As a prestigious
and respected news outlet, Newsweek is making a statement about the plunging
percent of advertising dollars for this category. Since 2005, readers have been
turning to online sources for news updates. Although the magazine was founded
in 1933, ownership has changed hands twice over the past few years. These
changes contributed to earlier talks of becoming a digital-only magazine but
nothing had been confirmed until recently. At the end of December, Newsweek
magazine will stop printing its
publication for good.
According
to an article from the Wall Street Journal titled Newsweek Quits Print, only a small portion of their subscribers are
currently online-only which provides a lot of opportunity for growth within
2013. The printed version of the article also featured images from past
magazine covers to emphasize the role Newsweek has played as a credible source
of news for almost 80 years. The faces of General Patton, Neil Armstrong, John
F Kennedy Jr., and Steve Jobs were all included in the collage. The writer
quoted Baba Shetty, CEO of the
Newsweek Daily Beast Co,
this decision will save
the magazine “tens of millions of dollars” from printing and distribution
costs. US News and World Report made the shift in 2008 and found it was a
profitable decision since their popular college rankings draw millions of
unique visits each month.
As a
media student, you hear about the decline in advertising spending on
traditional media but you never expect market leaders to experience extreme
plunges in circulation and profit. This is incredibly significant because now
Time Magazine is only remaining newsweekly being printed given them complete
control of the category. Having such a big name join the digital movement will
significantly increase online competition. While they are experimenting with
pricing, Newsweek will also have to find something that differentiates their
product from others in this space since news is easily distributed in the
digital space. Hopefully their current online-only subscribers have helped them
develop an understanding of what readers what to see and how they want to see
it. I’m intrigued to see how many of their current subscribers remain brand
loyal after the switch in December.
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