On Monday, Newsweek unveils the most dramatic overhaul in its history -- one that parent Washington Post Co. hopes will take it from a money-losing position in the weekly-news category to a money-making one in the thought-leader category.
| But only the correct thoughts ... |
It was a plan that was hatched by Newsweek CEO Tom Ascheim and sold to Newsweek Editor -- and recent Pulitzer Prize winner -- Jon Meacham.
While some think it is the gamble of a lifetime, and one that could ultimately jeopardize the long-term job security of Ascheim and Meacham if it fails, others feel the prolonged ad slump and the many problems in the category make dramatic change necessary.
"You can't keep doing the same thing, given the economic realities," Meacham told Media Ink.
Jack Hanrahan, who publishes the insiders' newsletter Circ Matters, agrees. "It's a very smart thing for them to try to do," he said.
Part of the strategy is to shed lower-paying readers, who today pay an average of only 47 cents an issue for a subscription, even though it costs Newsweek at least $1 to produce and mail. Time subscribers pay an average of 34 cents an issue, while the more upscale The New Yorker fetches 98 cents and The Economist garners $1.96.
| Brilliant. The whole point, of course, was that you sold subscriptions cheaply to hook eyeballs that you then presented to advertisers. The real problem is that advertisers have bailed, as witness the next paragraph: |
On the circulation front, Newsweek currently promises advertisers it reaches 2.6 million, but on June 1 that will drop to 1.9 million and by January it will fall again to 1.5 million.
Newsweek hopes to double the price subscribers pay to about 80 cents a copy.
| Which will cut the number of eyeballs, which will cut the number of advertisers, which will ... oh, I don't know, bring out The Book of Common Wisdom! |
In addition to the lower circ, the mag's content will change, moving away from chasing breaking news stories.
The new Newsweek will have four main sections. Pravda Scope will replace the old Periscope section, and The Take will feature all the magazine's columnists.
Features will be long narratives, which Meacham is calling, Izvestia "The First Draft of History," and photo essays. The Culture will cover TV, movies and books each week, but with fewer reviews.
On the newsstand, consumers will see the cover price go up by $1 to $5.95.
I read elsewhere that the goal of the make-over was to get to customers who "read hard-cover books", the implication that such people would think like the writers at the mag and would buy and read a mag that reinforced their prejudices thoughts. At the same time they'd unload their current slack-jawed, NASCAR-loving, gun-toting readers who only pay 47 cents and who refuse to be enlightened. Real winning strategy, that one ... |
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