to muddy the waters; there would be limited synergy between WH Smiths and Ottakars and Smiths' have more than enough problems as it is.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Commentary:
A National Language.
The country is at war, universal healthcare is a joke, no one has a solution for the immigration "problem" and the economy may be in the crapper, but all this is on the back burner because we spent half of last week debating the designation of English as the national language. Hooray for our venerable Senate leadership! When our public high schools continue to under-educate the young and 'native' young english speaking students can't read or write, our Senate is busy trying to eliminate the 'press two for Spanish' option. Where is the focus on what is really important? Cynicism dictates that this initiative is just another highly effective ploy to direct the citizenship to an attention grabbing flag waiving topic so we miss the real lack of attention and effort directed at what should be really important. To me, it is just further confirmation of our political leaderships' continuing lack of initiative and confusion on how to deal with the immigration 'problem' and all the other major issues impacting the country today. Deflecting attention by suggesting a national language or assigning an inadequate contingent of National Guard troops to the Mexican border sounds good but won't fix the problem at hand. There was also talk about making understanding of English a pre-requisite to citizenship which sounds practical but isn't and anyway all citizens know that to excel in the US they need to learn English. Hey, if we are going to pre-qualify our immigrants screw English; how about chemistry, electrical engineering, software engineering or physics!
There is a Satan!
Apparently, there were strong feelings at this years Eurovision Song contest (aka The Competition Taste Forgot) where the entry from Finland boldly banished the mousy teeny bopper bubbly pop music in favor of some fun loving satanic inspired metal. Hard to believe this didn't start as a bar bet over the winter solstice but nevertheless against the odds and calls for their banishment the Finns won the contest. I want to know how they would have stood against such prior winners as ABBA - perhaps a battle of the bands would solve it. On the other hand, will we witness the Broadway hit musical Lucifer Now! sometime in the next ten years? During a pre-finale interview the band - in full regalia sitting beside a hotel pool in Athens asked the interviewer to hurry the questions because they were freaking hot in their outfits. This I found amusing given who some thought they represented. They refuse to remove their outfits and {presumed} make-up in public and as a result no one has seen who they are. (There was probably a group of Finish postal workers suspiciously missing from work last week).
Here they are in all their finery thanks to youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py5Of-4kJ70.
Doubtful I am looking to buy the album...
A National Language.
The country is at war, universal healthcare is a joke, no one has a solution for the immigration "problem" and the economy may be in the crapper, but all this is on the back burner because we spent half of last week debating the designation of English as the national language. Hooray for our venerable Senate leadership! When our public high schools continue to under-educate the young and 'native' young english speaking students can't read or write, our Senate is busy trying to eliminate the 'press two for Spanish' option. Where is the focus on what is really important? Cynicism dictates that this initiative is just another highly effective ploy to direct the citizenship to an attention grabbing flag waiving topic so we miss the real lack of attention and effort directed at what should be really important. To me, it is just further confirmation of our political leaderships' continuing lack of initiative and confusion on how to deal with the immigration 'problem' and all the other major issues impacting the country today. Deflecting attention by suggesting a national language or assigning an inadequate contingent of National Guard troops to the Mexican border sounds good but won't fix the problem at hand. There was also talk about making understanding of English a pre-requisite to citizenship which sounds practical but isn't and anyway all citizens know that to excel in the US they need to learn English. Hey, if we are going to pre-qualify our immigrants screw English; how about chemistry, electrical engineering, software engineering or physics!
There is a Satan!
Apparently, there were strong feelings at this years Eurovision Song contest (aka The Competition Taste Forgot) where the entry from Finland boldly banished the mousy teeny bopper bubbly pop music in favor of some fun loving satanic inspired metal. Hard to believe this didn't start as a bar bet over the winter solstice but nevertheless against the odds and calls for their banishment the Finns won the contest. I want to know how they would have stood against such prior winners as ABBA - perhaps a battle of the bands would solve it. On the other hand, will we witness the Broadway hit musical Lucifer Now! sometime in the next ten years? During a pre-finale interview the band - in full regalia sitting beside a hotel pool in Athens asked the interviewer to hurry the questions because they were freaking hot in their outfits. This I found amusing given who some thought they represented. They refuse to remove their outfits and {presumed} make-up in public and as a result no one has seen who they are. (There was probably a group of Finish postal workers suspiciously missing from work last week).
Here they are in all their finery thanks to youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py5Of-4kJ70.
Doubtful I am looking to buy the album...
Sunday, May 21, 2006
The News:
Attorney General: Jail the Reporters!
Our Attorney General believes the courts have the right to prosecute reporters for publishing secret material and information. Speaking on This Week he indicated that it was a possibility but further stated that it was up to Congress - which is a bit of a cop-out since he's the one doing the indicting. This story is covered extensively.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/22/MNGHDIVTMH1.DTL
VNU: Under new Ownership.
It is no doubt a relief to the management and employees of VNU that the venture capital backed acquisition of the company has been completed. As the dust settles, it will become clearer how much of a distraction this has been to management over the past 12 months reflected in potential asset sales, management changes and potentially more acqusitions down the line. Having completed this very large buyout, it also raises a question whether other venture capital deals will be struck with some of the other large information and content business.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12901694/
Bertelsmann in Public Offering:
The date by which Bertelsmann will have to decide whether to proceed with the offering forced on them by their Belgium partner is approaching. My money is on it not happening. http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1780128,00.html
China and Electronic Content
An interesting although short story in the Shanghai Daily speaks of a rapid rise in the comfort level with online books and articles. Perhaps this is no real story; however, like the generation jumping that took place with mobile phones versus land line phones in developing nations like China could we be witness to a similar trend for publishing. Admittedly there has been a lot of traditional publishing in China for hundreds of years but it is the US and European content the population craves and this material may be available only in digital form thereby forgoing the print format. Link: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/05/22/278690/More_bookworms_turn_to_Internet.htm
Duggan moving on From Disney:
Disney has appointed R. Russell Hampton as President of Disney Publishing. This is the licensing arm of Disney Publishing and doesn't impact Hyperion. http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=industryNews&storyID=2006-05-19T171913Z_01_N19429088_RTRIDST_0_INDUSTRY-MEDIA-DISNEY-DC.XML
BISG Annual Sales:
There are too many reports attempting to document the size of the US publishing marketplace. Last year, under the guidance of Jeff Abraham, BISG set out to take a new look at the manner in which data was compiled and the constituency represented in the sales data reported. The BISG reports had remained static for many years and it was about time that this revision was done. The results were extraordinary in that the surveys BISG compiled resulted in the addition of $8.0 billion to the generally accepted market value of the US publishing industry. The methodology stands up although there is some debate as to whether there is any double counting if the 'under the radar' numbers are added to the traditional sales numbers. This year BISG has combined what were essentially two reports last year into one. I believe BISG will continue to make progess in the next few subsequent reports that will address the remaining veracity issues and that we will end up with vastly more accurate data versus what has been available over the past several years.
http://www.bisg.org/publications/trends2006.html
Starling Laurence
Interesting article about the editor in chief of W W Norton. http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/18/features/novel.php
AMS hires Gary Rautenstrauch.
I recall a personal call from Philip Blackwell to tell me he had hired Gary to run their US operation based in Oregon - that was in November and things change fast. Gary is now the 'safe pair' of hands to get AMS back on the right track.
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=69436&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=856454&highlight=
Starbucks and Books:
Author tours and promotions, in store sales and events and of course coffee. What could be better? Will thier own publishing program be far behind? http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/books/16read.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Attorney General: Jail the Reporters!
Our Attorney General believes the courts have the right to prosecute reporters for publishing secret material and information. Speaking on This Week he indicated that it was a possibility but further stated that it was up to Congress - which is a bit of a cop-out since he's the one doing the indicting. This story is covered extensively.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/22/MNGHDIVTMH1.DTL
VNU: Under new Ownership.
It is no doubt a relief to the management and employees of VNU that the venture capital backed acquisition of the company has been completed. As the dust settles, it will become clearer how much of a distraction this has been to management over the past 12 months reflected in potential asset sales, management changes and potentially more acqusitions down the line. Having completed this very large buyout, it also raises a question whether other venture capital deals will be struck with some of the other large information and content business.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12901694/
Bertelsmann in Public Offering:
The date by which Bertelsmann will have to decide whether to proceed with the offering forced on them by their Belgium partner is approaching. My money is on it not happening. http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1780128,00.html
China and Electronic Content
An interesting although short story in the Shanghai Daily speaks of a rapid rise in the comfort level with online books and articles. Perhaps this is no real story; however, like the generation jumping that took place with mobile phones versus land line phones in developing nations like China could we be witness to a similar trend for publishing. Admittedly there has been a lot of traditional publishing in China for hundreds of years but it is the US and European content the population craves and this material may be available only in digital form thereby forgoing the print format. Link: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/05/22/278690/More_bookworms_turn_to_Internet.htm
Duggan moving on From Disney:
Disney has appointed R. Russell Hampton as President of Disney Publishing. This is the licensing arm of Disney Publishing and doesn't impact Hyperion. http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=industryNews&storyID=2006-05-19T171913Z_01_N19429088_RTRIDST_0_INDUSTRY-MEDIA-DISNEY-DC.XML
BISG Annual Sales:
There are too many reports attempting to document the size of the US publishing marketplace. Last year, under the guidance of Jeff Abraham, BISG set out to take a new look at the manner in which data was compiled and the constituency represented in the sales data reported. The BISG reports had remained static for many years and it was about time that this revision was done. The results were extraordinary in that the surveys BISG compiled resulted in the addition of $8.0 billion to the generally accepted market value of the US publishing industry. The methodology stands up although there is some debate as to whether there is any double counting if the 'under the radar' numbers are added to the traditional sales numbers. This year BISG has combined what were essentially two reports last year into one. I believe BISG will continue to make progess in the next few subsequent reports that will address the remaining veracity issues and that we will end up with vastly more accurate data versus what has been available over the past several years.
http://www.bisg.org/publications/trends2006.html
Starling Laurence
Interesting article about the editor in chief of W W Norton. http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/18/features/novel.php
AMS hires Gary Rautenstrauch.
I recall a personal call from Philip Blackwell to tell me he had hired Gary to run their US operation based in Oregon - that was in November and things change fast. Gary is now the 'safe pair' of hands to get AMS back on the right track.
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=69436&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=856454&highlight=
Starbucks and Books:
Author tours and promotions, in store sales and events and of course coffee. What could be better? Will thier own publishing program be far behind? http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/books/16read.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Watching the News
I watch a lot of news; NY local news, NBC, BBC, Local NJ news and Jon Stewart. Virtually without fail each evening we ask ourselves while watching the BBC news 'was this even mentioned on NBC'. It is readily apparent to me that the US news - in this case NBC - is bland, bias and boring. That is not to say the comparison - in this case the BBC - doesn't have its faults but we used to watch the network news for the broader view point and a bigger national and international perspective but network news just doesn't cut it. Routinely, the BBC news will have deeper analysis and reportage about US relevant issues - particularly the situation in Iraq and will also offer perspective and insight on stories domestically - New Orleans and the illegal immigration situation. In contrast NBC and the other networks are the comic book version of the news, providing glossed over stories, bland reporting and limited coverage.
Perhaps the strangest confluence of news stories this week, Newsnight with Jon Stewart did a story on illegal border crossings from Canada to the US and interviewed some poor misguided gent who singlehandedly is holding back the tide of illegal Canadian migrants (hockey players?). In the nature of Comedy Central this was conducted tongue in cheek but in a similar vein, the BBC interviewed a similar gent earlier this week from the South who was just as hard to understand and just as confusedly dangerous.
Perhaps the strangest confluence of news stories this week, Newsnight with Jon Stewart did a story on illegal border crossings from Canada to the US and interviewed some poor misguided gent who singlehandedly is holding back the tide of illegal Canadian migrants (hockey players?). In the nature of Comedy Central this was conducted tongue in cheek but in a similar vein, the BBC interviewed a similar gent earlier this week from the South who was just as hard to understand and just as confusedly dangerous.
Sunday, May 09, 1999
5/6/99: BookExpo99, St. Martins, Amazon.com, Primedia, Reuters, Barnes&Noble
Publishing News: May 7, 1999
BookExpo 1999
NuvoMedia, Announces RocketPress
St. Martin's Press Provides Golden With Parachute
Yahoo Life did it now eBay tries the Newstand
Amazon Buys Three Companies
Primedia for Sale
Newspapers are Dead
Fast Company Sale
Reuters Job Action
Miller Freeman Inc. Acquires CMP Media For $920 Million
Selling Books from Vending Machines
Barnes and Noble the Publisher
Economist Privacy Article
This is the last issue of Publishing News. Anyone interested in developing something similar should contact Ian Krantz. Anyone needing to get hold of me can e-mail me at mpcairns@sprintmail.com. Thanks for your support.
BookExpo 1999
At the BookExpo show in Los Angeles, the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) reported that last years trade sales declined for the first time in seven years. This information was in contrast to the popularly held belief that internet or online sales had expanded the market for books generally and further the report indicated that affluent educated readers are buying fewer titles. In the day prior to this announcement, I asked Peter Olson CEO of Randon House (who was participating in a panel discussion) that if the market share of online booksellers was to grow to 20-25% of the market by 2003 as is predicted by BCG and Jupiter Communications where he thought this additional share was going to come from. He responded by saying that he believed online sales were incremental to existing book sales and therefore there would occur limited shift from other traditional outlets. The BISG reported that online selling accounted for 2% of total sales last year and as has been the case over the past five years independent book store sales declined and chain stores saw their share of the market increase.
During the same panel discussion, Michael Lynton – CEO of Penguin Group commented that the current price model for online book selling would almost certainly change and that the biggest risk would be the negative gross margin model. “If someone were to take all front list titles and sell them at a loss this would radically change the model for selling publishing product online.” Such companies sell ‘below the line’ products such as credit cards, services and advertising as sources of income. Priceline.com is the most recent example of a model that didn’t really exist on the web six months ago.
While at the show I also had a conversation with Mike Lovett who is the CEO/President of the Ingram Distribution Company. We spoke about the proposed purchase by Barnes and Noble of the company and he is convinced that the merger will go ahead. “They have interviewed – which is a polite way of saying deposed – many, many B&N and Ingram people over the past six months as well as others in the industry” he commented and that the Justice department he believed were ‘trying their best to understand the publishing industry.’ At this point he thinks that the original issues with the merger have been answered and that there may be some request to reduce operations in certain areas but for them it wouldn’t be a big deal. I would think that the transcripts from this review would be interesting reading for anyone interested in this industry.
At the BookExpo show, a company named On Demand Machine Corp displayed a book printing system that can print and bind a standard trade paper back in a machine which measures eight feet by four feet. This machine is designed to fit in a bookstore and can both store electronic titles in its memory and call up additional titles from the company head office via satellite. Customers can order the books, confirm the title is the one they want and purchase using a credit card. The transaction takes a little more than five minutes. The first full implementation is scheduled to take place in June at The Tattered Cover in Denver. My guess is you will see similar machines at Kinkos, Airports and other public places in the not too distant future.
Other interesting comments from panel discussions at BookExpo:
The traditional book distribution channel poses too many problems for some publishers particularly those which are smaller. The difficulty they face is not the risk people will copy their books rather that customers couldn’t find them in the first place. Placing content on the web actually increased sales of the printed product by 30%. National Academic Press and Rough Guides are examples of this. Additionally, McGraw Hill’s Beta Books have been so successful on line (while still generating bookstore sales) that the company is expanding the availability on the internet of non technical titles as well.
Many people commented that the highest risk job in publishing is ‘International Rights Manager.’
Xerox has developed a product that allows the production of a book anywhere in the world via web ordering. There will be literally 100,000’s of titles which were previously ‘out of print’ available via print on demand to individuals over the next five years. Additionally, what are now considered ‘non viable’ titles by publishers will also be made available as publishers make publishing investments without the huge investment in large volume printing. Coupled with this, some projections assume that front list sales will decline as a percentage of total sales as back list sales increase.
NuvoMedia, Announces RocketPress NuvoMedia, Inc., the creators of the Rocket eBook, announced the introduction of RocketPress(TM), a turnkey solution that provides a full spectrum of publishing services for RocketEdition(TM) content. With the announcement of this free Web-based feature, publishing companies as well as self-publishing authors can become publishers of RocketEdition titles. The easy-to-use RocketPress works as a free Web-based interface that allows publishers and individuals to control and monitor the publishing process of RocketEditions from end to end. Users can upload manuscripts into RocketEdition format for distribution over the Web; set the price of a publication; determine the timing of a RocketEdition release; list, preview, edit, and withdraw titles; and view and change title information and status. The service also lets users view or download a record of all transactions associated with a RocketEdition title, while affording state-of-the-Web security protection. As with all aspects of the Rocket eBook System, the RocketPress fits into the existing publishing business model, including full support of such necessary details such as territorial rights.
Source: PRNewswire 4/28/99
St. Martin's Press Provides Golden With Parachute Golden Books Family Entertainment and St. Martin's Press last week announced the acquisition of Golden Books Adult Publishing Group by St. Martin's Press. Golden Books has been beset by financial problems recently and this sale required the approval of a US Bankruptcy Court Judge. The transaction will include the Golden Field Guides, Whitman Coin Guides and such successful titles as Stephen R. Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families", Maria Shriver's "What's Heaven?" and "Parents' Magazine Parents Answer Book." Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. St. Martin's Press is one of the seven largest trade publishers in the United States. Based in New York, it publishes more than 1,800 new titles per year through its five publishing divisions. Golden Books Family Entertainment, Inc., is the leading children's book publisher in North America. The Company owns one of the world's largest libraries of family entertainment copyrights and creates, publishes and markets entertainment products for children and families through all media.
Source: Business Wire 4/26/99
Yahoo Life did it now eBay tries the Newstand
In July you will be able to read eBay, the magazine. Krause Publications, a Wisconsin-based publisher, plans to start publishing a monthly magazine planned to help readers navigate the ins and outs of online auctions. Although the name of the magazine is yet to be decided, the name and brand cachet of eBay will be prominent, says the publication's executive editor, Kevin Isaacson. Its tagline will be: Your roadmap to treasures on the Internet. Isaacson says his initial circulation goal is 400,000. Isaacson says Krause has a marketing partnership with eBay, but eBay hasn't invested in the launch of the magazine.
Source: Business Week, 4/22/99
Amazon Buys Three Companies
Amazon.com Inc has agreed to buy three closely held online companies, including rare book and music seller Exchange.com, for a total of $645 million, mostly in stock – don’t ya love that! The site is home to bibliofind.com, which allows users to buy and sell rare books, and musicfile.com, which provides the same service for fans of recorded music and memorabilia. The company employs about 40 people and had secured about $16 million in venture capital, according to an April 5 article in the Boston Business Journal. The two other companies are Accept.com, which is developing ways to simplify online transactions, and Alexa Internet, which offers a free service to help people navigate the Web. The purchases are the latest by Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Bezos to expand Amazon.com's selection of products and services and draw more customers to its Web sites. The retailer two weeks ago agreed to buy LiveBid.com to add live events to its fledgling auction business and recently bought stakes in Drugstore.com and Pets.com, two retailers that operate Web sites.
Source: PRNewswire 4/22/99
Primedia for Sale
Primedia plans to sell its supplemental education group to streamline operations and reduce debt. The company expects to receive $500MM for the group. There was also speculation the company will sell other units separately. In other news Primedia announced it was setting up two autonomous internet companies to deliver integrated consumer and business oriented content derived from their consumer and trade publications. In addition to the content from the existing 350 titles the company plans on using content from its existing 180 print linked web pages. Details of the plans were sketchy with no indication as to how these companies will operate with the existing Primedia properties; however, the company has indicated tha these new internet companies will be entirely separate from Primedia with their own boards of directors and new senior management. Primedia is actively searching for CEO’s for these businesses. The model appears to be the VerticalNet.com model which offers information and business solutions to subscribers across the value chain. Primedia’s stock price rose dramatically on the news at one point going from $13.56 to $18.69.
Newspapers are Dead
Andy Grove, after being invited to speak at the National Association of Newspaper Editors, told them that ‘newspapers are close to death’ – seems a bit harsh given they were paying for his expenses. Grove believes that because the internet offers instant access to the days events that the traditional role of newspapers has disappeared coupled with emerging problems with advertising – particularly classified – newspapers will be out of business in three to five years.
Fast Company Sale
Appears Fast Company is for sale. The company is shopping the title to Conde Nasty, and a couple of other unnamed companies. Mort Zuckermann is looking to reduce his financial commitment to the three year old magazine, which despite being one of the hottest properties in the business is still not making money. (This is not unusual as it generally takes five years for an new publications to turn a profit). Which reminds me… is there any saving the New York Daily News? They have had major problems transitioning to a new printing plant in Brooklyn which is by some counts a year behind schedule, the color presses at said plant don’t work after an investment of $100MM and now a Brooklyn judge has award a union group millions in accrued back pay at a time when new negotiations are to start with journalists over their contracts. The union award (which could cost over $100MM) is being appealed. Stay tuned.
Reuters Job Action
You will not read this on Reuters newswire: Reuters staff (600 of them) recently voted to strike by a 10 to 1 margin. No word on when this would take place.
Miller Freeman Inc. Acquires CMP Media For $920 Million United News plc unit Miller Freeman announced the purchase of CMP, a leading US technology media company, for $39 per share, a net total cash consideration of $920 million. Rumors about the future of CMP have circulated for months and as a result of this sale CMP will become a division of Miller Freeman Inc. Ad pages in the technical pubs sector are declining and are down 14% for the first quarter this year versus last year and according to AdAge CMP’s pages are down 27%. The combination of Miller Freeman's trade show and publishing businesses and CMP's publishing and internet assets will transform Miller Freeman Inc. into one of the leading market-focused business media groups serving the U.S. and global high-tech sector. It will represent over 300 publications, 480 trade shows and conferences, 250 web sites and revenue approaching $1.5Bill. The acquisition also represents a major step forward in Miller Freeman's strategy to become a leading online provider of business-to-business products and services for the technology market. The merged online businesses are expected to achieve revenues of $35 million in 2000, and to grow rapidly thereafter. The acquisition represents a continuation of the consolidation taking place in the trade magazine publishing business. AdAge also commented that Miller Freeman may also IPO the web site CMPnet before the year is out and it seems clear that without the web sites CMP may have been sold for less than $400MM.
Source: PR Newswire 4/29/88
Selling Books from Vending Machines
A proposal I presented five years ago at Berlitz; a company in the UK will begin selling trade paperbacks from vending machines in the next few months. The machines will be located at Airports and Rail Stations in the UK. Heck, if you can sell bait and beer out of them you certainly should be able to sell books. (I only put this in to show how brilliant I am).
Barnes and Noble the Publisher
An original Barnes and Noble publishing title will be reviewed by the New York Times Book Review; a first. Barnes and Noble your everyday publisher, distributor, book retailer – isn’t this illegal in the US? No wonder they are being circumspect about it; apparently the book is not in Books and Print – so booksellers can’t find it and they have not offered it for sale to Ingram (gee I wonder why). At this point the book is only available in Barnes and Noble stores.
Economist Privacy Article
Anyone interested in the issue of privacy on the internet should read the article in this weeks (May 1st) Economist. Scary stuff.
BookExpo 1999
NuvoMedia, Announces RocketPress
St. Martin's Press Provides Golden With Parachute
Yahoo Life did it now eBay tries the Newstand
Amazon Buys Three Companies
Primedia for Sale
Newspapers are Dead
Fast Company Sale
Reuters Job Action
Miller Freeman Inc. Acquires CMP Media For $920 Million
Selling Books from Vending Machines
Barnes and Noble the Publisher
Economist Privacy Article
This is the last issue of Publishing News. Anyone interested in developing something similar should contact Ian Krantz. Anyone needing to get hold of me can e-mail me at mpcairns@sprintmail.com. Thanks for your support.
BookExpo 1999
At the BookExpo show in Los Angeles, the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) reported that last years trade sales declined for the first time in seven years. This information was in contrast to the popularly held belief that internet or online sales had expanded the market for books generally and further the report indicated that affluent educated readers are buying fewer titles. In the day prior to this announcement, I asked Peter Olson CEO of Randon House (who was participating in a panel discussion) that if the market share of online booksellers was to grow to 20-25% of the market by 2003 as is predicted by BCG and Jupiter Communications where he thought this additional share was going to come from. He responded by saying that he believed online sales were incremental to existing book sales and therefore there would occur limited shift from other traditional outlets. The BISG reported that online selling accounted for 2% of total sales last year and as has been the case over the past five years independent book store sales declined and chain stores saw their share of the market increase.
During the same panel discussion, Michael Lynton – CEO of Penguin Group commented that the current price model for online book selling would almost certainly change and that the biggest risk would be the negative gross margin model. “If someone were to take all front list titles and sell them at a loss this would radically change the model for selling publishing product online.” Such companies sell ‘below the line’ products such as credit cards, services and advertising as sources of income. Priceline.com is the most recent example of a model that didn’t really exist on the web six months ago.
While at the show I also had a conversation with Mike Lovett who is the CEO/President of the Ingram Distribution Company. We spoke about the proposed purchase by Barnes and Noble of the company and he is convinced that the merger will go ahead. “They have interviewed – which is a polite way of saying deposed – many, many B&N and Ingram people over the past six months as well as others in the industry” he commented and that the Justice department he believed were ‘trying their best to understand the publishing industry.’ At this point he thinks that the original issues with the merger have been answered and that there may be some request to reduce operations in certain areas but for them it wouldn’t be a big deal. I would think that the transcripts from this review would be interesting reading for anyone interested in this industry.
At the BookExpo show, a company named On Demand Machine Corp displayed a book printing system that can print and bind a standard trade paper back in a machine which measures eight feet by four feet. This machine is designed to fit in a bookstore and can both store electronic titles in its memory and call up additional titles from the company head office via satellite. Customers can order the books, confirm the title is the one they want and purchase using a credit card. The transaction takes a little more than five minutes. The first full implementation is scheduled to take place in June at The Tattered Cover in Denver. My guess is you will see similar machines at Kinkos, Airports and other public places in the not too distant future.
Other interesting comments from panel discussions at BookExpo:
The traditional book distribution channel poses too many problems for some publishers particularly those which are smaller. The difficulty they face is not the risk people will copy their books rather that customers couldn’t find them in the first place. Placing content on the web actually increased sales of the printed product by 30%. National Academic Press and Rough Guides are examples of this. Additionally, McGraw Hill’s Beta Books have been so successful on line (while still generating bookstore sales) that the company is expanding the availability on the internet of non technical titles as well.
Many people commented that the highest risk job in publishing is ‘International Rights Manager.’
Xerox has developed a product that allows the production of a book anywhere in the world via web ordering. There will be literally 100,000’s of titles which were previously ‘out of print’ available via print on demand to individuals over the next five years. Additionally, what are now considered ‘non viable’ titles by publishers will also be made available as publishers make publishing investments without the huge investment in large volume printing. Coupled with this, some projections assume that front list sales will decline as a percentage of total sales as back list sales increase.
NuvoMedia, Announces RocketPress NuvoMedia, Inc., the creators of the Rocket eBook, announced the introduction of RocketPress(TM), a turnkey solution that provides a full spectrum of publishing services for RocketEdition(TM) content. With the announcement of this free Web-based feature, publishing companies as well as self-publishing authors can become publishers of RocketEdition titles. The easy-to-use RocketPress works as a free Web-based interface that allows publishers and individuals to control and monitor the publishing process of RocketEditions from end to end. Users can upload manuscripts into RocketEdition format for distribution over the Web; set the price of a publication; determine the timing of a RocketEdition release; list, preview, edit, and withdraw titles; and view and change title information and status. The service also lets users view or download a record of all transactions associated with a RocketEdition title, while affording state-of-the-Web security protection. As with all aspects of the Rocket eBook System, the RocketPress fits into the existing publishing business model, including full support of such necessary details such as territorial rights.
Source: PRNewswire 4/28/99
St. Martin's Press Provides Golden With Parachute Golden Books Family Entertainment and St. Martin's Press last week announced the acquisition of Golden Books Adult Publishing Group by St. Martin's Press. Golden Books has been beset by financial problems recently and this sale required the approval of a US Bankruptcy Court Judge. The transaction will include the Golden Field Guides, Whitman Coin Guides and such successful titles as Stephen R. Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families", Maria Shriver's "What's Heaven?" and "Parents' Magazine Parents Answer Book." Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. St. Martin's Press is one of the seven largest trade publishers in the United States. Based in New York, it publishes more than 1,800 new titles per year through its five publishing divisions. Golden Books Family Entertainment, Inc., is the leading children's book publisher in North America. The Company owns one of the world's largest libraries of family entertainment copyrights and creates, publishes and markets entertainment products for children and families through all media.
Source: Business Wire 4/26/99
Yahoo Life did it now eBay tries the Newstand
In July you will be able to read eBay, the magazine. Krause Publications, a Wisconsin-based publisher, plans to start publishing a monthly magazine planned to help readers navigate the ins and outs of online auctions. Although the name of the magazine is yet to be decided, the name and brand cachet of eBay will be prominent, says the publication's executive editor, Kevin Isaacson. Its tagline will be: Your roadmap to treasures on the Internet. Isaacson says his initial circulation goal is 400,000. Isaacson says Krause has a marketing partnership with eBay, but eBay hasn't invested in the launch of the magazine.
Source: Business Week, 4/22/99
Amazon Buys Three Companies
Amazon.com Inc has agreed to buy three closely held online companies, including rare book and music seller Exchange.com, for a total of $645 million, mostly in stock – don’t ya love that! The site is home to bibliofind.com, which allows users to buy and sell rare books, and musicfile.com, which provides the same service for fans of recorded music and memorabilia. The company employs about 40 people and had secured about $16 million in venture capital, according to an April 5 article in the Boston Business Journal. The two other companies are Accept.com, which is developing ways to simplify online transactions, and Alexa Internet, which offers a free service to help people navigate the Web. The purchases are the latest by Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Bezos to expand Amazon.com's selection of products and services and draw more customers to its Web sites. The retailer two weeks ago agreed to buy LiveBid.com to add live events to its fledgling auction business and recently bought stakes in Drugstore.com and Pets.com, two retailers that operate Web sites.
Source: PRNewswire 4/22/99
Primedia for Sale
Primedia plans to sell its supplemental education group to streamline operations and reduce debt. The company expects to receive $500MM for the group. There was also speculation the company will sell other units separately. In other news Primedia announced it was setting up two autonomous internet companies to deliver integrated consumer and business oriented content derived from their consumer and trade publications. In addition to the content from the existing 350 titles the company plans on using content from its existing 180 print linked web pages. Details of the plans were sketchy with no indication as to how these companies will operate with the existing Primedia properties; however, the company has indicated tha these new internet companies will be entirely separate from Primedia with their own boards of directors and new senior management. Primedia is actively searching for CEO’s for these businesses. The model appears to be the VerticalNet.com model which offers information and business solutions to subscribers across the value chain. Primedia’s stock price rose dramatically on the news at one point going from $13.56 to $18.69.
Newspapers are Dead
Andy Grove, after being invited to speak at the National Association of Newspaper Editors, told them that ‘newspapers are close to death’ – seems a bit harsh given they were paying for his expenses. Grove believes that because the internet offers instant access to the days events that the traditional role of newspapers has disappeared coupled with emerging problems with advertising – particularly classified – newspapers will be out of business in three to five years.
Fast Company Sale
Appears Fast Company is for sale. The company is shopping the title to Conde Nasty, and a couple of other unnamed companies. Mort Zuckermann is looking to reduce his financial commitment to the three year old magazine, which despite being one of the hottest properties in the business is still not making money. (This is not unusual as it generally takes five years for an new publications to turn a profit). Which reminds me… is there any saving the New York Daily News? They have had major problems transitioning to a new printing plant in Brooklyn which is by some counts a year behind schedule, the color presses at said plant don’t work after an investment of $100MM and now a Brooklyn judge has award a union group millions in accrued back pay at a time when new negotiations are to start with journalists over their contracts. The union award (which could cost over $100MM) is being appealed. Stay tuned.
Reuters Job Action
You will not read this on Reuters newswire: Reuters staff (600 of them) recently voted to strike by a 10 to 1 margin. No word on when this would take place.
Miller Freeman Inc. Acquires CMP Media For $920 Million United News plc unit Miller Freeman announced the purchase of CMP, a leading US technology media company, for $39 per share, a net total cash consideration of $920 million. Rumors about the future of CMP have circulated for months and as a result of this sale CMP will become a division of Miller Freeman Inc. Ad pages in the technical pubs sector are declining and are down 14% for the first quarter this year versus last year and according to AdAge CMP’s pages are down 27%. The combination of Miller Freeman's trade show and publishing businesses and CMP's publishing and internet assets will transform Miller Freeman Inc. into one of the leading market-focused business media groups serving the U.S. and global high-tech sector. It will represent over 300 publications, 480 trade shows and conferences, 250 web sites and revenue approaching $1.5Bill. The acquisition also represents a major step forward in Miller Freeman's strategy to become a leading online provider of business-to-business products and services for the technology market. The merged online businesses are expected to achieve revenues of $35 million in 2000, and to grow rapidly thereafter. The acquisition represents a continuation of the consolidation taking place in the trade magazine publishing business. AdAge also commented that Miller Freeman may also IPO the web site CMPnet before the year is out and it seems clear that without the web sites CMP may have been sold for less than $400MM.
Source: PR Newswire 4/29/88
Selling Books from Vending Machines
A proposal I presented five years ago at Berlitz; a company in the UK will begin selling trade paperbacks from vending machines in the next few months. The machines will be located at Airports and Rail Stations in the UK. Heck, if you can sell bait and beer out of them you certainly should be able to sell books. (I only put this in to show how brilliant I am).
Barnes and Noble the Publisher
An original Barnes and Noble publishing title will be reviewed by the New York Times Book Review; a first. Barnes and Noble your everyday publisher, distributor, book retailer – isn’t this illegal in the US? No wonder they are being circumspect about it; apparently the book is not in Books and Print – so booksellers can’t find it and they have not offered it for sale to Ingram (gee I wonder why). At this point the book is only available in Barnes and Noble stores.
Economist Privacy Article
Anyone interested in the issue of privacy on the internet should read the article in this weeks (May 1st) Economist. Scary stuff.
Saturday, May 01, 1999
Interactive Marketing: Do You Know Which Half Works?
National Association of Broadcasters Conference, Las Vegas, May 1999
By: Michael Cairns and Marisa Kabasinskas
Benny Hill, the British comic, may have been more prophetic than anyone ever gave him credit for. In one skit, Benny plays a woman who professes to have watched more TV programs continuously than anyone else in Britain. Turns out - which is supposed to be the funny bit - that Benny only watches the ads and leaves the room to make a cup of tea when the programs come on. This is funny because we consider ads to be an intrusion - we leave the room, we fast forward the VCR through the ads, we avoid them at all cost. With the advent of interactive marketing we are now being told that the end of the unwanted advertisement is at hand. Interactive and database marketing promises to finally 'close the loop' between ad delivery and performance. The answer to the famous advertising adage, 'half of advertising is wasted, but we don't know which half' may finally be possible.
Of no news to anyone in this industry is the explosive growth of interactive marketing. As access to the Internet broadens and grows, the ability for media firms to succeed - be they publishing, advertising, interactive or broadcast - will center around the development and sustainability of Web sites, deals, alliances and communities. In the near future, media firms will be more focused on and by their audience rather than their content. As a consequence, they will be able to charge premiums for delivery of that audience to advertisers.
How Will the Paradigm Change?
One might ask how the above contrasts with today's media environment when NBC delivers a specific audience on Thursday nights. We believe that the interactive (future) paradigm will exceed the passive (current) environment in its ability to accurately identify and deliver targeted advertising and create a response from the viewer. When advertising is addressed accurately, we won't want to leave the room. Database marketing will ensure that the respondent is predisposed to a particular message and, more importantly, the advertiser will have documented and detailed information on the effectiveness of the particular message they are delivering to us. Direct marketers call this a response rate.
Before the online world, there existed a fundamental distinction between advertising and direct response.
Generally speaking, advertising in its purest form is all about reach and frequency - building brand awareness. Exposure to advertising - particularly broadcast - is rarely designed to 'elicit' a response. Direct marketing, on the other hand, does precisely the opposite. We believe this will change as traditional advertisers begin to discover "e-commerce" as a critical revenue stream. To date, their interactive marketing efforts have focused on a Web presence - brand building - rather than a transaction oriented approach. While transaction oriented companies - Amazon.com, The Gap - generate sales through online advertising, traditional marketers are still searching for the value in a banner ad. Consumer products companies such as Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola are working to determine how their online brand strategy fits with their overall brand management strategy when the consumer can control the purchase decision-making process while surfing the Internet. With convergence of broadcast and online a certainty, broadcasters will also be required to deliver both brand-oriented advertising and direct (transaction) marketing, increasing the overlap in these two objectives - building brands and generating transactions.
On the Internet, the consumer is exposed to directed advertising, can view the specific product, compare prices and conduct independent research, make a purchase decision and initiate the purchase.
The consumer controls all aspects of this chain of events. The marketer is able to correlate the performance of a particular promotional vehicle; i.e., an advertisement, with specific results. For the most part, goals targeted in 'conventional' media have been geared to achieving reach and frequency targets and not to quantifying the effect of the marketing effort on sales. As digital TV becomes more prevalent, the ability for broadcasters to tailor advertising messages and direct mail will increase. Moreover, we will see a fundamental change in the manner in which we view television. The digital TV screen will allow segmentation so that when we view that ad during the Super Bowl on one side of the screen, we can also experience the product and click on the order button on the other side. It will work with programming as well; team merchandise, product placement in TV shows and movies, package vacations on travel shows, etc., will all be part of the directed advertising in the interactive world. In many ways, one can assert that the networks were the original 'portals'; it is digital TV that will allow them to leverage their market size, content and audience in the interactive world. What Do You Need to Change to Stay Competitive?
The online environment has the potential to become the most accountable advertising medium available to merchants. Yet while marketers are driven towards being able to quantify their return on investment, online advertising agencies do not currently have the ability to tie the delivery of an ad message to its actual performance (at least as precisely as is envisioned). As is routinely reported in the trade press, all view this capability as a key strategic goal. In fact, for the reasons above, this ability will be a price of entry into the online advertising business within 18 months. Currently, it is commerce sites - Amazon.com, Dell.com, Expedia.com and others - whom are able to deliver specific audiences based on their affiliate and affinity marketing programs, customer profiles and visiting/viewing habits. These 'communities' of like people will prove to be the 'holy grail' for marketers.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is helping our clients develop the infrastructure and technical environment to compete in this area. Currently, we are working with an interactive agency in the development of a data warehouse solution which will enable them to report to clients on the performance of a specific ad on a specific Web page. Not only will this allow optimization of both the media buy and the creative, it will also allow the agency to present clients with strategic marketing information supported by proven advertising messages - e.g., sales by Web sites and creative unit. In pitching new clients, this agency will be able show the past performance of advertising they created for similar types of clients using specific media (Web sites). Additionally, the data warehouse will allow them to catalogue all their creative with metadata (descriptors), documenting in summary form the actual performance of the creative for every occasion it was used. Armed with this type of information on media and creative performance takes marketing to a whole new level, enabling interactive agencies to partner with their clients by not only influencing purchasing behavior but driving that behavior.
We envision an environment where (online) advertising agencies will become broadcasters of advertising messages and concepts for clients. Rather than developing individual broad-based campaigns, agencies will deliver a constant stream of specific targeted advertising messages on behalf of clients. Advertising will be 'tagged' with demographic data, target market, direct sales data/response data, etc. Clients - if they choose - will be able to pick and choose the messages they want to use for particular products and services and/or messages. Ads with a 'history' of performance maintain a profile so that advertisers and clients can predict how particular ads will perform under particular circumstances. This will encourage a three-way path of communication between the advertiser, client (marketer) and customer. All of this information will be collected in a data warehouse application for analysis, and current and future marketing.
Given that we believe this type of "closed loop" application will be a requirement for entry, it will also mean that the technology driving this will eventually become a commodity. Agencies will be back to providing good and effective creative and cogent strategic advice. The difference will be that in contrast to today's environment, these activities will be backed up with actual data, and their ability to measure the return on investment (advertising) will be a transactional requirement. In direct mail, any mailing has a key code to track the performance of the mailing, but the analysis of results is delayed. Moreover, all the expense is up-front and sunk the moment the material is printed. In the interactive world, ads which don't work can be switched out as soon as the performance is apparent - sometimes within hours. There is no sunk distribution cost other than the cost of the failed ad, but even this ad could conceivably be used again on a different Web site. The ad is simply deposited into electronic storage with its metadata.
Marriage of On-Line and Database Marketing
Perhaps the best example of the change in this industry is evidenced by Peter Georgescu, Chairman of Young & Rubicam, who believes that advertising is becoming more predictable and measurable and is encouraging clients to pay not on a commission basis but a fee based on results achieved. The difficulty is to agree what defines success, especially when the advertising is brand driven and not transactional. This is where common standards need to be defined.
In the intervening time, standard audience measurement guidelines and definitions are required. Recently, the two largest online research monitors, Media Metrix and Relevant Knowledge, agreed to merge, increasing the likelihood that a standard measurement methodology will emerge in the near future. An industry association is also considering standards to cover ratings services, server logs of site traffic and third-party ad-server reports. And Nielsen, the leading provider on television ratings, has recently announced its service to supply Web-site ratings and track Internet traffic.
With the hype surrounding anything.com, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that a still relatively small amount of commerce is transacted on the Web, or that daily use of the Web is still small and not broad- based. Regardless, the interactive environment is fundamentally changing the manner in which advertisers and media companies view their relationship with customers. In these days of increasing clutter and short attention spans, we don't want to be bothered with advertising or programming that we are not interested in or predisposed to. Online marketing married to database marketing will allow marketers to effectively manage their ad spend and draw the precise relationship between an advertising event and a transaction.
By: Michael Cairns and Marisa Kabasinskas
Benny Hill, the British comic, may have been more prophetic than anyone ever gave him credit for. In one skit, Benny plays a woman who professes to have watched more TV programs continuously than anyone else in Britain. Turns out - which is supposed to be the funny bit - that Benny only watches the ads and leaves the room to make a cup of tea when the programs come on. This is funny because we consider ads to be an intrusion - we leave the room, we fast forward the VCR through the ads, we avoid them at all cost. With the advent of interactive marketing we are now being told that the end of the unwanted advertisement is at hand. Interactive and database marketing promises to finally 'close the loop' between ad delivery and performance. The answer to the famous advertising adage, 'half of advertising is wasted, but we don't know which half' may finally be possible.
Of no news to anyone in this industry is the explosive growth of interactive marketing. As access to the Internet broadens and grows, the ability for media firms to succeed - be they publishing, advertising, interactive or broadcast - will center around the development and sustainability of Web sites, deals, alliances and communities. In the near future, media firms will be more focused on and by their audience rather than their content. As a consequence, they will be able to charge premiums for delivery of that audience to advertisers.
How Will the Paradigm Change?
One might ask how the above contrasts with today's media environment when NBC delivers a specific audience on Thursday nights. We believe that the interactive (future) paradigm will exceed the passive (current) environment in its ability to accurately identify and deliver targeted advertising and create a response from the viewer. When advertising is addressed accurately, we won't want to leave the room. Database marketing will ensure that the respondent is predisposed to a particular message and, more importantly, the advertiser will have documented and detailed information on the effectiveness of the particular message they are delivering to us. Direct marketers call this a response rate.
Before the online world, there existed a fundamental distinction between advertising and direct response.
Generally speaking, advertising in its purest form is all about reach and frequency - building brand awareness. Exposure to advertising - particularly broadcast - is rarely designed to 'elicit' a response. Direct marketing, on the other hand, does precisely the opposite. We believe this will change as traditional advertisers begin to discover "e-commerce" as a critical revenue stream. To date, their interactive marketing efforts have focused on a Web presence - brand building - rather than a transaction oriented approach. While transaction oriented companies - Amazon.com, The Gap - generate sales through online advertising, traditional marketers are still searching for the value in a banner ad. Consumer products companies such as Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola are working to determine how their online brand strategy fits with their overall brand management strategy when the consumer can control the purchase decision-making process while surfing the Internet. With convergence of broadcast and online a certainty, broadcasters will also be required to deliver both brand-oriented advertising and direct (transaction) marketing, increasing the overlap in these two objectives - building brands and generating transactions.
On the Internet, the consumer is exposed to directed advertising, can view the specific product, compare prices and conduct independent research, make a purchase decision and initiate the purchase.
The consumer controls all aspects of this chain of events. The marketer is able to correlate the performance of a particular promotional vehicle; i.e., an advertisement, with specific results. For the most part, goals targeted in 'conventional' media have been geared to achieving reach and frequency targets and not to quantifying the effect of the marketing effort on sales. As digital TV becomes more prevalent, the ability for broadcasters to tailor advertising messages and direct mail will increase. Moreover, we will see a fundamental change in the manner in which we view television. The digital TV screen will allow segmentation so that when we view that ad during the Super Bowl on one side of the screen, we can also experience the product and click on the order button on the other side. It will work with programming as well; team merchandise, product placement in TV shows and movies, package vacations on travel shows, etc., will all be part of the directed advertising in the interactive world. In many ways, one can assert that the networks were the original 'portals'; it is digital TV that will allow them to leverage their market size, content and audience in the interactive world. What Do You Need to Change to Stay Competitive?
The online environment has the potential to become the most accountable advertising medium available to merchants. Yet while marketers are driven towards being able to quantify their return on investment, online advertising agencies do not currently have the ability to tie the delivery of an ad message to its actual performance (at least as precisely as is envisioned). As is routinely reported in the trade press, all view this capability as a key strategic goal. In fact, for the reasons above, this ability will be a price of entry into the online advertising business within 18 months. Currently, it is commerce sites - Amazon.com, Dell.com, Expedia.com and others - whom are able to deliver specific audiences based on their affiliate and affinity marketing programs, customer profiles and visiting/viewing habits. These 'communities' of like people will prove to be the 'holy grail' for marketers.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is helping our clients develop the infrastructure and technical environment to compete in this area. Currently, we are working with an interactive agency in the development of a data warehouse solution which will enable them to report to clients on the performance of a specific ad on a specific Web page. Not only will this allow optimization of both the media buy and the creative, it will also allow the agency to present clients with strategic marketing information supported by proven advertising messages - e.g., sales by Web sites and creative unit. In pitching new clients, this agency will be able show the past performance of advertising they created for similar types of clients using specific media (Web sites). Additionally, the data warehouse will allow them to catalogue all their creative with metadata (descriptors), documenting in summary form the actual performance of the creative for every occasion it was used. Armed with this type of information on media and creative performance takes marketing to a whole new level, enabling interactive agencies to partner with their clients by not only influencing purchasing behavior but driving that behavior.
We envision an environment where (online) advertising agencies will become broadcasters of advertising messages and concepts for clients. Rather than developing individual broad-based campaigns, agencies will deliver a constant stream of specific targeted advertising messages on behalf of clients. Advertising will be 'tagged' with demographic data, target market, direct sales data/response data, etc. Clients - if they choose - will be able to pick and choose the messages they want to use for particular products and services and/or messages. Ads with a 'history' of performance maintain a profile so that advertisers and clients can predict how particular ads will perform under particular circumstances. This will encourage a three-way path of communication between the advertiser, client (marketer) and customer. All of this information will be collected in a data warehouse application for analysis, and current and future marketing.
Given that we believe this type of "closed loop" application will be a requirement for entry, it will also mean that the technology driving this will eventually become a commodity. Agencies will be back to providing good and effective creative and cogent strategic advice. The difference will be that in contrast to today's environment, these activities will be backed up with actual data, and their ability to measure the return on investment (advertising) will be a transactional requirement. In direct mail, any mailing has a key code to track the performance of the mailing, but the analysis of results is delayed. Moreover, all the expense is up-front and sunk the moment the material is printed. In the interactive world, ads which don't work can be switched out as soon as the performance is apparent - sometimes within hours. There is no sunk distribution cost other than the cost of the failed ad, but even this ad could conceivably be used again on a different Web site. The ad is simply deposited into electronic storage with its metadata.
Marriage of On-Line and Database Marketing
Perhaps the best example of the change in this industry is evidenced by Peter Georgescu, Chairman of Young & Rubicam, who believes that advertising is becoming more predictable and measurable and is encouraging clients to pay not on a commission basis but a fee based on results achieved. The difficulty is to agree what defines success, especially when the advertising is brand driven and not transactional. This is where common standards need to be defined.
In the intervening time, standard audience measurement guidelines and definitions are required. Recently, the two largest online research monitors, Media Metrix and Relevant Knowledge, agreed to merge, increasing the likelihood that a standard measurement methodology will emerge in the near future. An industry association is also considering standards to cover ratings services, server logs of site traffic and third-party ad-server reports. And Nielsen, the leading provider on television ratings, has recently announced its service to supply Web-site ratings and track Internet traffic.
With the hype surrounding anything.com, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that a still relatively small amount of commerce is transacted on the Web, or that daily use of the Web is still small and not broad- based. Regardless, the interactive environment is fundamentally changing the manner in which advertisers and media companies view their relationship with customers. In these days of increasing clutter and short attention spans, we don't want to be bothered with advertising or programming that we are not interested in or predisposed to. Online marketing married to database marketing will allow marketers to effectively manage their ad spend and draw the precise relationship between an advertising event and a transaction.
Wednesday, April 14, 1999
4/14/99: Reed Elsevier, Pearson, Amazon.com
Publishing News: April 14th, 1999
Reed Elesevier: No CEO
Pearson Seeks Legal Aid
WH Smith: Web Fever
American Booksellers Association Internet Commerce
Amazon.com Look For Distribution Improvements
CMP Media: On the Block?
Magazine Sell Through Keeps Falling
Reed Elsevier: No CEO
Reed Elsevier announced this week that the search for a new CEO to replace the two men who currently hold the position is going to have to continue. Rumors had it the company was close to announcing a replacement – rumored to be Jon Newcomb - a few weeks ago when they announced their quarterly financials. There are no indications how long the search will take or who maybe under consideration. Also, the company said two of its directors, Pierre Vinken and Loek van Vollenhoven, have resigned ``following differences of opinion over the management of the recruitment board.'' Both were to have retired from the board in the next few weeks. In the days since the report surfaced other rumors about Reed’s future have also come out. Wolters Kluwer is said to be interested in revisiting the merger discussions which were put on ice last year when the European commission indicated they would have monopoly concerns regarding any combinations of the two companies. Reed Elsevier later said released a statement saying that there were no plans to de-merge the company and that publishing and information were key components of the company’s strategy.
Source: Reuters April 6, 1999.
Pearson Seeks Legal Aid
Pearson has launched a multimillion dollar lawsuit against venture capital group Hicks Muse Tate & Furst for alleged breach of contract and fraud. Pearson alleges in a suit filed in a New York state court that Hicks Muse misled Pearson into thinking it would complete a $860 million (£525 million) deal to acquire two publishing businesses put up for sale as part of Pearson's $4.6 billion acquisition of the Simon & Schuster educational business. Pearson is seeking both compensation and punitive damages.
Source: Reuters 4/6/99
WH Smith: Web Fever
Shares of WH Smith, which have languished in recent years due to poor financial performance, saw their largest one day gain last week when the company announced it was establishing a free internet service similar to Dixon’s Freeserve. (Dixon’s is an electronics retailer like Circuit City but with prices like Harvey Electronics). The service will be established in collaboration with Microsoft and British Telecom. According to sources familiar with the product it will use BT telecoms service and Microsoft software to offer Internet access to anyone with a home computer and a modem. In June, WH Smith paid £8.8 million for bookshop.co.uk, Britain's largest on-line bookseller.
American Booksellers Association to Launch Web siteApparently after several months of speculation, the American Booksellers Association (ABA) announced last week that they would develop an e-commerce site to support bookselling on the web by independent booksellers. The sight will be called BookSense.com and will support up to 1.6 MM titles contained in the MUZE data base. Independent booksellers will be able to establish and use their own Web site as the front end or design a site based on one of several templates that will be provided by the ABA. Baker & Taylor will be the association's fulfillment partner and (it is assumed) will also supply the required bibliographic information for all titles. There was no immediate word of other partners however depth of information such as reviews would be required to compete with Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. The site is expected to be launched sometime this summer and currently the ABA is in the initial stages of setting up the business unit required to manage the operation.
Source: Publishers Weekly, 3/22/99
Amazon.com Look for Distribution ImprovementsAccording to filings made by Amazon, the online retailer plans to open one or more distribution centers in the year and to increase investment in developing its existing infrastructure to increase efficiency. There is obvious concern regarding the planned acquisition by Barnes and Noble of Ingram Distribution and these infrastructure investments should be seen as a recognition of this concern. Amazon has been successful in the last year in decreasing their reliance on Ingram from 60% of orders in 1997 to 40% in 1998. Whether the company actually makes these investments remains to be seen however, the company reported that it expected to "significantly" increase its investment in this area in 1999. On a run rate basis Amazon.com sales have surpassed $1.0Bill and while this is based somewhat on the busy forth quarter all forecasts for full year sales made at the same time in prior years have been exceeded.
Source: Publishers Weekly 3/22/99
CMP: For Sale?
CMP Media the publisher of a number of computer industry related magazine titles has announced that it is open to the idea of a sale of merger. President and CEO, Michael Leeds, who’s family owns 75% of the stock, has retained Lazard Freres & Co to explore strategic alternatives. Potential buyers include Ziff Davis, Primedia or Penton Media. Also a potential would be an investment firm from outside the industry. Those rich folk who cashed out of Petersens when the company was purchased by Emap have announced they would like to do the same thing again so they should also be considered potential purchasers.
Source: Folio 3/98
Magazine Sell Through Keeps Falling
Average industry sell through rate has fallen to 38% from 43% a few years ago according to the Magazine Publishers Association (MPA). Arthur Andersen has undertaken a study of magazine sales and returns on behalf of the Book Industry Study Group – Partner Peggy Smyth commented that she is surprised at the number of publishers who are unconcerned about their returns and puts it down to the current robust advertising climate. She also said that a growing number of magazine publishers are beginning to develop data warehouses to enable deeper analysis of data on sales and returns. Of those surveyed, by far the most popular reaction to increasing levels of returns was to spend more money on research – identifying why purchasers bought magazines at retail. This was followed in popularity by cutting print volume.
Source: Folio Magazine March 1999
Reed Elesevier: No CEO
Pearson Seeks Legal Aid
WH Smith: Web Fever
American Booksellers Association Internet Commerce
Amazon.com Look For Distribution Improvements
CMP Media: On the Block?
Magazine Sell Through Keeps Falling
Reed Elsevier: No CEO
Reed Elsevier announced this week that the search for a new CEO to replace the two men who currently hold the position is going to have to continue. Rumors had it the company was close to announcing a replacement – rumored to be Jon Newcomb - a few weeks ago when they announced their quarterly financials. There are no indications how long the search will take or who maybe under consideration. Also, the company said two of its directors, Pierre Vinken and Loek van Vollenhoven, have resigned ``following differences of opinion over the management of the recruitment board.'' Both were to have retired from the board in the next few weeks. In the days since the report surfaced other rumors about Reed’s future have also come out. Wolters Kluwer is said to be interested in revisiting the merger discussions which were put on ice last year when the European commission indicated they would have monopoly concerns regarding any combinations of the two companies. Reed Elsevier later said released a statement saying that there were no plans to de-merge the company and that publishing and information were key components of the company’s strategy.
Source: Reuters April 6, 1999.
Pearson Seeks Legal Aid
Pearson has launched a multimillion dollar lawsuit against venture capital group Hicks Muse Tate & Furst for alleged breach of contract and fraud. Pearson alleges in a suit filed in a New York state court that Hicks Muse misled Pearson into thinking it would complete a $860 million (£525 million) deal to acquire two publishing businesses put up for sale as part of Pearson's $4.6 billion acquisition of the Simon & Schuster educational business. Pearson is seeking both compensation and punitive damages.
Source: Reuters 4/6/99
WH Smith: Web Fever
Shares of WH Smith, which have languished in recent years due to poor financial performance, saw their largest one day gain last week when the company announced it was establishing a free internet service similar to Dixon’s Freeserve. (Dixon’s is an electronics retailer like Circuit City but with prices like Harvey Electronics). The service will be established in collaboration with Microsoft and British Telecom. According to sources familiar with the product it will use BT telecoms service and Microsoft software to offer Internet access to anyone with a home computer and a modem. In June, WH Smith paid £8.8 million for bookshop.co.uk, Britain's largest on-line bookseller.
American Booksellers Association to Launch Web siteApparently after several months of speculation, the American Booksellers Association (ABA) announced last week that they would develop an e-commerce site to support bookselling on the web by independent booksellers. The sight will be called BookSense.com and will support up to 1.6 MM titles contained in the MUZE data base. Independent booksellers will be able to establish and use their own Web site as the front end or design a site based on one of several templates that will be provided by the ABA. Baker & Taylor will be the association's fulfillment partner and (it is assumed) will also supply the required bibliographic information for all titles. There was no immediate word of other partners however depth of information such as reviews would be required to compete with Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. The site is expected to be launched sometime this summer and currently the ABA is in the initial stages of setting up the business unit required to manage the operation.
Source: Publishers Weekly, 3/22/99
Amazon.com Look for Distribution ImprovementsAccording to filings made by Amazon, the online retailer plans to open one or more distribution centers in the year and to increase investment in developing its existing infrastructure to increase efficiency. There is obvious concern regarding the planned acquisition by Barnes and Noble of Ingram Distribution and these infrastructure investments should be seen as a recognition of this concern. Amazon has been successful in the last year in decreasing their reliance on Ingram from 60% of orders in 1997 to 40% in 1998. Whether the company actually makes these investments remains to be seen however, the company reported that it expected to "significantly" increase its investment in this area in 1999. On a run rate basis Amazon.com sales have surpassed $1.0Bill and while this is based somewhat on the busy forth quarter all forecasts for full year sales made at the same time in prior years have been exceeded.
Source: Publishers Weekly 3/22/99
CMP: For Sale?
CMP Media the publisher of a number of computer industry related magazine titles has announced that it is open to the idea of a sale of merger. President and CEO, Michael Leeds, who’s family owns 75% of the stock, has retained Lazard Freres & Co to explore strategic alternatives. Potential buyers include Ziff Davis, Primedia or Penton Media. Also a potential would be an investment firm from outside the industry. Those rich folk who cashed out of Petersens when the company was purchased by Emap have announced they would like to do the same thing again so they should also be considered potential purchasers.
Source: Folio 3/98
Magazine Sell Through Keeps Falling
Average industry sell through rate has fallen to 38% from 43% a few years ago according to the Magazine Publishers Association (MPA). Arthur Andersen has undertaken a study of magazine sales and returns on behalf of the Book Industry Study Group – Partner Peggy Smyth commented that she is surprised at the number of publishers who are unconcerned about their returns and puts it down to the current robust advertising climate. She also said that a growing number of magazine publishers are beginning to develop data warehouses to enable deeper analysis of data on sales and returns. Of those surveyed, by far the most popular reaction to increasing levels of returns was to spend more money on research – identifying why purchasers bought magazines at retail. This was followed in popularity by cutting print volume.
Source: Folio Magazine March 1999
Wednesday, March 24, 1999
3/24/99: ReedElsevier, Bertelsmann, Barnes Noble,
Publishing News: March 24th, 1999
Mercer Study on Single Copy Sales
Reed Elsevier Profit Forecast Disappoints
Martin Maleska, Rejoins Veronis, Suhler
Bertelsmann Havas Deal is Off.
AAP: 1998 Book Sales Exceed $23Bill
US Book Store Sales: $13Bill
Amazon on Drugs
Golden Reprieve
Barnes & Noble Sales: $3Bill
Mercer Study on Single Copy Sales
Mercer Consulting recently announced preliminary findings from a study commissioned by the Magazine Publishers Association (www.magazine.org) . The study was a review of the single copy magazine channel and the potential role of scan-based trading in the retail market. The objective of the study was to determine the best way for the industry to take positive, concerted action to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the single copy channel for all trading partners, and address the future role of scan-based trading. During the first phase, Mercer worked with retailers, wholesalers, national distributors, publishers and other industry players to identify opportunities for performance improvement in the retail sales of magazines. Mercer identified potential rewards equivalent to as much as $420 million per year or ten percent of retail sales based on their input, as well as lessons from other industries, and economic modeling of the supply chain. In support of the above, the MPA has adopted a set of cooperative standards and practices named COSMAR which will require changes and new approaches on the part of all trading partners: publishers, distributors and retailers. Mercer and the MPA will look to prototype their recommendations over the next few months.
Reed Elsevier Profit Forecast Disappoints
They don’t have a CEO, their merger with Wolters Kluwer failed and now profits announced for 1998 were 6% below last year and projected earnings for 1999 will be flat. Pre-tax profits fell to $1.26 billion in 1998 and these results were in line with the six percent drop the company forecast in December. Sterling's strength and Reed's heavy investment in adapting its core hard-copy publications for the Internet age were given as reasons for the poor results. Sales were $5.5Billion for 1998. This lack of strong growth, combined with a lack of news on Reed's search for a new chief executive, delivered a double blow to its shares, which fell sharply in London and Amsterdam, despite strong overall gains by both stock markets. The company did say that discussions with a candidate were in an advanced state however it is now two weeks after this announcement and they still have not made an announcement. Out going CEO, Nigel Stapleton declined to comment on how soon Reed will announce the results of its search, which was unveiled seven months ago. Other items of note; Reed spent an additional 15 million pounds on major initiatives in electronic publishing last year, taking the total to 80 million. The company posted ``pure'' Internet revenues of 10 million pounds, a 50 percent increase year on year.
Martin Maleska, Rejoins Veronis, Suhler
Veronis, Suhler & Associates announced that Martin E. Maleska, a senior publishing executive and investment banker who most recently served as President of Simon & Schuster's International and Business & Professional Group, has rejoined the firm as Advisor Managing Director. Mr. Maleska will be involved in all aspects of the firm's merchant banking activities which include investment banking and its private equity funds. The return to Veronis, Suhler is a homecoming for Mr. Maleska, who was a managing director at the firm from 1991-1995, concentrating on magazine, newspaper and book publishing transactions.
Bertelsmann Havas Deal is Off.
The proposed merger between Bertelsmann and Havas’s professional publishing operations is off. Apparently, neither side would concede to the other in terms of who’s operation was bigger. The companies continue to maintain close relations in French book clubs and online book retailing.
AAP: 1998 Book Sales Exceed $23Bill
The American Association of Publishers recently released their preliminary sales numbers for 1998. According the AAP numbers, retail book sales reached $23Bill. Give the last five years of declines or mediocre sales gains this was a remarkable sales increase of 6% over 1997. The biggest sales gains occurred in Adult paperback (+10%), Juvenile paperback (14%), and ElHi Texts (10%). In contrast to prior years, there were no categories which showed declining year on year sales.
US Book Store Sales: $13Bill
Bookstores sales reported in Publishers Weekly rose 2.6% to over $13Bill. Store sales measured against retail sales generally were only half the experienced gain for the sector.
Amazon on Drugs
Amazon.com purchased a 40% interest in the online drugstore, drugstore.com. Amazon made the investment a number of months ago and it recently came to light due to drugstore’s launch. Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO declined to comment on other internet related investments Amazon may have made. Amazon appears to be actively proving the ‘mall’ internet business model.
Golden Reprieve
Golden Books, the beleaguered Children’s Book publisher where Richard Synder went to re-create Simon & Schuster, reached an accord with it’s Bankers on restructuring plan. Essentially, the deal recapitalizes the company with a loan from CIT group. Current management, which has been in turmoil over the past 12 months, will remain in place. Rumors at the end of last year had Disney purchasing Golden Books however nothing came of this. Golden holds long term licenses on a number of Disney characters.
Barnes & Noble Sales: $3Bill
Barnes & Noble sales hit $3Bill in fiscal 1999. Sales increased 8% over last year and sales from superstores accounted for 84% of total sales. Internet sales at barnesandnoble.com increased to $70.2MM. B&N reports that they will add up to 50 new superstores during 1999 however the company’s fiscal 2000 earnings forecast was low which helped reduce the stock price by $5 last week. Let’s not forget that Amazon is on a yearly run rate of $1Bill – what’s with the bricks and mortar?
Mercer Study on Single Copy Sales
Reed Elsevier Profit Forecast Disappoints
Martin Maleska, Rejoins Veronis, Suhler
Bertelsmann Havas Deal is Off.
AAP: 1998 Book Sales Exceed $23Bill
US Book Store Sales: $13Bill
Amazon on Drugs
Golden Reprieve
Barnes & Noble Sales: $3Bill
Mercer Study on Single Copy Sales
Mercer Consulting recently announced preliminary findings from a study commissioned by the Magazine Publishers Association (www.magazine.org) . The study was a review of the single copy magazine channel and the potential role of scan-based trading in the retail market. The objective of the study was to determine the best way for the industry to take positive, concerted action to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the single copy channel for all trading partners, and address the future role of scan-based trading. During the first phase, Mercer worked with retailers, wholesalers, national distributors, publishers and other industry players to identify opportunities for performance improvement in the retail sales of magazines. Mercer identified potential rewards equivalent to as much as $420 million per year or ten percent of retail sales based on their input, as well as lessons from other industries, and economic modeling of the supply chain. In support of the above, the MPA has adopted a set of cooperative standards and practices named COSMAR which will require changes and new approaches on the part of all trading partners: publishers, distributors and retailers. Mercer and the MPA will look to prototype their recommendations over the next few months.
Reed Elsevier Profit Forecast Disappoints
They don’t have a CEO, their merger with Wolters Kluwer failed and now profits announced for 1998 were 6% below last year and projected earnings for 1999 will be flat. Pre-tax profits fell to $1.26 billion in 1998 and these results were in line with the six percent drop the company forecast in December. Sterling's strength and Reed's heavy investment in adapting its core hard-copy publications for the Internet age were given as reasons for the poor results. Sales were $5.5Billion for 1998. This lack of strong growth, combined with a lack of news on Reed's search for a new chief executive, delivered a double blow to its shares, which fell sharply in London and Amsterdam, despite strong overall gains by both stock markets. The company did say that discussions with a candidate were in an advanced state however it is now two weeks after this announcement and they still have not made an announcement. Out going CEO, Nigel Stapleton declined to comment on how soon Reed will announce the results of its search, which was unveiled seven months ago. Other items of note; Reed spent an additional 15 million pounds on major initiatives in electronic publishing last year, taking the total to 80 million. The company posted ``pure'' Internet revenues of 10 million pounds, a 50 percent increase year on year.
Martin Maleska, Rejoins Veronis, Suhler
Veronis, Suhler & Associates announced that Martin E. Maleska, a senior publishing executive and investment banker who most recently served as President of Simon & Schuster's International and Business & Professional Group, has rejoined the firm as Advisor Managing Director. Mr. Maleska will be involved in all aspects of the firm's merchant banking activities which include investment banking and its private equity funds. The return to Veronis, Suhler is a homecoming for Mr. Maleska, who was a managing director at the firm from 1991-1995, concentrating on magazine, newspaper and book publishing transactions.
Bertelsmann Havas Deal is Off.
The proposed merger between Bertelsmann and Havas’s professional publishing operations is off. Apparently, neither side would concede to the other in terms of who’s operation was bigger. The companies continue to maintain close relations in French book clubs and online book retailing.
AAP: 1998 Book Sales Exceed $23Bill
The American Association of Publishers recently released their preliminary sales numbers for 1998. According the AAP numbers, retail book sales reached $23Bill. Give the last five years of declines or mediocre sales gains this was a remarkable sales increase of 6% over 1997. The biggest sales gains occurred in Adult paperback (+10%), Juvenile paperback (14%), and ElHi Texts (10%). In contrast to prior years, there were no categories which showed declining year on year sales.
US Book Store Sales: $13Bill
Bookstores sales reported in Publishers Weekly rose 2.6% to over $13Bill. Store sales measured against retail sales generally were only half the experienced gain for the sector.
Amazon on Drugs
Amazon.com purchased a 40% interest in the online drugstore, drugstore.com. Amazon made the investment a number of months ago and it recently came to light due to drugstore’s launch. Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO declined to comment on other internet related investments Amazon may have made. Amazon appears to be actively proving the ‘mall’ internet business model.
Golden Reprieve
Golden Books, the beleaguered Children’s Book publisher where Richard Synder went to re-create Simon & Schuster, reached an accord with it’s Bankers on restructuring plan. Essentially, the deal recapitalizes the company with a loan from CIT group. Current management, which has been in turmoil over the past 12 months, will remain in place. Rumors at the end of last year had Disney purchasing Golden Books however nothing came of this. Golden holds long term licenses on a number of Disney characters.
Barnes & Noble Sales: $3Bill
Barnes & Noble sales hit $3Bill in fiscal 1999. Sales increased 8% over last year and sales from superstores accounted for 84% of total sales. Internet sales at barnesandnoble.com increased to $70.2MM. B&N reports that they will add up to 50 new superstores during 1999 however the company’s fiscal 2000 earnings forecast was low which helped reduce the stock price by $5 last week. Let’s not forget that Amazon is on a yearly run rate of $1Bill – what’s with the bricks and mortar?
Tuesday, March 02, 1999
3/2/99: Amazon.com, Ingram, Pearson, NYTimes,
Publishing News: March 2, 1999
Amazon.com Sales
Ingram
Hearst
Pearson
New York Times Co. to Buy Interest in TheStreet.com
EBook Standards Meeting
Book Point of Sale Information
Cambridge University Titles On Demand
Reader's Digest Outlines Growth Strategy
Adobe Systems Introduces Next Generation of Page-Layout Software
Langenscheidt Acquires Hammond Brand
Mirror Group
Amazon.com Sales
Amazon.com’s sales grew to $610MM from $147MM and are now at an annual run rate over a Billion dollars according to company executives. The net loss for the period was $124MM vs $31MM last year. Since last year, not only has Amazon.com continued to explosively sell books but the company has added CD’s and videos to the mix. Additionally, the company also expanded into Germany and the UK during the same period. Sales in ‘expansion’ areas accounted for 25% of total fourth quarter sales. Company President Jeff Bezos confirmed his company’s plans to aggressively invest in the business even more than they had in the past which will no doubt translate into continued operating losses for the company.
Source: Publishers Weekly, 2/1/99
Ingram
YoungSuk Chi has been promoted to COO of the Ingram Book Group and will report to Mike Lovett the President and CEO of the Ingram Book Group
Source: Publishers’ Weekly 1/25/99
Hearst
Hearst Book Group which includes Avon, Hearst, Morrow and at least 21 other imprints saw sales surpass $200MM according to Publishers’ Weekly. During the year Hearst had six titles on the best seller lists and also saw increases in back list sales.
Source: Publishers’ Weekly 1/25/99
Pearson
Pearson Education announced an agreement with Versaware Technologies to convert textbooks into electronic form. Apparently, Versaware has developed a system that reduces the time and expense of convertion into a variety of formats. Versaware is also denying that it is about to be purchased by Barnes and Noble although they admit to a number of discussions on strategic partnerships.
Publisher’s Weekly 2/15/99
New York Times Co. to Buy Interest in TheStreet.com New York Times Co. said it will pay $15 million in cash and services for a minority equity stake in TheStreet.com, an online provider of financial and investment news and commentary.
Simultaneously, Michael Golden, vice chairman of New York Times Co., was nominated to serve on TheStreet.com's board. New York Times Co. also said it was discussing opportunities for strategic alliances with TheStreet.com.
Source: The Wall Street Journal 02/23/99
EBook Standards Meeting
The Open Book Standards committee met to review a draft for proposed standard file formats based on SGML and XML for electronic book devices. The meeting was hosted jointly by eBook manufacturers Softbook Press and Nuvo Media. The current specifications are open to review (as an evaluator) for comment and review. It is expected that the specifications will be published to the public sometime in the next three months.
Source: Publisher’s Weekly 2/15/99
Book Point of Sale Information
Publishing Solutions Inc., a White Plains N.Y. company announced it is has agreed with Barnes & Noble and Penguin Putnam to pilot a book POS system. This system is designed to track and forecast book sales at the retail level. As the results become known the company plans to expand the system to a wider group of retailers.
Source: Publishers’ Weekly 2/15/99
Cambridge University Titles On Demand
Lightling Press the Ingram affiliated on demand printer announced that they have joined with Cambridge University Press (CUP) to offer a number of CUP titles on demand. Initially Lightning will offer 113 titles, however if all goes well up to 500 additional titles may be added to the selection. CUP has chosen recently discontinued titles which are still receiving orders and company sources commented that their current order fulfillment system keeps track of orders for out of print titles. Lightning Press now has over 1800 titles in it’s digital library which can be printed in lots as low as one unit.
Source: Publisher’s Weekly 2/15/99
Reader's Digest Outlines Growth Strategy Thomas O. Ryder, chairman and CEO of The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. today outlined a five-point growth strategy for the company in a speech to financial analysts and company employees. The key elements of the growth strategy include: - Dramatically expanding the company's presence in five targeted areas of intense consumer interest -- home, health, family, finance and faith -- that offer high growth potential and suit the company's brand. - Selling products and services beyond publishing that fit with the Reader's Digest brand in the five targeted areas, initially focusing on health and financial services. - Continuing geographic expansion, by entering new countries and expanding offerings in countries where the company already has a presence. - Developing new channels -- including direct response TV and non-sweepstakes mail -- to market existing and new products and services. - Making the Internet an integral part of all the company's business by investing in high quality website development, enhancing current sites and creating new ones.
In the call Ryder also spoke of efforts – to date largely successful – to reduce monetize assets and that these had produced over $300MM. This money together with an additional investment pool of $100MM would be used to fund the above investment activities. There will be a concentration on the internet as a mechanism to extend their strength in direct response. There was no mention of the proposed deal/joint venture with Time Life. The companies may still be discussing some consolidation but it remains to be seen if anything comes of it.
Source: Businesswire 2/25/99
Adobe Systems Introduces Next Generation of Page-Layout SoftwareAdobe Systems introduced the vaunted ‘Quark Killer’ application this week in Boston. The desk top publishing package named InDesign was previewed six months ago under the name K2 and is based on a new open object oriented architecture that is highly extensible. With the introduction of InDesign, Adobe is aggressively taking on Quark’s core market in desk top publishing software; however with over 70% market share in key publishing and advertising markets Adobe will face an up hill battle convincing production managers and designers to make the switch. There are a number of advantages however to making the switch – number one is you don’t have to deal with Quark’s renowned cavalier attitude to customer service as well as their errant product migration strategy. Additionally, Adobe’s other products are mainstays in publishing and advertising offices and InDesign has been developed to work seamlessly with Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat. Quark does not interface with these products which has caused process silos and inefficiencies. A flexible, fully digital workflow is, according to Terry Rosen, director of information technology at Ogilvy & Mather New York, essential for companies looking to succeed in a global market, where concepts and materials have to be shared effortlessly across thousands of miles. "Adobe InDesign delivers a truly integrated creative tool kit. The software offers a familiar interface and the same approach to page layout and design as Photoshop and Illustrator, which means our art directors and studio artists can hit the ground running with it. With InDesign, we can also output ads directly to PDF for review, approval, and transmission. It's this type of unified workflow that lets us move ideas to production faster, and better support our clients worldwide," said Rosen.
Quarks’ reaction to the news was muted – although they have yet to announce a strategy for the current generation of products.
Source: Businesswire 3/2/99
Langenscheidt Acquires Hammond Brand Hammon Inc, a US based map and cartography publisher has been purchased by German based Langenscheidt Publishers, Inc. The 98-year old Hammond, celebrated for its old world tradition of cartography, has enjoyed a reputation in recent years for its advances in mapmaking technology. In 1992, it published the world's first completely digitized world atlas: The Hammond Atlas of the World. This atlas garnered awards for graphics, accuracy and innovation, as did its most recent edition, published in 1998, which pioneered computer-generated tints depicting land elevations and ocean depths. Terms were not disclosed.
Source: Businesswire 3/2/99
Mirror Group
The Mirror Group rejected the most recent offer from regional UK publisher Trinity. The last bid valued the company at approximately $1.5Bill. The combination of stock and cash was insufficient in the view of the board and additional bids are expected. Mirror group has faced turmoil over the past several months regarding it’s future. David Montgomery the Mirror CEO was removed by the board recently in a board room shake up and the company is now being run by a temporary CEO. Since the living large days of Bob Maxwell (was he pushed?) the company has fought to recover it’s once UK market dominance while at the same time managing the debt imposed by Maxwell’s unique style of financial accounting. Maxwell if you recall stripped the pension funds of this operation to ‘plug the leaks’ (pun very much intended) in his rapidly sinking business empire. Many of those pensioners were required to return to work.
Source: NYT 3/2/99
Amazon.com Sales
Ingram
Hearst
Pearson
New York Times Co. to Buy Interest in TheStreet.com
EBook Standards Meeting
Book Point of Sale Information
Cambridge University Titles On Demand
Reader's Digest Outlines Growth Strategy
Adobe Systems Introduces Next Generation of Page-Layout Software
Langenscheidt Acquires Hammond Brand
Mirror Group
Amazon.com Sales
Amazon.com’s sales grew to $610MM from $147MM and are now at an annual run rate over a Billion dollars according to company executives. The net loss for the period was $124MM vs $31MM last year. Since last year, not only has Amazon.com continued to explosively sell books but the company has added CD’s and videos to the mix. Additionally, the company also expanded into Germany and the UK during the same period. Sales in ‘expansion’ areas accounted for 25% of total fourth quarter sales. Company President Jeff Bezos confirmed his company’s plans to aggressively invest in the business even more than they had in the past which will no doubt translate into continued operating losses for the company.
Source: Publishers Weekly, 2/1/99
Ingram
YoungSuk Chi has been promoted to COO of the Ingram Book Group and will report to Mike Lovett the President and CEO of the Ingram Book Group
Source: Publishers’ Weekly 1/25/99
Hearst
Hearst Book Group which includes Avon, Hearst, Morrow and at least 21 other imprints saw sales surpass $200MM according to Publishers’ Weekly. During the year Hearst had six titles on the best seller lists and also saw increases in back list sales.
Source: Publishers’ Weekly 1/25/99
Pearson
Pearson Education announced an agreement with Versaware Technologies to convert textbooks into electronic form. Apparently, Versaware has developed a system that reduces the time and expense of convertion into a variety of formats. Versaware is also denying that it is about to be purchased by Barnes and Noble although they admit to a number of discussions on strategic partnerships.
Publisher’s Weekly 2/15/99
New York Times Co. to Buy Interest in TheStreet.com New York Times Co. said it will pay $15 million in cash and services for a minority equity stake in TheStreet.com, an online provider of financial and investment news and commentary.
Simultaneously, Michael Golden, vice chairman of New York Times Co., was nominated to serve on TheStreet.com's board. New York Times Co. also said it was discussing opportunities for strategic alliances with TheStreet.com.
Source: The Wall Street Journal 02/23/99
EBook Standards Meeting
The Open Book Standards committee met to review a draft for proposed standard file formats based on SGML and XML for electronic book devices. The meeting was hosted jointly by eBook manufacturers Softbook Press and Nuvo Media. The current specifications are open to review (as an evaluator) for comment and review. It is expected that the specifications will be published to the public sometime in the next three months.
Source: Publisher’s Weekly 2/15/99
Book Point of Sale Information
Publishing Solutions Inc., a White Plains N.Y. company announced it is has agreed with Barnes & Noble and Penguin Putnam to pilot a book POS system. This system is designed to track and forecast book sales at the retail level. As the results become known the company plans to expand the system to a wider group of retailers.
Source: Publishers’ Weekly 2/15/99
Cambridge University Titles On Demand
Lightling Press the Ingram affiliated on demand printer announced that they have joined with Cambridge University Press (CUP) to offer a number of CUP titles on demand. Initially Lightning will offer 113 titles, however if all goes well up to 500 additional titles may be added to the selection. CUP has chosen recently discontinued titles which are still receiving orders and company sources commented that their current order fulfillment system keeps track of orders for out of print titles. Lightning Press now has over 1800 titles in it’s digital library which can be printed in lots as low as one unit.
Source: Publisher’s Weekly 2/15/99
Reader's Digest Outlines Growth Strategy Thomas O. Ryder, chairman and CEO of The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. today outlined a five-point growth strategy for the company in a speech to financial analysts and company employees. The key elements of the growth strategy include: - Dramatically expanding the company's presence in five targeted areas of intense consumer interest -- home, health, family, finance and faith -- that offer high growth potential and suit the company's brand. - Selling products and services beyond publishing that fit with the Reader's Digest brand in the five targeted areas, initially focusing on health and financial services. - Continuing geographic expansion, by entering new countries and expanding offerings in countries where the company already has a presence. - Developing new channels -- including direct response TV and non-sweepstakes mail -- to market existing and new products and services. - Making the Internet an integral part of all the company's business by investing in high quality website development, enhancing current sites and creating new ones.
In the call Ryder also spoke of efforts – to date largely successful – to reduce monetize assets and that these had produced over $300MM. This money together with an additional investment pool of $100MM would be used to fund the above investment activities. There will be a concentration on the internet as a mechanism to extend their strength in direct response. There was no mention of the proposed deal/joint venture with Time Life. The companies may still be discussing some consolidation but it remains to be seen if anything comes of it.
Source: Businesswire 2/25/99
Adobe Systems Introduces Next Generation of Page-Layout SoftwareAdobe Systems introduced the vaunted ‘Quark Killer’ application this week in Boston. The desk top publishing package named InDesign was previewed six months ago under the name K2 and is based on a new open object oriented architecture that is highly extensible. With the introduction of InDesign, Adobe is aggressively taking on Quark’s core market in desk top publishing software; however with over 70% market share in key publishing and advertising markets Adobe will face an up hill battle convincing production managers and designers to make the switch. There are a number of advantages however to making the switch – number one is you don’t have to deal with Quark’s renowned cavalier attitude to customer service as well as their errant product migration strategy. Additionally, Adobe’s other products are mainstays in publishing and advertising offices and InDesign has been developed to work seamlessly with Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat. Quark does not interface with these products which has caused process silos and inefficiencies. A flexible, fully digital workflow is, according to Terry Rosen, director of information technology at Ogilvy & Mather New York, essential for companies looking to succeed in a global market, where concepts and materials have to be shared effortlessly across thousands of miles. "Adobe InDesign delivers a truly integrated creative tool kit. The software offers a familiar interface and the same approach to page layout and design as Photoshop and Illustrator, which means our art directors and studio artists can hit the ground running with it. With InDesign, we can also output ads directly to PDF for review, approval, and transmission. It's this type of unified workflow that lets us move ideas to production faster, and better support our clients worldwide," said Rosen.
Quarks’ reaction to the news was muted – although they have yet to announce a strategy for the current generation of products.
Source: Businesswire 3/2/99
Langenscheidt Acquires Hammond Brand Hammon Inc, a US based map and cartography publisher has been purchased by German based Langenscheidt Publishers, Inc. The 98-year old Hammond, celebrated for its old world tradition of cartography, has enjoyed a reputation in recent years for its advances in mapmaking technology. In 1992, it published the world's first completely digitized world atlas: The Hammond Atlas of the World. This atlas garnered awards for graphics, accuracy and innovation, as did its most recent edition, published in 1998, which pioneered computer-generated tints depicting land elevations and ocean depths. Terms were not disclosed.
Source: Businesswire 3/2/99
Mirror Group
The Mirror Group rejected the most recent offer from regional UK publisher Trinity. The last bid valued the company at approximately $1.5Bill. The combination of stock and cash was insufficient in the view of the board and additional bids are expected. Mirror group has faced turmoil over the past several months regarding it’s future. David Montgomery the Mirror CEO was removed by the board recently in a board room shake up and the company is now being run by a temporary CEO. Since the living large days of Bob Maxwell (was he pushed?) the company has fought to recover it’s once UK market dominance while at the same time managing the debt imposed by Maxwell’s unique style of financial accounting. Maxwell if you recall stripped the pension funds of this operation to ‘plug the leaks’ (pun very much intended) in his rapidly sinking business empire. Many of those pensioners were required to return to work.
Source: NYT 3/2/99
Tuesday, February 16, 1999
2/16/99: ReedElsevier, Harpercollins, Bertelsmann,
Publishing News: 2/16/99
Newcomb leads race for Reed Elsevier CEO
Children's Television Workshop Signs Agreement Random House Inc.
Tina Brown’s Talk Magazine
Trinity opens due diligence on Mirror
HarperCollins Announces Plans to Acquire the Ecco Press
Bertelsmann expects JV with Havas in 2 weeks time
Coopers & Lybrand pays $5.4MM in Maxwell case
Newcomb leads race for Reed Elsevier CEO
Don’t be surprised to see ex Simon & Schuster CEO Jon Newcomb made Chairman and CEO of UK/Dutch publishing giant Reed Elsevier. Industry sources peg him as the leading candidate for the job which has essentially been vacant for five months.
Children's Television Workshop Signs Agreement Random House Inc.
Children's Television Workshop (CTW), the multimedia educational company that created "Sesame Street," has agreed a long-term development agreement with Random House Inc. CTW has also agreed to pursue television production initiatives with Random House, whose parent company Bertelsmann AG has extensive broadcast channel and programming holdings in Europe. As of July 1, the Random House Children's Media Group will build on its long-term relationship with CTW and "Sesame Street" books by adding new formats such as storybooks, color and activity books, and workbooks for publication and distribution in the United States and Canadian markets. By further expanding and combining its own 30-year-old publishing program with Random House to include these new formats, CTW will be able to create a more visible and synergistic presence at retail for its books as well as a stronger, more broadly integrated publishing program. Both companies will explore developing books from CTW television properties other than "Sesame Street" and creating television programming based on book properties whose dramatic rights are held by Random House Children's Media Group
Source: Businesswire 2/11/99
Tina Brown’s Talk Magazine
Miramax Films and Hearst Magazines announced today that they have entered into a joint-venture agreement to publish Talk, a new general interest monthly magazine edited by Tina Brown. The magazine will debut in August with the September, 1999 edition. Under the terms of the agreement, Hearst Magazines, the world's largest publisher of monthly magazines, will take a 50 percent joint-ownership stake in Talk magazine and assume certain management responsibilities including circulation and manufacturing management, as well as newsstand distribution and subscription fulfillment through its subsidiaries Hearst Distribution Group, Inc. and Communications Data Services. Miramax's Talk Media will be responsible for editorial content, advertising sales and marketing. Talk magazine, which will premiere with a circulation of 500,000, will be a provocative and topical publication offering commentary, criticism, reporting, opinion and profiles. In July of last year, Miramax Films established Talk Media in conjunction with Tina Brown and Ron Galotti to publish Talk magazine, produce television programming and publish books.
Source Businesswire 2/11/99
Trinity opens due diligence on Mirror
TRINITY, the UK's largest regional newspaper group, has begun due diligence at the Mirror Group in preparation for a second assault on the embattled newspaper company later this month. The news comes only days after it emerged that Regional Independent Media, publisher of the Yorkshire Post, was likely to revise its £913 million cash offer for the Mirror over the next few weeks. However, many believe the new bid will not be much higher than the 200p a share already offered. It is understood that over the past two days Trinity has been given access to a "data room" containing commercially sensitive information about the Mirror, whose national newspaper titles include The Mirror and The People. Trinity is believed to have seen the commercial data for only 24 hours, and has already requested more detailed information. However, Trinity is not expected to make a bid for the Mirror immediately, because it feels it needs to look further into the finances of the company. Those close to the situation believe a bid is more likely over the next few weeks. The bidding battle for the Mirror has already resulted in a bloody boardroom coup at the company, which saw the dramatic resignation of David Montgomery as its chief executive last month.
Source: Financial Times 2/15/99
HarperCollins Announces Plans to Acquire the Ecco Press
Jane Friedman, President and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers today announced that HarperCollins will purchase The Ecco Press, one of the country's most prestigious literary publishers. The acquisition will become effective as of July 1. The Ecco list includes such critically acclaimed authors as John Ashbery, Paul Bowles, Italo Calvino, Gerald Early, Richard Ford, Louise Gluck, Robert Hass, Zbigniew Herbert, Bobbi Ann Mason, Cormac McCarthy, Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz, Joyce Carol Oates, and Tobias Wolff. In addition, Halpern will publish his first books with HarperCollins starting in January, 2000.
Source: Businesswire 2/16/99
Bertelsmann expects JV with Havas in 2 weeks time
German media giant Bertelsmann AG expects to complete a joint venture deal on specialist publishing with France's Havas within the next two weeks. A spokesman for Bertelsmann's specialist publishing unit said the deal entailed a 50-50 joint venture with the aim of making international acquisitions together. In a related issue, the spokesman also said that Bertelsmann's takeover of the Springer scientific publishing house had been approved by the European Union cartel authorities. The acquisition increases the value of Bertelsmann's trade publishing activities to 1.5 billion marks ($859.6 million) from 625 million marks
Source: Reuters 2/16/99
Coopers & Lybrand pays $5.4MM in Maxwell case
Coopers & Lybrand has paid fines and costs of $5.4MM for failings in its role as auditor of most of the companies controlled by the late Robert Maxwell, a British accounting watchdog said on this week. Maxwell died in November 1991 (fell off his boat), leaving behind a business empire riddled with debts and huge holes in the pension funds of his companies, including Mirror Group Newspapers which Maxwell owned at the time.
Source: Reuters 2/16/99
Newcomb leads race for Reed Elsevier CEO
Children's Television Workshop Signs Agreement Random House Inc.
Tina Brown’s Talk Magazine
Trinity opens due diligence on Mirror
HarperCollins Announces Plans to Acquire the Ecco Press
Bertelsmann expects JV with Havas in 2 weeks time
Coopers & Lybrand pays $5.4MM in Maxwell case
Newcomb leads race for Reed Elsevier CEO
Don’t be surprised to see ex Simon & Schuster CEO Jon Newcomb made Chairman and CEO of UK/Dutch publishing giant Reed Elsevier. Industry sources peg him as the leading candidate for the job which has essentially been vacant for five months.
Children's Television Workshop Signs Agreement Random House Inc.
Children's Television Workshop (CTW), the multimedia educational company that created "Sesame Street," has agreed a long-term development agreement with Random House Inc. CTW has also agreed to pursue television production initiatives with Random House, whose parent company Bertelsmann AG has extensive broadcast channel and programming holdings in Europe. As of July 1, the Random House Children's Media Group will build on its long-term relationship with CTW and "Sesame Street" books by adding new formats such as storybooks, color and activity books, and workbooks for publication and distribution in the United States and Canadian markets. By further expanding and combining its own 30-year-old publishing program with Random House to include these new formats, CTW will be able to create a more visible and synergistic presence at retail for its books as well as a stronger, more broadly integrated publishing program. Both companies will explore developing books from CTW television properties other than "Sesame Street" and creating television programming based on book properties whose dramatic rights are held by Random House Children's Media Group
Source: Businesswire 2/11/99
Tina Brown’s Talk Magazine
Miramax Films and Hearst Magazines announced today that they have entered into a joint-venture agreement to publish Talk, a new general interest monthly magazine edited by Tina Brown. The magazine will debut in August with the September, 1999 edition. Under the terms of the agreement, Hearst Magazines, the world's largest publisher of monthly magazines, will take a 50 percent joint-ownership stake in Talk magazine and assume certain management responsibilities including circulation and manufacturing management, as well as newsstand distribution and subscription fulfillment through its subsidiaries Hearst Distribution Group, Inc. and Communications Data Services. Miramax's Talk Media will be responsible for editorial content, advertising sales and marketing. Talk magazine, which will premiere with a circulation of 500,000, will be a provocative and topical publication offering commentary, criticism, reporting, opinion and profiles. In July of last year, Miramax Films established Talk Media in conjunction with Tina Brown and Ron Galotti to publish Talk magazine, produce television programming and publish books.
Source Businesswire 2/11/99
Trinity opens due diligence on Mirror
TRINITY, the UK's largest regional newspaper group, has begun due diligence at the Mirror Group in preparation for a second assault on the embattled newspaper company later this month. The news comes only days after it emerged that Regional Independent Media, publisher of the Yorkshire Post, was likely to revise its £913 million cash offer for the Mirror over the next few weeks. However, many believe the new bid will not be much higher than the 200p a share already offered. It is understood that over the past two days Trinity has been given access to a "data room" containing commercially sensitive information about the Mirror, whose national newspaper titles include The Mirror and The People. Trinity is believed to have seen the commercial data for only 24 hours, and has already requested more detailed information. However, Trinity is not expected to make a bid for the Mirror immediately, because it feels it needs to look further into the finances of the company. Those close to the situation believe a bid is more likely over the next few weeks. The bidding battle for the Mirror has already resulted in a bloody boardroom coup at the company, which saw the dramatic resignation of David Montgomery as its chief executive last month.
Source: Financial Times 2/15/99
HarperCollins Announces Plans to Acquire the Ecco Press
Jane Friedman, President and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers today announced that HarperCollins will purchase The Ecco Press, one of the country's most prestigious literary publishers. The acquisition will become effective as of July 1. The Ecco list includes such critically acclaimed authors as John Ashbery, Paul Bowles, Italo Calvino, Gerald Early, Richard Ford, Louise Gluck, Robert Hass, Zbigniew Herbert, Bobbi Ann Mason, Cormac McCarthy, Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz, Joyce Carol Oates, and Tobias Wolff. In addition, Halpern will publish his first books with HarperCollins starting in January, 2000.
Source: Businesswire 2/16/99
Bertelsmann expects JV with Havas in 2 weeks time
German media giant Bertelsmann AG expects to complete a joint venture deal on specialist publishing with France's Havas within the next two weeks. A spokesman for Bertelsmann's specialist publishing unit said the deal entailed a 50-50 joint venture with the aim of making international acquisitions together. In a related issue, the spokesman also said that Bertelsmann's takeover of the Springer scientific publishing house had been approved by the European Union cartel authorities. The acquisition increases the value of Bertelsmann's trade publishing activities to 1.5 billion marks ($859.6 million) from 625 million marks
Source: Reuters 2/16/99
Coopers & Lybrand pays $5.4MM in Maxwell case
Coopers & Lybrand has paid fines and costs of $5.4MM for failings in its role as auditor of most of the companies controlled by the late Robert Maxwell, a British accounting watchdog said on this week. Maxwell died in November 1991 (fell off his boat), leaving behind a business empire riddled with debts and huge holes in the pension funds of his companies, including Mirror Group Newspapers which Maxwell owned at the time.
Source: Reuters 2/16/99
Monday, February 01, 1999
2/1/99: McGrawHill, Primedia, HoughtonMifflin, Dow Jones,
Publishing News: February 1, 1999
The McGraw-Hill Companies Reports 15% Increase in 1998 Earnings
Internet sales Gain at WH Smith
EarthWeb Announces Online Publishing Deals with Seven Leading Book Publishers
Primedia's 1998 Annual Sales Grow to $1.5Billion
Houghton Mifflin Company Reports 1998 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results
EU Probes FT/Dow Jones/Knight Ridder 1996 deal
Mirror Group CEO is Out
The McGraw-Hill Companies Reports 15% Increase in 1998 EarningsThe McGraw-Hill Companies today reported a 15.1% increase in diluted earnings per share to $3.35 for 1998 compared to $2.91 in 1997. Net income for the year grew to $333.1 million and revenue increased 5.5% to $3.7 billion. Excluding an extraordinary loss and other one-time items, diluted earnings per share were $3.37 and net income was $335.4 million.
Educational and Professional Publishing: Revenues in this segment increased 3.0% to $1.6 billion in 1998 and operating profit improved by 7.7% to $202.1 million. Excluding the write-off for CEC in 1998 and the facilities charge in 1997, operating profit increased 11.1% and operating margin improved to 13.5%. "Revenue in the seasonally slow fourth quarter increased 1.9% to $344.7 million and operating profits climbed by 26.0% to $22.4 million. Despite a lighter adoption schedule in the elementary school market in 1998 and challenging comparisons created by a 25.4% increase in revenue last year, our elementary-high school operations produced a 7.6% gain in revenue to $831.5 million. Outstanding results at Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, our secondary school publisher, SRA/McGraw-Hill, our supplementary publisher, and CTB/McGraw-Hill, our testing division and a better than expected performance by the School Division all contributed to this record. Glencoe produced market-leading performances in math and social studies, scoring well with multi-media programs in both adoption states and open territories. SRA/McGraw-Hill and the School Division combined to take 34% of the California reading market in the second year of the adoption and led the market after two years with a 35% share. The School Division's social studies program also performed well, helping it to overcome a disappointing performance in math. In Higher Education, solid results with both the front and backlists combined to produce a 7.0% gain in revenue to $359.4 million. Revenue for the Professional Publishing Group declined by 4.8% to $429.5 million, reflecting the continuing weakness at CEC. Softness in the Asia-Pacific markets also held back International Publishing operations, although our Spanish-language programs in Mexico and Spain showed solid gains.
Source: Businesswire 1/26/99
Internet sales Gain at WH Smith
British retailer W.H. Smith Group on Wednesday reported a modest sales increase over Christmas and New Year, but saw orders surge at its newly-acquired Internet Bookshop. The Internet Bookshop, the online bookseller Smith bought last July for 8.8 million pounds ($14.54 million), saw sales jump by 70 percent to 1.7 million pounds since September 1 last year, with orders up 170 percent in December. The firm's shares have been swept along on a wave of Internet fever, sparked by investors scouring the UK stock market for Internet plays, which look cheap against U.S. cyber-stocks like rival online bookseller Amazon.com and search engine Yahoo!. Home electronics retailer Dixons, owner of Internet service provider Freeserve, has been the main beneficiary so far. It shares have surged some 70 percent since Freeserve's success first became apparent in November, boosting Dixons' market value by some three billion pounds. Analysts said there has been intense speculation about how Smith might expand its online business, including rumors it might do its own ``Freeserve.'' When Smith bought Helicon it said this marked another step along the way in developing its electronic commerce business and said it would reveal more about Internet plans in the spring.
Source: Reuters 1/27/99
EarthWeb Announces Online Publishing Deals with Seven Leading Book Publishers EarthWeb announced today that it has entered into agreements with seven leading Information Technology (IT) publishers to provide the complete text of their technical books on EarthWeb's ITKnowledge. The deals give EarthWeb licensing rights to over 3,000 technical books for its subscription-based online library of IT information. The ITKnowledge roster of publishers comprises many of the most respected companies in the technical publishing industry including: IDG Books Worldwide and its imprints, M&T Books and IDG Books; Macmillan Computer Publishing and its imprints, Hayden, Macmillan Technical, New Riders, Que, Sams, Waite Group Press and Ziff-Davis Press; The Coriolis Group and its Coriolis and Ventana imprints; Wordware Publishing; CRC Press and its Auerbach and St. Lucie Press imprints; 29th Street Press (formerly Duke Press); and ASP Publishing.
ITKnowledge (http://www.itknowledge.com) is EarthWeb's first subscription service and contains the largest online collection of technical books for IT professionals.
Source: PRNewswire 1/26/99
Primedia's 1998 Annual Sales Grow to $1.5Billion
Primedia reported annual sales rose to $1.53 billion, up 26.3%, and EBITDA, rose 15.6% to $323.1 million. According to company sources the company will strengthen our market positions as we accelerate organic growth through market penetration, international expansion and new products, particularly delivered via the ultimate targeted medium - the Internet." Some of PRIMEDIA's brands include Seventeen, HPC Apartment Guides, Horticulture, IntelliChoice, Telephony, Channel One Network and Weekly Reader. During the week there was some media speculation which referred to Primedia as a potential acquition target. The management group which sold Petersens have loads of cash and will apparently be looking to repeat their success.
Source: Businesswire 1/28/99
Houghton Mifflin Company Reports 1998 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results Houghton Mifflin Company today reported results for the fourth quarter and full year 1998. Net sales in 1998 reached a record $861.7 million for the full year compared to $797.3 million in 1997, an increase of 8.1%. Income from operations was $40.8 million, or $1.40 per fully diluted share, compared to $42.7 million, or $1.48 per diluted share, in 1997. The 1998 results included $.07 per share of operating losses attributable to the Company's July 1998 acquisition of Computer Adaptive Technologies, Inc. and a $.02-per-share charge for the cost of the Company's unsuccessful bid for a portion of Simon & Schuster's publishing assets. Net income for 1998 was $63.6 million, or $2.19 per fully diluted share. This result included other earnings related to the Company's investment in INSO Corporation (INSO) totaling $28.4 million after tax, a $2.0 million after-tax loss on the disposition of certain long-term investments, and a $3.5 million charge for in-process research and development. Net income in 1997, including special items related to INSO totaling $7.2 million, was $49.8 million, or $1.73 per fully diluted share.
Source: Businesswire 1/28/99
EU Probes FT/Dow Jones/Knight Ridder 1996 deal The European Commission said on Friday it was probing a 1996 agreement between Financial Times Information Ltd, Dow Jones Information Publishing Inc and Knight Ridder Business Information, now called Dialog Corp Plc, to set up an electronic database for financial information. The European Union's competition watchdog said in a notice published in the bloc's Official Journal that the agreement was filed for regulatory clearance in June 1997. It added that it could fall under EU regulation 17 which bans anti-competitive agreements and abuse of a dominant position. The Commission called on interested parties to comment within a month. FT Information is controlled by Pearson Plc. Dialog was created in 1997 by the merger of M.A.I.D. Plc and Knight-Ridder Information Inc. The three financial news service providers agreed in September 1996 to cooperate to develop and maintain a new worldwide electronic database for historical business and financial information, the Commission said in the short notice.
Source: Businesswire 1/29/99
Mirror Group CEO is Out
As reported last week, disgruntled investors acted out their threats this week by requesting the resignation of chief executive David Montgomery. Institutional investors cited under-performance and “poor strategic decisions by its senior management” as reasons for the action. Chief among these were management’s decision to invest in the Independent newspaper and establish its Live TV subsidiary.
Source: Financial Times 1/29/99
The McGraw-Hill Companies Reports 15% Increase in 1998 Earnings
Internet sales Gain at WH Smith
EarthWeb Announces Online Publishing Deals with Seven Leading Book Publishers
Primedia's 1998 Annual Sales Grow to $1.5Billion
Houghton Mifflin Company Reports 1998 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results
EU Probes FT/Dow Jones/Knight Ridder 1996 deal
Mirror Group CEO is Out
The McGraw-Hill Companies Reports 15% Increase in 1998 EarningsThe McGraw-Hill Companies today reported a 15.1% increase in diluted earnings per share to $3.35 for 1998 compared to $2.91 in 1997. Net income for the year grew to $333.1 million and revenue increased 5.5% to $3.7 billion. Excluding an extraordinary loss and other one-time items, diluted earnings per share were $3.37 and net income was $335.4 million.
Educational and Professional Publishing: Revenues in this segment increased 3.0% to $1.6 billion in 1998 and operating profit improved by 7.7% to $202.1 million. Excluding the write-off for CEC in 1998 and the facilities charge in 1997, operating profit increased 11.1% and operating margin improved to 13.5%. "Revenue in the seasonally slow fourth quarter increased 1.9% to $344.7 million and operating profits climbed by 26.0% to $22.4 million. Despite a lighter adoption schedule in the elementary school market in 1998 and challenging comparisons created by a 25.4% increase in revenue last year, our elementary-high school operations produced a 7.6% gain in revenue to $831.5 million. Outstanding results at Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, our secondary school publisher, SRA/McGraw-Hill, our supplementary publisher, and CTB/McGraw-Hill, our testing division and a better than expected performance by the School Division all contributed to this record. Glencoe produced market-leading performances in math and social studies, scoring well with multi-media programs in both adoption states and open territories. SRA/McGraw-Hill and the School Division combined to take 34% of the California reading market in the second year of the adoption and led the market after two years with a 35% share. The School Division's social studies program also performed well, helping it to overcome a disappointing performance in math. In Higher Education, solid results with both the front and backlists combined to produce a 7.0% gain in revenue to $359.4 million. Revenue for the Professional Publishing Group declined by 4.8% to $429.5 million, reflecting the continuing weakness at CEC. Softness in the Asia-Pacific markets also held back International Publishing operations, although our Spanish-language programs in Mexico and Spain showed solid gains.
Source: Businesswire 1/26/99
Internet sales Gain at WH Smith
British retailer W.H. Smith Group on Wednesday reported a modest sales increase over Christmas and New Year, but saw orders surge at its newly-acquired Internet Bookshop. The Internet Bookshop, the online bookseller Smith bought last July for 8.8 million pounds ($14.54 million), saw sales jump by 70 percent to 1.7 million pounds since September 1 last year, with orders up 170 percent in December. The firm's shares have been swept along on a wave of Internet fever, sparked by investors scouring the UK stock market for Internet plays, which look cheap against U.S. cyber-stocks like rival online bookseller Amazon.com and search engine Yahoo!. Home electronics retailer Dixons, owner of Internet service provider Freeserve, has been the main beneficiary so far. It shares have surged some 70 percent since Freeserve's success first became apparent in November, boosting Dixons' market value by some three billion pounds. Analysts said there has been intense speculation about how Smith might expand its online business, including rumors it might do its own ``Freeserve.'' When Smith bought Helicon it said this marked another step along the way in developing its electronic commerce business and said it would reveal more about Internet plans in the spring.
Source: Reuters 1/27/99
EarthWeb Announces Online Publishing Deals with Seven Leading Book Publishers EarthWeb announced today that it has entered into agreements with seven leading Information Technology (IT) publishers to provide the complete text of their technical books on EarthWeb's ITKnowledge. The deals give EarthWeb licensing rights to over 3,000 technical books for its subscription-based online library of IT information. The ITKnowledge roster of publishers comprises many of the most respected companies in the technical publishing industry including: IDG Books Worldwide and its imprints, M&T Books and IDG Books; Macmillan Computer Publishing and its imprints, Hayden, Macmillan Technical, New Riders, Que, Sams, Waite Group Press and Ziff-Davis Press; The Coriolis Group and its Coriolis and Ventana imprints; Wordware Publishing; CRC Press and its Auerbach and St. Lucie Press imprints; 29th Street Press (formerly Duke Press); and ASP Publishing.
ITKnowledge (http://www.itknowledge.com) is EarthWeb's first subscription service and contains the largest online collection of technical books for IT professionals.
Source: PRNewswire 1/26/99
Primedia's 1998 Annual Sales Grow to $1.5Billion
Primedia reported annual sales rose to $1.53 billion, up 26.3%, and EBITDA, rose 15.6% to $323.1 million. According to company sources the company will strengthen our market positions as we accelerate organic growth through market penetration, international expansion and new products, particularly delivered via the ultimate targeted medium - the Internet." Some of PRIMEDIA's brands include Seventeen, HPC Apartment Guides, Horticulture, IntelliChoice, Telephony, Channel One Network and Weekly Reader. During the week there was some media speculation which referred to Primedia as a potential acquition target. The management group which sold Petersens have loads of cash and will apparently be looking to repeat their success.
Source: Businesswire 1/28/99
Houghton Mifflin Company Reports 1998 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results Houghton Mifflin Company today reported results for the fourth quarter and full year 1998. Net sales in 1998 reached a record $861.7 million for the full year compared to $797.3 million in 1997, an increase of 8.1%. Income from operations was $40.8 million, or $1.40 per fully diluted share, compared to $42.7 million, or $1.48 per diluted share, in 1997. The 1998 results included $.07 per share of operating losses attributable to the Company's July 1998 acquisition of Computer Adaptive Technologies, Inc. and a $.02-per-share charge for the cost of the Company's unsuccessful bid for a portion of Simon & Schuster's publishing assets. Net income for 1998 was $63.6 million, or $2.19 per fully diluted share. This result included other earnings related to the Company's investment in INSO Corporation (INSO) totaling $28.4 million after tax, a $2.0 million after-tax loss on the disposition of certain long-term investments, and a $3.5 million charge for in-process research and development. Net income in 1997, including special items related to INSO totaling $7.2 million, was $49.8 million, or $1.73 per fully diluted share.
Source: Businesswire 1/28/99
EU Probes FT/Dow Jones/Knight Ridder 1996 deal The European Commission said on Friday it was probing a 1996 agreement between Financial Times Information Ltd, Dow Jones Information Publishing Inc and Knight Ridder Business Information, now called Dialog Corp Plc, to set up an electronic database for financial information. The European Union's competition watchdog said in a notice published in the bloc's Official Journal that the agreement was filed for regulatory clearance in June 1997. It added that it could fall under EU regulation 17 which bans anti-competitive agreements and abuse of a dominant position. The Commission called on interested parties to comment within a month. FT Information is controlled by Pearson Plc. Dialog was created in 1997 by the merger of M.A.I.D. Plc and Knight-Ridder Information Inc. The three financial news service providers agreed in September 1996 to cooperate to develop and maintain a new worldwide electronic database for historical business and financial information, the Commission said in the short notice.
Source: Businesswire 1/29/99
Mirror Group CEO is Out
As reported last week, disgruntled investors acted out their threats this week by requesting the resignation of chief executive David Montgomery. Institutional investors cited under-performance and “poor strategic decisions by its senior management” as reasons for the action. Chief among these were management’s decision to invest in the Independent newspaper and establish its Live TV subsidiary.
Source: Financial Times 1/29/99
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