Week in Review

Short reads on a Saturday morning:

• Finally the iPad turns out not be the big story this week; the bad news is that Reed Business Information is.

Everyone who has been in B2B publishing knew RBI would eventually announce some closings. But yesterday's announcement was startling, nonetheless. RBI is closing the 23 remaining titles because they could not find buyers -- of course, now buyers will be tripping over themselves trying to pick up these venerable titles on the cheap.

The titles involved are Building Design+Construction, Chain Leader, Construction Bulletin, Construction Equipment, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, Control Engineering, Converting, Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, Graphic Arts Blue Book, Graphics Arts Monthly, HOTELS, Logistics Management, Material Handling Product News, Modern Materials Handling, Plant Engineering, Professional Builder, Professional Remodeler, Purchasing, Restaurants & Institutions, Semiconductor International, Spec Check, Supply Chain Management Review and Tradeshow Week. (I already have my list of magazines I'd buy picked out -- what about you?)

In that list above is Modern Materials Handling, the title that Norman Cahners built his empire around.

• Shutting down magazines, then selling off the assets, is popular right now in B2B. A few weeks ago Cygnus Business Media sold off two shuttered titles -- Wood Digest and Finishing magazines -- to Ross Scovotti, a former rep on the books, and Jay Schneider, the former publisher. This week Scranton Gillette Communications picked up some titles Vance Publishing had shuttered in February -- Furniture Style, Home Fashion Forecast and Design & Décor magazine. SGC had previously picked up the shuttered titles Residential Lighting and Hospital Lighting from Vance.

• Both Gannett and Google announced their Q1 results. Gannett revenue declined and their stock rose; Google revenue jumped 23 percent and their stock fell -- go figure.

• Not many iPad media apps were released this week as most developers are still working on their apps now that they have actual iPads in their hands. You can find some thoughts on the follow apps, though: ABA Journal, the iPhone app from the Honolulu Advertiser, Interview magazine's iPad app, and CourseSmart's textbook app.

• Twelve major broadcasters are getting together to form a joint venture that will move mobile broadcasting forward. The firms involved are Belo Corp., Cox Media Group, E.W. Scripps Co., Fox, Gannett Broadcasting, Hearst Television Inc., ION Television, Media General Inc., Meredith Corp., NBC, Post-Newsweek Stations Inc. and Raycom Media.

Photoblogging Friday - 15

Another Friday and arrived and it feels like we are experiencing the calm before the storm. A couple of weeks ago the first iPads hit the street, but now we are at that point where a lot of development is ongoing, but not a lot is being introduced yet.

Take the iTunes store: more apps for the iPhone, all pretty much the usual thing (RSS readers), and very little is being released for the iPad. Time magazine, as a result, is dominating the paid news apps category as it releases a new app every week -- reflecting its new issue.

(Edit: This was written before the RBI story below -- so apparently the "storm" has hit, just in a different area.)

But being Friday, we get to kick back a bit and indulge in another edition of Photoblogging Friday. TNM's contributor Dean Brierly has gone in a different direction with his Photographers Speak site, so we'll take note of that.

I conducted this interview with the late James Fee in 1994 for Camera & Darkroom magazine, where I worked as Managing Editor. It was the first installment of “In the Darkroom,” a department I initiated in which noted photographers like Fee, George Krause and Thomas Barrow discussed their developing and printing methods in relation to their work’s thematic implications. At the time, Fee was beginning to earn widespread acclaim for his “Photographs of America” series, which chronicled a country in decline through haunting images of abandoned factories, hardscrabble towns and neglected cultural icons. Fee was a darkroom virtuoso, and his highly original, Gothic visual style inspired many imitators but no equals. While it may seem somewhat perverse in this digital age to post an interview focusing on silver-gelatin processes, I like the insights Fee provides on how the time and effort required by traditional materials enriches the finished work. This conversation is definitely for old school photographers, but even digital diehards should find food for thought.

You can read Dean's entire interview with James Fee here.

Reed Business Information announces it will close remaining 23 titles after M&A team fails to secure buyers

Friday is when the government releases information it wants to fly under the radar; it is also when media companies announce they are closing titles.

Reed Business Information CEO Keith Jones announced in a staff memo that the company would be closing 23 titles effect immediately.

The titles effected:
Building Design+Construction, Chain Leader, Construction Bulletin, Construction Equipment, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, Control Engineering, Converting, Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, Graphic Arts Blue Book, Graphics Arts Monthly, HOTELS, Logistics Management, Material Handling Product News, Modern Materials Handling, Plant Engineering, Professional Builder, Professional Remodeler, Purchasing, Restaurants & Institutions, Semiconductor International, Spec Check, Supply Chain Management Review and Tradeshow Week.

Just as Nielsen was eventually able to find buyers for Editor & Publisher and Kirkus Review after they were closed, there is no doubt that there will be buyers swooping in to pick up some of these titles -- but at greatly discounted amounts. Many of these titles have been the leading books in their field, before being allowed to decline over the last decade as Reed constantly changed executive management, while rarely holding middle management to performance standards.

As a former construction industry publisher, I know the construction titles would make a nice group for someone at a bargain basement price. Sadly, the group has been allowed to decline with publisher, editorial and sales positions eliminated through the years. As I always consider personnel a major factor in pricing a property -- M&A firms rarely look beyond the raw numbers -- this further discounts their value.

Further effecting the price is that few of these titles have a strong presence on the web. The construction group, for instance, concentrated much of its efforts on HousingZone.com, leaving once powerful brands such as Construction Equipment with mid-nineties looking websites.

Construction Equipment website:
Our parent company, Reed Elsevier, announced in July of 2009 its intentions to substantially exit its Reed Business Information-US publishing business, while retaining specific businesses. Over the past several months, multiple publishing brands were divested. As of April 16, 2010, the remaining publishing brands and their associated products and services have closed.

As a result Construction Equipment has closed. No additional print issues will be published, and this web site will close on April 30, 2010.

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Finally, it needs to be said that there is plenty of blame to go around here. RBI's decline may have started before Marc Teren's hiring, but this is certainly the point where the U.S. division's fall was solidified. I remember with distain Folio:'s famous "Why Marc Teren Matters" feature that was a giant brown-nosing mess of an interview. Teren's acquisition of eLogic eventually led to a major divestiture (of which I was involved), and eventually Teren's sacking. But during the remaining part of last the last decade many of RBI's titles began to surrender their dominate positions. At the same time, RBI was not involved in acquisitions that could have filled out market segments, eliminated competition, etc. In other words, the division was already being set up for sale.

Now, 23 titles are being closed supposedly because no buyers could be found. "After nine months of concerted efforts by John Poulin, Jeff DeBalko and their teams, we have decided we must now conclude the divestment process for the remainder of RBI-US. Effective immediately, we are closing the publishing operations of the following titles that remain unsold," CEO Jones wrote in the staff memo.

Something smells. An eager seller would have fired their M&A firm first before throwing in the towel -- not to mention bringing in a new CEO with more M&A experience. But the tax rules may favor this option -- I do not know.

(Updates after the jump.)

Read More >

ABA Journal becomes first B2B, first association magazine on the iPad

The official magazine for the American Bar Association, ABA Journal, has launched a revision of its iPhone app, making the app "universal" -- meaning that it now has its own iPad version.

As far as I know, the ABA becomes the first trade association that has its journal on the iPad with a native app -- I guess this would apply to the category of B2B, as well.

ABA Journal's iPhone app is a useful RSS reader -- a minimalist application that brings readers current headlines, as well as content from the latest issue of ABA Journal, and blog content (or Blawgs, as the Journal calls them).

The iPad app is rightly designed a bit differently, taking on a more web-like look -- though one wonders if iPad apps should mimic print more than the web. Unfortunately, the app does not take advantage of the iPad's ability to display graphics attractively as there are very few pictures and no multimedia content at all.

The thing that stood out to me, though, was that promotional box that can be plainly seen in the screenshots below. Is this a medium rectangle ad spot was left unsold at launch?

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Trade publishers have a huge advantage over their consumer brethren in that they have a built-in mechanism for promoting their apps -- their e-mail lists and e-newsletters. A B2B publication app is, by definition, of limited interest to the general public. B2Bs face to challenges: a limited audience, and the fact that apps get lost in the vast number of apps in iTunes. (No doubt Apple needs to rethink its iTunes app store now that there are thousands upon thousands of apps.)

But unlike consumer apps, the B2Bs can let its target audience know about their app fairly easily by promoting it via the web, its print editions, and as mentioned, e-mail and e-newsletters. Additionally, its advertisers are often very eager to promote the PR and advertising that appears on the iPad ("Look here, we're on the iPad!").

Despite this, the trade press is lagging behind all other media segments when it comes to mobile media.

Gannett print revenue falls 7.1%, beating expectations; Gannett stock rises on declines, Google falls on gains

"It's all a game" Harry Welsh says in Band of Brothers as he rides out the Battle of Bulge. Equally true of the stock market and the "expectations" of analysts.

Gannett reported earnings this morning: revenue declined 4.1 percent overall, while print declined 7.1 percent. Earnings were up 51 percent, however, thanks to declines in operating expenses. In other words, profits are up as body count went down. The result is that Wall Street applauds. Gannett's stock is up in preopen trading and up 22 percent this year.

On the other side of the universe, Google yesterday reported that earnings rose to $1.96 billion last quarter because its revenue increased dramatically -- 23 percent in Q1. Analysts, though, were not amused, punishing the stock after Google revealed that it was actually hiring people. The nerve!

It is indeed all a game.

Google revenue up 23 percent as big advertisers return

While newspaper companies are grateful for recording smaller declines, Google is back to recording dramatic increases in ad revenue.

Late this afternoon Google reported first quarter results that will make more media companies green with envy as ad revenue increased 23 percent and quarterly profit nearly hit $2 billion. The profit increase represents a 37 percent increase over Q1 2009. Ad revenue stood at $6.78 billion.

Of course, that wasn't good enough for investors as Google's share price slid after hours -- but what do you expect from analysts, some of whom questioned Google's increase in hiring (wouldn't want to do that, would we?). "Hiring more people does not mean we are wasteful," AP quoted Google's Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette. "It just means we have a great agenda."