Magazines Frustrated with Economy

Facing a brutal economy in 2008, big magazine chains closed some titles deemed to have a smaller chance of survival. This translated into significantly less publication paper consumed.

At Time Inc., shelter magazine Cottage Living went by the wayside. Condé Nast folded Golf for Women and took Men’s Vogue to a twice-annual supplement of Vogue from a standalone title. Hearst Magazines shut down CosmoGirl!, Quick & Simple and O at Home.

“They’re going to have more difficulty than the multi-title companies because they don’t have [the resources] to do all the integrated and added-value programs for advertisers, and they don’t have as much ability to cut costs,” said Martin Walker, a longtime magazine consultant. Already gone: pop-culture mag Radar; Jewish Living; Harvard grad-aimed 02138; and the New York Sun.

In flusher times, publishing chains or private-equity money could toss a lifeline to struggling independents. But with the credit markets dried up, M&A activity has slowed to a crawl. For the first nine months of 2008, consumer magazine deals fell 95 percent in dollar value while newspaper deals fell 93 percent, per the Jordan, Edmiston Group investment bank, which tracks media deal-making. And with the unsettled outlook for print, publishers have been focused on digital buys, not collecting more magazines.