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PC Mag goes online, ditches mag
Author: Gareth HalfacreePublished: 21st November 2008
The PC Magazine of yesterday has been replaced by the PC Mag Digital Network of tomorrow due to poor advertising revenue for the print edition.
According to the New York Times, the magazine's parent company Ziff Davis Media has opted to shut down the printed version due to a reduction in advertising revenue and increased costs associated with printing and distribution a physical product.
Jason Young, Ziff Davis Media's chief executive officer, stated that “the viability for us to continue to publish in print just isn't there anymore.” Young has also said that over eighty percent of the profit generated by the magazine comes from the – far cheaper to run – on-line version, making the returns for creating the paper version just not viable in today's economic climate.
With a circulation that has been declining since its peak of 1.2 million at the end of last decade to its current figure of 600,000, the move shouldn't come as too much of a shock – and neither should the revelation that, although the company is due to turn a profit this year, the financial forecasts for 2009 predict a loss unless the magazine is ditched.
The good news for fans of the magazine is that the content should remain relatively unchanged: the newly-monikered PC Mag Digital Network – no, seriously – has been playing host to content first for quite some time, with certain articles cherry-picked from the website to appear in the magazine. Most employees of the company are thought to be safe in their positions, too – although around seven employees who specialise in advertising, production, and circulation of the printed edition are due to leave as a result of the move, out of a total headcount of 140.
Young also dropped hints that the publication's sister magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly, might also be going on-line only – although said that he would not be making a decision on that until the end of the year.
Are you saddened by the loss of a quality magazine from the news stands, or is online definitely the way to go for tech news? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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For the type of magazines that I read (computer, Hi-Fi and car), on-line distribution is perfectly acceptable in my opinion. You don't get any less from the reading experience and you get the bonus of it being free and not cluttering up your house.
I can see some types of magazines being less easy to move on-line. Fashion magazines for example are synonymous with the "glossy magazine" image and many of their readers would object to loosing the experience of turning the pages and staring at the shiny photos of unachievable standards of beauty. The high end fashion magazines are also a status symbol and I'm sure many of their readers would prefer to be seen reading a glossy copy of Vogue rather than some electronic equivalent. At least until electronic paper becomes more widespread.
I hope so; I did do it through a 3rd party though, maybe I have a receipt somewhere. That is a pity that they are stopping that... the ever growing pile of magazines under my coffee table was looking rather handsome....
We got bit-tech's up-to-the-minute reports and reviews. Who needs the old news of the printed tech mags?
I -for one- see user dependent publishing in the near future, webzines that build themselves based on user interests. I see PC Magazines move as a move towards this direction.
(eg: remember -back in 2004- when Reason magazine released an issue with satellite photos of the subscribers house on the cover and their name printed in the cover heading?)