Magazines: Animals & Pets/Veterinary Medicine

Here is today's roundup for Animals & Pets/Veterinary Medicine:

Veterinary Economics




Children Of Man Accused Of Animal Cruelty Taken Into State Care

Are Chimps Considered People? - Animal Activists say YES

Our race is the Master Race. We are divine gods on this planet. We are as different from the inferior races as they are from insects. In fact, compared to our race, other races are beasts and animals, cattle at best. Other races are considered as human excrement. Our destiny is to rule over the inferior races. Our earthly kingdom will be ruled by our leader with a rod of iron. The masses will lick our feet and serve us as our slaves.

Evolution Occurs Faster at the Equator

Not animated (PIC)

Why is it only medicine when it comes from a pharmaceutical company?

Only focusing on 50X just gives you faster Elephants, not the revolutionary new breeds of animals that can serve us better.

Animator vs. Animation - Flash animation fights back!

Burj Dubai Animation (Day)

Anime Chicks

PICTURES: 2 amazing new animal species found at beach!

9.27.2007 - Summary - Blogging To Stop Animal Cruelty And Pet Abuse

Pass the Word, Save a Life: Cold Medicine for Very Young Children is Useless & Dangerous

Will socialized medicine wreck cancer treatment?

Magazines: Automotive/Classic Autos

Here is today's roundup for Automotive/Classic Autos:

Custom Rodder

Popular Hot Rodding

Old Cars Price Guide

Hot Rod




Worlds brightest Audi [PICS]

They call it the third industrial revolution: By 2020, new energy and ecology-related fields will be employing more people than mechanical engineering or the automotive industry.

Mythbusters: How to blow up a Car - Hollywood-style and the real way

Top 10 car adverts. (videos)

How Car Engines Work

tracking phone numbers

Why were dinosaurs so big?

Woman missing 8 days found alive after auto accident. Husband was taking polygraph test when he found out.

Top Ten Classic Haloween Costumes for Women 2007

The kind of Auto Ads you will never see in America. [video]

Auto thief collides with another car -- then steals that one

How to rip CSS protected DVD movie to iPod Touch iPod Nano and iPod Video

Jaguar XKE Series 3 V-12

Tank crashing cars (video)

Magazines: Sports & Recreation/Watersports

Here is today's roundup for Sports & Recreation/Watersports:

Waterski

Watercraft World




The Scientist and the Stairmaster???Why most of us believe that exercise makes us thinner???and why were wrong.

Jones Soda to offer "Football-Flavored" sodas: Dirt, Sports Cream, Perspiration and Natural Field Turf. Described by a Jones spokeswoman as "pretty life-like".

MLB umpire suspended after confrontation with Padre Milton Bradley

Rugby fights - amazing video for rugby funs.

Michael Vick Tests Positive for Marijuana

The 10 Most Insane "Sports" in the World

"Im what you might call a recreational drug user, as well as an Operation Iraqi Freedom combat veteran"

???????? ?? ????????????, ?????????????? ?? ???????????????? ???????????? ??????????

College Football coach gets caught selling info on his players to boosters for $1200 a year. Apparently, a $2m per year salary wasnt enough.

Why bigger is better in sports, except when its not

Congress considers banning soda and sports drinks from schools....Iraq who?

New Biggio Picture To Help Charity

Daily Stubs - Cheap Prices on Sold Out Event Tickets, Concert Theater Sports

Steve Wrigley

Magazines: Celebrity

Here is today's roundup for Celebrity:

National Examiner Magazine

National Enquirer Magazine

Interview Magazine

Premiere Magazine

In Touch Weekly Magazine

Celebrity Magazine Package




Video: Celebration "Evergreen"

Another wealthy celebrity gets away with murder

Critical Mass celebrating 15 years of free-form bicycle advocacy

Natalie Portman Nude in Hotel Chevalier!

Celebrate the end of the Tony Robbins 10 Day Challenge

Celebrating Advent with Nativity Scenes

The Devolution of Britney Spears: From Pop Star to Celebrity Trash in Less than 7 Years

Even though public shaming of Britney Spears should be allowed, and most comedians make a living by mocking celebrities, Sarah Silverman gets in trouble for making jokes about Spears.

The 25 Ugliest Celebrities

The 15 Worst Celebrity Plastic Surgery Disasters You Will Ever See

Celebrate Your Freedom! Banned Books Week, September 29-October 6, 2007

Former Prime Mininister walks off TV show to protest being interrupted for celebrity news event

hot celebrities video

Hugo Chavez has slammed Venezuelans growing penchant for celebrating their daughters coming-of-age by stumping up for breast implants

Magazines: Parenting & Families

Here is today's roundup for Parenting & Families:

Parents

Wondertime

Pregnancy

Parent & Child

Working Mother

Family Fun




Bluetongue farm family hopeful

PAID family leave for the parasites!

Doctors code of silence will hide under-age sex from parents

Breast Fed - Best Fed >>Adopted Babies

Parenting 101: Dont type kids to walls (Photo)

AT&Ts new terms of service gives them the right to suspend your services "for conduct that AT&T believes ... tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries."

A Garrison family is wondering why a Sheriffs Deputy had to shoot and kill their dog in front of a toddler.

Update: Girl in sex tape, found safe with family, Officials believe mother was unaware..

Kids are becoming the green movements stealth weapon, pressuring their parents on everything from lightbulbs to composting

Nickelodeon shows good PR with "Go Dark" plan -- but its parents that will make a difference

At the elite colleges - affirmative action for "dim white kids" with well connected families

Can You Remember Any of This? - If Not, Show This To Your Parents

"Where are You Today, Little Guy?" A foster parent wonders about her foster child.

Giuliani questioned about his family told the Christian Broadcasting Network, "I think there are some people that are very judgmental."

Magazines: Newspapers

Here is today's roundup for Newspapers:




Pennsylvania Newspapers Pretend There is No Direction to Mecca

In September 2005, a half dozen different bloggers verified that a person facing into what was originally called the Crescent of Embrace memorial to Flight 93 would be facing almost exactly at Mecca. Some surrounding trees have been added to the design, but the giant central crescent remains completely intact in the Bowl of Embrace redesign.

Do Newspapers Use Economic News to Sway Public Opinion?

So now we know that Republican administrations are slammed for high unemployment rates. But along the same logic, are pro-Republican newspapers pushing stories on inflation, deficits, or social issues during a Democratic president???s term

Israeli Newspaper asks: Should Israel come to terms with a nuclear Iran?

Students defend editor over use of expletitive:??? "Im here to tell you that the editor of a student newspaper should not be held to a higher standard than the president of the United States of America"

Do Newspapers Use Economic News to Sway Public Opinion?

Auto Industry Square Car Time!

Great daily market warm up and this one has its focus on the auto industry. Guy tells it like it is!!! Very useful weekly market moving event planner provided also. Writes for Seeking Alpha, Motley Fool, RealMoney.com, Newspapers.com.

"The Evil Has Landed": actual front page splash on an American Newspaper [pic]

The Limits of Newsprint: why one reporter says she had to leave her job at a prestigious newspaper to adequately cover educational inequities in America

Five ways to make yourself a workplace superstar

This affirming "spot on" article should be sent, not just to college newspapers but to high school counselors. It is inspiring to young women who, according to many accounts, are planning ahead for work, lifestyle, place to live and YES for family - and who value mentors such as Penelope - Kare

Oklahoma St Football Coach Mike Gundy goes off his gourd in response to newspaper article bashing his quarterback

CNN picks up "Fuck Bush" story; student newspaper editor called upon to resign

Rutgers professor in trouble for denouncing athletics scholarships

"If you were giving the scholarship to an intellectually brilliant kid who happens to play a sport, thats fine," Dowling told the New York Times in Wednesdays newspaper. "But they give it to a functional illiterate who cant read a cereal box, and then make him spend 50 hours a week on physical skills. Thats not opportunity.

Mounting pressure on the editor of the student newspaper who wrote in an editorial "f*** Bush". College Republicans want him to resign and are planning a rally against him

Canadian Newspaper Spreads Anti-American Propaganda

The Canadian has published a story that claims Russia and China would both nuke the U.S. if George W. Bush gives the green light to a nuclear strike against Iran. This radical left wing "not-for-profit national newspaper" (Nads Note: Damn commies) portrays George W. Bush as an irrational dictator who is leading his people to their demise.

Magazines: Sports & Outdoors

Here is today's roundup for Sports & Outdoors:

Golf For Women Magazine

Fly Rod & Reel Magazine

Canoe & Kayak Magazine

National Wildlife Magazine

Practical Horseman Magazine

Dodger's Dugout

Fly Tyer Magazine

Turkey & Turkey Hunting Magazine

Golf

Hooked on the Outdoors Magazine

Huskers Illustrated Magazine

Dressage Today Magazine

National Geographic Traveler Magazine

Golf Digest

Discover Magazine

Sooners Illustrated

Red Raider Sports Magazine

Cabin Life Magazine

Horns Illustrated Magazine

Western Horseman Magazine

Pro Football Weekly Magazine

Fly Fisherman Magazine

Hunting

Baseball Digest

American Angler Magazine

Volleyball Magazine

International Figure Skating Magazine

National Geographic Adventure Magazine

Runner's World

National Wildlife - World Edition

Tuff Stuff Magazine

Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine

Marlin Magazine

ESPN Magazine

Golf World Magazine




Daily Stubs - Cheap Prices on Sold Out Event Tickets, Concert Theater Sports

Why bigger is better in sports, except when its not

While youre trying to make your next mortgage payment... Red Sox Owner Buys $16 Million House To Tear It Down

Congress considers banning soda and sports drinks from schools....Iraq who?

Steve Wrigley

New Biggio Picture To Help Charity

College Football coach gets caught selling info on his players to boosters for $1200 a year. Apparently, a $2m per year salary wasnt enough.

Rugby fights - amazing video for rugby funs.

Jones Soda to offer "Football-Flavored" sodas: Dirt, Sports Cream, Perspiration and Natural Field Turf. Described by a Jones spokeswoman as "pretty life-like".

The 10 Most Insane "Sports" in the World

The 10 Most Insane "Sports" in the World

The Scientist and the Stairmaster???Why most of us believe that exercise makes us thinner???and why were wrong.

MLB umpire suspended after confrontation with Padre Milton Bradley

Bonds Homerun Ball Will Be Branded With Asterisk; HOF Will Still Accept It

TV Guide Magazine is Also Premier and Movieline

Why wasn't I memo'd about this? I just gave in and subscribed to TV Guide and was startled to get TV Guide Magazine, Premier and Movieline. It wasn't a cheap subscription, but TV Guide is pretty necessary if you have several hundred channels of cable, premium movie channels like HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax. (I know there are other premium movie channels covered in TV Guide but I don't subscribe to them, so I don't care. Sue me on Court TV. Ha!)

I was pretty overwhelmed by the choices on my TV, DVR, and the combination of the two, so I thought I should do a little better job of advance planning. I try to limit my TV watching to an hour or two a day so I kinda hate it when I record, say, The Closer, on my DVR and then decided I wish I'd watched The History Channel. Or vice versa sometimes.

So I decided to subscribe to TV Guide to help me look at what's what. I really did not expect that this subscription would come with two other magazines. Premier is exactly what it sounds like - a magazine about movie premiers. Frankly I'd have subscribed to this magazine all by its self. I love stuff like that.

The other magazine that came with my TV Guide subscription was Movieline. It's more of a gossip magazine, which is really not my sort of thing at all. On the other hand, my wife does love that and seems to enjoy this magazine a lot. So I guess we'll be re subscribing to that too. (I think Atlantas sank because of too many magazines in the bathroom and a pile of Wall Street Journal newspapers stacking in the office. You know?)

So, how is the experiment with TV Guide going? Well, mixed. I've found some new TV shows to experiment with but it hasn't helped me discard old shows. Perhaps that is an internal willpower thing. Duh. I am pleased that I have not watched even one of my last season discarded shows (Hero's, Lost, etc) and have not picked up any of these spiffy looking new season ones. That is leaving me more time to read Permiuer and wish I could actually go to a movie that did not involve a kid flying on a broom or an animated animal from Disney.

Spanish Readers Digest - Selecciones Del Readers

I have to tell you, I had no idea there was a Spanish Language version of the Readers Digest.

But it makes sense. Humor in Uniform, Life in These United States, timely articles, easy to digest (ha!) articles on health, nutrition, and politics - these things cross cultural borders.

One of my favorite memories was actually learning Spanish from a neighbor who was learning English. We had an annual subscription from my Great Aunt - we never had to re subscribe, she always renewed our subscription for us as a present for Christmas - and I grew up reading Readers Digest. English Readers Digest, obviously, not Spanish Readers Digest!

Anyway, the Oliveras moved in next door to us. My memory is a little fuzzy, but Senora Olivera was a wonderful woman - always candy in her apron, and always a copy of Readers Digest in her hand. She was using it to puzzle out how to speak in English. Her husband (who scared the heck out of 10 year old me) was an executive for a textile company and, of course, spoke perfect English. (This was obviously before Selecciones Del Readers or Spanish Readers Digest) But Senora Olivera spoke little or no English.

She came to all the street parties, but spoke to nobody. She let me hand out at her house and scarf her candy - I guess a little boy was less menacing in terms of speaking fractured English

One day I borrowed her Readers Digest and was reading it and laughing at Life in These United States. "Please to read it to me" she asked. So I read it to her like my mom had read it to me - working line by line, word by word, following the finger, through Readers Digest.

They moved away after only a year on our street, but I will always remember Senora Oliveras tortillas (never had them before), Readers Digest magazine, and reading outloud in a quiet house.

I still subscribe to Readers Digest, still give Readers Digest as a gift, still re-subscribe my friends to this magazine. It has simply been a part of my life as long as I can recall.

Fish Alaska for Happiness

As Time Magazine once said: As Time Magazine once said: The state's name comes from an Aleutian word that means "great land." And no one who has ever seen Alaska's panoramic peaks, its rushing rivers and teeming wildlife would argue with that description. Alaska is great in beauty, in majesty and in sheer size. If laid atop the lower 48 states, it would stretch from Florida to California. The territory that was once called Seward's Folly is rich almost beyond comprehension in oil, coal, timber and fish. Alaska is truly America's last frontier, a place of wonder that is virtually unspoiled and a priceless treasure that is largely unspent.

Most importantly, Fish in Alaska. Everyone should go. Everyone. Even if you don't like fish or fishing or even Alaska you should go and cast a line and fish.

The most excellent magazine, Fish Alaska, will help you choose where to go, but that is a nuance. Subscribe to this magazine, keep renewing your subscription, and fish happily in Alaska!

Black Enterprise Magazine on Jena 6

When I want to know about a particular topic I do not read a newspaper, I wait for a magazine to come out and tell me all about it - they have more time to read the breaking news aspect and to consider the big picture. I'm often a few weeks behind everyone in coming to an opinion, but I find that I am often making fewer stupid opinions. So I tend to mark that as a good thing.

Plus it lets me look the most ardent political fool (either side of the aisle) in the eye and say, "Well, I am still trying to understand the whole topic, what do you think?" And then I can usually do my imitation of a horse (fall asleep standing up, not, er, defecate while walking) and sip my drink in peace.

When I want a somewhat neutral opinion on matters then I pick up a magazine that is devoted to business. It drives my wife nuts that I have so many magazines and renew them every year (she jokes that I want a garage to hide stuff like that from her. I think she is joking). Sure, a business magazine will sometimes have naive opinions, but I am sure I do too, so I don't fault them for that. (Finding fault is my boss's job)

So, I have been intrigued about the Jena 6 situation. While Al and Je$$ie have been all over the Jena 6 stuff, I have long since learned to tune them out. But I think, potentially, the Jena 6 case is important in modern race relations. So, based on my theorem of using business magazines to get a handle on social issues like the Jena 6 I went to Black Enterprise Magazine. (This is a great mag, you can subscribe for less than $10/year and usually you can find re-subscription deals for under that. I have had a subscription to Black Enterprise since I first saw a copy on the newsstand some years ago. :-)

So, back to the Jena 6 and what Black Enterprise has to say. Hmmm, they went with the standard AP story with no commentary. I check the AP story on the Jena 6 with the Black Enterprise version on the Jena 6 and there is no change at all - they just ran it.

So, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that the Black Enterprise reading middle/upper class doesn't care about the Jena 6. (The WSJ, in contrast, has six stories today.) I know that Black Enterprise magazine often has political stories (with viewpoints very different than mine, frequently) and takes very strong political positions when they feel their subscribers care. And magazines live and die by subscriptions and re-subscriptions. So if you miss report a critical story in a magazine like Black Enterprise then you can lose 8% of your subscribers just like that - SNAP.

I don't subscribe to Jet, but I will go buy a copy and check out their website and get back to you shortly.

Oh, you want my opinion? Well, I am not sure what a harsh penalty is for three kids beating up another kid. It happened to me when I was in 8th grade and I just tracked them down one by one and administered a beating to each of them in turn. Well, actually, the biggest pounded me again, but then they all left me alone. Maybe the Jena 6 should have been handled the old fashioned way with no police involved.

And I don't know if the white kids who put nooses up on the tree broke any actual laws, but I am shocked that their parents didn't publicly take care of the problem. Had I done something so stupid my dad would have made me march to every black household and apologize. And in a small town like Jena (3,500 total population) you could actually do something like that.

So, my conclusion is that I don't have a conclusion. Did the Jena 6 break the law beating up another kid. Undoubtedly. Was the court trial for the Jena 6 unfair? Who knows. Was it right for the Jena 6 to beat up some kid as a response for the provocation? No. So we are left with a human mess.

Handle a Magazine Like A Man

How to handle a magazine like a man.



A little man. But a man. Our kids love magazines too but they're old enough to just litter the floor with the re-subscription inserts.

Giant Magazine - $15M/month....

Did that get your attention? I had a subscription to Giant Magazine back in 2005 when it was pretty new. I enjoyed it but did not resubscribe - I just get copies on the news stand when I travel. It seems to work well for me.

The circulation has climbed up to around 400K, which is pretty good, but a recent story I heard on NPR made reference to a $15M/month ad revenue income. No way Jose. Or maybe, it is full of lovely glossy photographs, articles for men, articles on entertainment figures (thankfully Paris Hilton Free so far)(Free Paris Hilton? No.)(Help, I'm arguing with myself!), etc, etc

What makes Giant stand out from GQ or Cargo or Detail? Really, not that much. I mean, I have a lifetime subscription to GQ magazine and all, so I obviously prefer that. But Detail is good, and so is Giant. There are a lot of good mens magazines that you don't have to be ashamed to read in public.

Cough, Maxim, cough, FHM, cough.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the last issue of Giant - there was a good retrospective article about aging rock stars and how they seem to do even more poorly than aging child stars in Hollywood. It was a thoughtful article and it made me consider subscribing to Giant again. Maybe I can sneak another magazine subscription past the wife.....

Poppa Was a Rolling Stone

Ok, not really, but when he died, ... Ok, I will stop now.

Anyway, Rolling Stone magazine - what is your favorite ever issue. Not counting ones with semi-nekkid girls on the cover.

Well, they have published, now, over 1,000 issues and have over 1.3M subscribers. So there will be lot of divergent opinions. The cover that stands out most recently to me is the one of Kayne West as Jesus. I was poking around and found this really good article about that cover.

I think that I've always appreciated the subscription that my Aunt gives me every year. I hope she's not paying more than $13 or so for it, but I always appreciate the nice card when it comes. I guess I also hope she never actually looks at the magazine!

Regional Magazines - Why So Many?

I was browsing Magazine Renew to find a cool gift for a friend. I ran across a category, Regional, and was startled to find 40+ magazines devoted to different areas.

Let me count the ways:

1. San Diego Magazine.  Lots of sailors and high end houses.
2. Sacramento Magazine.  Who would live there if not on the government escalator?  Actually, it is a lovely area of the country, and I've actually read this magazine at a friends house.  I recall it as a very high end publication.
3. Palm Springs Life.  Ain't never been there, they tell me it's nice.
4. Orange Coast Magazine.  I assume this is Orange County California.
5. Las Vegas Life.  Sounds like the punchline to a joke about mobsters. Not that there are any mobsters in Las Vegas. And if there were, they certainly wouldn't be Italian American.
6. Indianapolis Monthly.  I've been to Indy.  Is there really that much to write about?  It's the only place I've ever been where Applebys is considered fine dining.
   
7. Ft. Worth Texas.  We got an airport and strip malls, any questions? Amigo.
8. Blue Ridge Country.  You not from around here, are you boy?  Hey, I got relatives in Ft. Worth.  Nice pickup truck, you paint that they Krylon or semi-gloss?
9. Baltimore Magazine.  Not as crime ridden as DC.  Move along, don't step in the blood.
   
10. Ghetto Weekly. I made that one up.
11. Red Neck Hot Rod and Insurance Quarterly.  Made that one up too.
12. Ten Year Old Laptop Software Development Journal.
13. Minivan Racing Form.
14. Using the AOL Browser in public.

Heh, the last five were fake, but funny.

I know there is a big market for these regional journals, and I admit to enjoying the one we get and resubscribe to every year.  But I had no idea there were so many.

Billboard Magazine Green Issue

Ok, no, stop laughing. I love BIllboard Magazine - I would have been a rock star except for the small matter of a lack of talent and a regular sized tongue. I don't actually subscribe to it, though I do buy it on the way into LAX so that people will think I'm just another fat A&R guy.

I have had a subscription to Rolling Stone for around 20+ years though - that is the best $13/year you can spend, IMHO.

Anyway, the editor for Billboard Magazine, Klenert, recently said, about their green issue: ?I wanted the artwork to be boiled down and clearly convey `Music Goes Green? without any words." Just a whoo-hah from their Gulfstreams, I'm sure.

Is New York Magazine Turning Teen Vogue?

Not a question we'd normally think to ask since fashion magazine Teen Vogue is about a bizillion ads and scented inserts and boney chicks and New York Magazine, well, it's more like a frosty cold cosmo on a hot day on the Upper West Side.

Anyway, the reason this question comes up is because Adam Moss (New York Magazine's publisher) is spending a LOT of money to update their website, put in a special issue for the fashion show, and is going to produce a "Runway Rankings" contest.  Which is exactly what it sounds like.

What I want to know is, will this magazine continue to enjoy enormous renewal rates (it rivals any magazine in the industry) if it becomes less, well, Manhattanite Snooty (tm) than it is today?

Scientific American is Mobile?

Scientific American, the magazine that smart people like to buy and then try to read before it gets too embarassing because you have fifty seven copies in each of your three point five bathrooms on important subjects like black holes and quantum gas.

Yes, that was a physics/bathroom joke.

Anyway, Mina Lux, the VP/Online for Scientific American seems to think that by branding SA as more internet savvy they will increase their renewal rates and become more profitable and relevant.

I say that having articles you don't read on your cell phone is preferable to killing tress to have them in your loo.

This is a subscription only service. Who do they think they are, the Wall St. Journal?

PC Magazine - Over $100M in Sale

Wow, PIB reports that PC Magazine has $115M in sales.

That is a LOT of people who own computers and want to know how to make darn Vista run on them! Seriously, that is a lot of subscribers, even at $11.60 per year!

My favorite recent article was on getting your digital camera to work with Vista. Isn't that a problem we fixed 5 years ago with XP and auto-loading of drivers? Hep me!

Hearst Magazine on Competition

Some drone at Hears says "Hearst brands like Good Housekeeping, Redbook and O, The Oprah Magazine compete with portal sites Yahoo and MSN"

Gee, hope he's not getting paid *much* more than $300K a year for that sort of insight.

But it is true. You want to know what Oprah thinks, do you wait for her magazine, go to her website, or just google her?  I go with google, frankly.

Now, if those websites don't have good magazines, er, vice-versa, then that is a different story.  But since they all cough up some content, is the magazine really worth $30/year more than the website?

Don't ask me, I read magazines where the internet isn't gonna be so useful (bathroom, bus, etc) so I subscribe to 25 or more.  Yes, every xmass I have a big-dump-the-magazine-binge.  I like to start the new year with a clean house.

Where was I?  Oh, yeah, magazines versus the internet.  Well, if you gotta have Oprah's opinion in her very own magazine, or gotta have the Word of Redbook, then subscribe to it.  If you just wanna know about making goats milk cheese, or whatever, then google for it and follow your instincts for a good website.

That is all.  Have a nice day, watch your head on the way out.

How Much Is that Website in the Window?

A friend of mine just mailed me an PDF about Magazine Subscription Rates (The Effect of a Magazine?s Free Digital Content on its Print Circulation: Cannibalization or Complementarity? by Daniel H. Simon and Vrinda Kadiyali)

While offering digital content that has limited overlap with the current print magazine reduces print sales by about three percent, offering digital access to the entire contents of the current print magazine reduces print magazines sales by about nine percent.

Holy mama sama!  That is a HUGE price to pay for having a cool website.

Take one of my favorite magazines, CQ.  Their website is crap even though the magazine is wonderful.  Who knew that was a business decision rather than just laziness?

Do You Read Magazines

You gotta wonder about these guys:

Although the above results provide little evidence that magazines raise subscription prices when they offer digital content, it should be noted that these are list prices, and magazines sell most subscriptions at a discount. This raises the possibility that magazines may offer fewer discounts, rather than increasing the list price, when they offer digital content.

Dude, you *THINK* they offer a discount?  You can save a TON by not getting your subscription from those stupid cards that litter your floor in the bathroom.  Just use a website with a good selection of discounts from different publishers. Duh.  For example, Architectural Digest (I get it for Xmass every year from my Aunt) is like $70/year from the publisher, you can get it for $40 bucks. 

Assuming Tools For Digital Magazines

In  Daniel H. Simon and Vrinda Kadiyali tell us about their methods:

We consider three alternative approaches for handling the missing information on digital content for the pre-1996 period. First, rather than dropping the 97 observations for those titles most likely to have had a website prior to 1996, we impute their digital content for earlier years using a simple rule: we assume that for any years between 1993 and 1995 in which a magazine, which offered digital content in 1996, had registered a domain name, it offered the same level of
digital content that it offered in 1996. In other words, we simply fill in the 1996 level of digital content for each of the years between 1993 and 1995 in which a magazine had registered a domain name.  

Uh, dudes, do you remember the tools we had in 1993?  Neither do I. Bartender, more Wine!.  There is no way a magazine could have maintained a website in 1993 like it did in 1996+.  If that makes sense.  Which doesn't mean their data/conclusions are wrong, just that this is a bad assumption.

Ya Think So?

I was reading a paper on Magazine Subscription Rates (The Effect of a Magazine?s Free Digital Content on its Print Circulation: Cannibalization or Complementarity? by Daniel H. Simon and Vrinda Kadiyali)

First, free digital content may attract a different segment of the market, enabling the magazine to attract new readers to the website without cannibalizing existing print readers. This could occur in either of two ways. Free content may attract highly price-sensitive consumers who would not pay for a print magazine subscription

Ok, so they have a business model to market to cheap buggers?  Good business model.

Go read US News & World Report for a while and get a clue.  Or you could just read Nickelodeon and pretend to run a company. Sheesh.

Magazine Renewal On The Cheap

When you go to renew your magazine subscriptions, do you price shop? My wife just fills out the darn card and sends it in with the "bill me later" option checked, which means I have to send a check and have no idea what was a good price.

So I got to thinking about Magazine Renewal On The Cheap (tm). Ha! In the web boom days we'd have been able to raise $20 million on that idea. Now I just want to float the idea to you.

For example, I was able to find Weight Watchers for $8.94 and for $7.39. Now, I don't know about you, but I'll make a special trip to the grocery store to save a buck and a half on ground beef. So, I'm thinking that a public service website where you can fill in your magazine subscriptions, when they're due, and it will email you a month or two before hand with the best deals on the web for magazine subscriptions.

Hollinger Inc. Protected From Creditors For Another Month

Man, nice to see bankruptcy law protecting the newspaper and magazine publishers.

Even if it won't protect thee and me.

Chicago Sun-Times publisher Sun-Times Media Group (STMG) and other creditors cannot force Hollinger Inc. out of bankruptcy protection for another four weeks, under an Ontario court ruling.

We a province of Canada now? WTF. Can I have my street signs in Ignorant Redneck as that is my native tongue? It really toques me off. (Sorry.)

Anyway, read the whole thing, it's complicated, but basically the company is sitting there rotting, interim directors, non-voting rights, etc, etc.

A very good friend of mine declared bankruptcy and the worst people to deal with were: Electric company, magazine companies (Muscle and Fitness were evil to him), car finance company, lawn service (!!), and the phone company. In none of that did he get help from the court.

Terror Plot or Bad Music?

From Captains Quarters today:

Germans Stop Terrorist Plot Against Ramstein

Darn them, all we want to do is enjoy the music. Can't we all just get along?

Magazine Subscriptions, Renewals, and Digital Content

I was looking up a story from Time magazine on their website and was stunned to find it there.

Why? Because my latest copy had just arrived.

So I got to thinking about how costly something like that would be. I did some googling about and found out that Time spends around $5M/year on their website. Since they have around 3M subscribers and sell another 1M copies on the news stand (the highest in the industry for the US) that means they're spending around $1/reader. Which seems a lot to me. My magazine renewal last time was for $22.50 or something, so 5% of my subscription is going to the website.

But does the website lost subscribers? I popped over to SSRN and found:

We examine how offering digital content affects demand for print magazines. Using a searchable website archive, we measure the digital content offered by a sample of US consumer magazines from 1996-2001. We find strong evidence that digital content cannibalizes print sales. On average, a magazine’s print circulation declines about three percent when it offers a website. However, the effect varies with the type of digital content offered. Offering digital access to the entire contents of the current print magazine reduces print sales by about nine percent. We find no evidence that digital content complements print magazines. These results are robust to including controls for unobserved magazine, category, and time effects, as well as controls for the impact of contemporaneous price changes and other factors.

Ok, 3M subscribers * $20/each * 3% is close enough to $2M to not make any difference.

So, let's net this out: Time spends $5M on their website and it costs them $2M in re-subscription fees. Plus the actual cost to capture a new subscriber to replace the lost ones is probably on the order of $50 or $75, so the cost of replacing the lost subscribers is another $50M!

So, Time, thanks for the website, but was it really worth $55M? This year?