Consumers, Not Media Companies, Call the
Shots When It Comes
to Digital Versus Print
By Karlene Lukovitz
There's no question that more publishers, consumer as well as B-to-B, are launching digital magazine editions and moving to digital-only magazines. Just take a look at the news in this issue of DMN, or recent issues of any trades covering the media and advertising businesses.
Are economics playing a role here? Of course. From the publisher's standpoint, digital magazines are cost-effective content distribution vehicles that have become increasingly attractive in a climate of soaring print production and mailing costs and declining advertising revenue. And yes, publishers are deciding that print economics no longer make sense for some magazines.
But media-pundit articles implying or outright stating that launching digital editions or going digital-only is a sign of core brand weakness or worse are frankly both contradictory and hard to fathom, given the true marketplace realities.
More
Enabling print readers to "test drive" digital versions of several actual, current issues during trial/conversion periods has paid off in high conversion rates, cost savings and reader satisfaction for global technical association and publisher IEEE. IEEE executive Jim Vick shares the process and results to date. Full Article
Updates
PC Magazine Folds Print In Favor of Digital Edition, Web More than 630,000 subscribers to the 27-year-old magazine will be given the option of shifting to digital as of February. More
"Read Green" Initiative Promotes Sampling of Digital Consumer MagazinesReader's Digest and titles from Hachette, Rodale and Bonnier are among 200+ offering free one-year digital subscriptions. Misson: Expose new prospective magazine readers to the format's eco-friendly and other benefits. More
Hanley Wood Adds Digital Editions to Deliver Bonus Circulation Strategy enables cost-effectively delivering larger audience to advertisers in economically-challenged construction marketplace. More
Digital Edition Count Jumps 28% Among BPA Members The number of BPA-audited publications reporting digital edition circulation rose to 286 in this year's first half. Which magazines now have the most digital subscribers? View the latest top-20 ranking inside. More
ABC Drops Paid Digital Notification; Creates Digital Advisory Committee Rules change simplifies site license logistics for B-to-B publishers. More
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Hanley Wood Adds Digital Editions to Deliver Bonus Circulation Strategy enables cost-effectively delivering larger audience to advertisers in economically-challenged construction marketplace.