Q: How much has Condé Nast lost?
Newsweek answers the question. Ouch.
My next question, however, is whether new technology will get there in time to resurrect the industry. Kindle and the new rumored Apple tablet/reader and other companies joining in, plus the already popular iPhone, well, we have to ask if this is just a huge evolutionary leap. Maybe this is a $1Billion growing pain?
It makes perfect sense obviously to produce a news or fashion magazine over the internet, no paper costs, no distribution costs. However, it is a difficult ‘sell’ in advertising terms. It is happening though with large national brands.In smaller localised markets business is tougher as it is difficult to figure the tangible benefits of spending ‘virtual’ advertising dollars. There in lies the problem, large national magazines may do well in the virtual world but localized publications may not, or it might work the other way round. Another question is – if a magazine is already producing an elaborate web site what are the benefits of producing a kindle type publication as well?