Dead-tree media deathwatch: R.I.P. Business 2.0
It's official. Business 2.0 joins the dodos and dinosaurs, with all but a core staff of 10 getting 1-year-salary severance agreements (so Peter Kafka's sources say). The lucky 10 will reportedly augment Fortune's Valley coverage--assuming they want to.
The
good news (for magazine folks) is that B 2.0's problems appear
to have been at least partly management-related. NYT reports that Time Inc. consolidated sales
for its finance-business magazines earlier this year, and the sales
force reportedly ignored B 2.0 to focus on the sexier Fortune. The circ was reportedly stable, just north of 600,000.
But, in any event, B 2.0 ad revenue collapsed, dropping 38% year over year, despite a red-hot business market, stock market, and advertising market.
Forbes' Brian Caulfield has more on the larger story here: Despite the economic boom, the ad dollars are going to bloggers and Google, not Red Herring, B 2.0, et al. It's not just the wasted paper, ink, and postage--it's the time delay. By the time the magazine arrives, everyone's already read the story online (or ignored it, if the magazine is trying to "protect it's business" by maintaining a firewall). Expect more B 2.0-type announcements to come. Forbes
also right when rup is poised to take over WSJ---- and do we have a WSJ-TV coming? i think so
Posted by: Fantasy Futures Exchange | July 17, 2007 at 12:48 PM
WSJ already has regular video on its website, it's very high quality, and I wouldn't mind seeing a WSJ TV. It would probably be like a PBS, with a finance focus.
Posted by: Bjorn Tipling | July 17, 2007 at 03:23 PM
I hope the Dow Jones-Murdock deal goes through. Murdock knows entertainment, and current business television is so drab it's ridiculous. Cramer will at least keep you awake and is no talking head.
Posted by: CashForFlow | July 17, 2007 at 04:47 PM
No goog earnings bet this quarter?
Posted by: j | July 18, 2007 at 01:35 AM
Couldn't happen to a nicer publication. The few times I've dealt with their reporters, I've found them to be both incompetent and arrogant. Good riddance, may their reporters end up rewriting wire copy.
Posted by: mattydread | July 23, 2007 at 06:54 PM