All the Help It Can Get

The long lead time for Portfolio's debut gives its competitors plenty of time to prepare. One in particular is casting the net as wide as it can, turning to other editors for advice. Top editors at BusinessWeek this summer invited Gary Belsky and Neil Fine, executive editors at ESPN the Magazine, and New York editor in chief Adam Moss in to critique the magazine as it geared up for a major redesign, according to insiders. The men provided a host of suggestions; for example, insiders said Moss preferred shorter stories (? la New York's "Intelligencer" section), and preferred more conceptual covers, such as the ones The Economist often produces. The group surely knows what they're talking about ??” New York this year won a National Magazine Award for Design, while ESPN won for General Excellence for magazines with circulations of 1 million to 2 million.

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Good Fortune

Speaking of Fortune, managing editor Eric Pooley poached two staffers from The New York Times and the New York Post this week, proving that Portfolio's Joanne Lipman is not the only magazine editor scouring newspapers for talent. Times information graphics editor Sarah Slobin will join Fortune on Oct. 24 as senior editor and Post media reporter Tim Arango will join Oct. 16 as a writer. Arango, whom Pooley said "is really great at penetrating big media organizations," worked at TheStreet.com and Budapest Business Journal (really!) before joining the Post in 2002.

Second Helping

After Self served up one issue of food and cooking spin-off Self Dishes in the spring, Cond?© Nast has ordered two issues of the title for 2007. Last year, Self published 750,000 copies of the magazine, of which 300,000 were mailed or distributed to the Food Network and other outlets, but next year will bump up the distribution to 850,000 copies of the slated May and September issues, e-mailing another 1 million copies to people who have registered with the Cond?© Nast database. While associate publisher Lynne Dominick did not say how many copies sold at newsstand, she said, "To give the green light so early on a project before the budgets have been finalized for 2007 or all magazines, we know it was an enormous success on the newsstands." California Raisins and Fosters already have signed up for the next edition, though neither advertised in the premiere issue. While Dishes seems to have found success, Self may want to think about spinning off a pregnancy special, given that 12 staffers will have given birth by the end of the year.

2. Advertising Age
'Esquire' Offers Invite-Only Ad Pages to Luxury Marketers
By Meredith Deliso
September 28, 2006
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=112114

Esquire wants to fill what it sees as a void in the luxury men's market, and the Big Black Book is its answer. On Oct. 2, the Hearst men's magazine will launch its coffee-table-book-magazine hybrid, a style manual fit for the successful modern man. With more editorial than most magazines, the black book, void of a celebrity cover or ad back, offers style tips and useful information for the modern gentleman, such as etiquettes of lateness and how to write the perfect thank-you note, as well as stories and histories on luxury brands.

???It??™s an extension of the brand in a very simple way," said Kevin O'Malley, Esquire's VP-publisher. He then expressed a not-too-immodest-view of the project's future: "The Big Black Book will clearly and quickly establish itself as the leading luxury style manual for men.???

The brand extension is, in a way, an advertising party with a velvet rope around it. To advertise in the book, marketers had to receive an invitation from Hearst, and each advertiser could purchase only one of the 74 ad pages (all 74 have been sold). High-end brands that made the cut include Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Bombardier, IWC Watches, Hugo Boss and Louis Vuitton.

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3. Fashion Week Daily
Teen Vogue to launch Fashion University
By Staff
September 27, 2006
http://www.fashionweekdaily.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=366762&itype=8486

Even Parsons students might be envious this October, when Teen Vogue will launch a three-day seminar series for teenagers, bringing fashion icons together with their fans. ???Fashion University??? begins Friday, October 27 with an OK Go concert at Webster Hall. The real work begins on Saturday, when chosen students will meet with Catherine Malandrino, Derek Lam, Tim Gunn, Simon Doonan, the Trovata boys, and Amy Astley to discuss fashion careers and education. Besides boldface names, the program will also feature lectures with photographer Roman Barrett about what happens on a shoot, and IMG??™s David Cunningham on how young models are discovered and developed.

The weekend will also include a wrap party at Levi??™s and a runway show at Bloomingdale??™s, with a $75 tuition fee going to the CFDA/Teen Vogue Scholarship fund for promising style talent. As for acceptance for Fashion University, it might rival that of a real fashion college??”applicants must be between the ages of 16 and 21, and are encouraged to email a resume, essay, and fashion sketches to the Teen Vogue staffers guarding the gates.

4. Fashion Week Daily
An Editor Complex: Ecko's mag gets a new chief
By Staff
September 27, 2006
http://www.fashionweekdaily.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=366757&itype=8486

As Complex continues to astound media watchers with its robust performance and guest editors like Pharrell and Jamie King, a big change hits its masthead: former deputy editor Noah Callahan-Bever is now the editor-in-chief of Marc Ecko??™s publishing project. He replaces Richard Martin, who leaves the company. Before working at Complex, Callahan-Bever was senior editor at Vibe, and also wrote for MTV??™s Direct Effect and MTV News. He inherits a magazine that recently reported a 17% ad increase from last year, with an October/November issue weighing in with a whopping 146 pages of advertising??”and hopefully some good stories, too.

5. Radar
Dennis Deal Far From Dead
By Steve Smith
September 28, 2006
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2006/09/dennis-deal-far-from-dead.php

The on-again, off-again sale of Dennis Publishing is on ... again! After balking earlier this summer, sources say British men's magazine mogul Felix Dennis is once more leaning toward selling Maxim, Stuff, and Blender, three of the four titles that make up his U.S. holdings. (The Week, the fourth title, would likely not be part of any deal.) Dennis president Stephen Colvin, after lying dormant through the late summer, is once again in a frenzy of activity, which insiders believe is related to a sale.

Moreover, advertising reps at Dennis were recently told they were required to meet face-to-face with Colvin to review each and every one of the company's accounts. Of course, Colvin's zeal is motivated by more than mere loyalty: Sources say both he and CFO/COO John Lagana own a piece of the company and are eager to cash in. "Both of them would love to retire," says an executive close to the negotiations.

Dennis's interest in unloading his magazines is nothing new; in past years, he has reportedly held talks with American Media Inc., Wenner Media, and Hearst. "This is a guy with a history of putting a toe in the water," said the executive. But Dennis went a step further when, according to the New York Post, he hired investment bank Allen & Co. in April to prep the company for a sale, with an asking price of $250 million. Since then, Girls Gone Wild goon Joe Francis and former Wenner Media exec Kent Brownridge have reportedly expressed interest in buying, and sources tell Radar Axel Springer, which publishes the German edition of Maxim through a licensing arrangement, has also taken a close look.

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6. Folio
Meredith Posts Increased Revenue and Operating Profit for Fiscal 2006
By Marrecca Fiore
September 27, 2006
http://www.foliomag.com/viewmedia.asp?prmMID=6561&prmID=1

Meredith Corporation, publisher of 25 magazines including Better Homes and Gardens, reported in a 10K filing this week an increase in both operating profit and revenue for the company??™s 2006 fiscal year, which ended on June 30. The company??™s total revenue, 80 percent of which is derived from its publishing division, grew 31 percent in its 2006 fiscal year to $1.6 billion, from $1.2 billion in the previous year, according to the 10K and supplemental filings, which are posted on the company's Web site. Publishing revenue was $1.3 billion, up from $908.8 million in fiscal 2005. Operating profit grew 22 percent to $213 million, from $174 million in 2005. Earnings per share were up 14 percent to $2.86, compared to $2.50 the previous year.

Much of the increase is attributed to Meredith??™s July 2005 purchase of six magazines, including Parents, Family Circle and Fitness, from Gruner + Jahr for $350 million. The publications contributed $315.7 million in revenue to the company in fiscal 2006. Excluding the G+J purchases, Meredith??™s revenues grew and operating profits grew 6 percent and 5 percent, respectively, in 2006.

In addition to its magazine holdings, Meredith publishes 30 Web sites, 200 special interest publications and 400 books. It also owns 13 television stations. The company??™s EBITDA grew to $312 million in fiscal 2006, up from $263 million the previous year.

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