BoSacks Speaks Out: It was reported today that Reed Elsevier, Europe's largest publishing group, beat analysts' expectations and is continuing to push its businesses deeper into the profitable for them digital communication universe.

The Economist reported today on Reed Elsevier that "Overall revenues from electronic publishing and face-to-face exhibitions represented 84 per cent of first-half sales, whereas print revenues from titles including New Scientist and Estates Gazette were just 16 per cent, compared with 50 per cent in 2007. Similarly, advertising generated just 2 per cent of revenues in the period, compared with 15 per cent in 2007."

Now in the article below we see that Cond� Nast has announced that it will shutter its print edition of Golf World, and deliver a digital product 50 times per year, delivered each Monday morning.  

There are some in our industry who express the thought that going digital and stopping print editions is akin to the death of a title. I couldn't disagree more. As I have expressed many times before, going digital is inevitable for most, if not for all titles and having a print edition, is not mandatory for revenue. Increasingly, and much like Reed Elsevier, publishing's revenue will be derived from digital revenue streams.

It is possible to forecast that five years from today, if conditions and trends continue as they are, newsstand sales will be 70% of what they were in 2007. Reed Elsevier, IDG and many others including Cond� Nast with Golf World are proving that a substrate change is the right and sensible path for their continued success.

Cond� Nast's Golf World goes digital-only; will shutter 31 week print edition and publish 50 weekly digital editions

by D.B. Hebbard 

http://www.talkingnewmedia.com/2014/07/23/conde-nasts-golf-world-goes-digital-only-will-shutter-30-week-print-edition-and-publish-50-weekly-digital-editions/

The magazine publisher Cond� Nast today announced that it would shutter its print edition of Golf World, produced 31 times per year, appearing after golf tournaments, and would publisher 50 times per year, delivered digitally each Monday morning. Unlike other Cond� Nast magazines, Golf World had not created a Newsstand app using the Adobe DPS, but has a flipbook-like app built by GTxcel, using an approach that is very much like what Sporting News employed in 2009 prior to launching their own native digital editions.

Golf World recorded a 20 percent decline in ad pages through the first quarter this year, whileGolf Digest (the other Cond� Nast golf magazine) and Golf Magazine, both monthlies suffered only modest declines. The title was the third book in a three book field (counting only the major magazines). In 2013, ad pages fell over 18 percent while its nearest competitors recorded page gains, and pages were down far more through its July issue this year.

With a total circulation of only 213,387, while its competitors have 1.6 and 1.4 million in circulation, one might conclude that the title is lucky to still be alive, but Golf World is very much a different magazine than its competitors, publishing an edition after each tournament, rather than monthly.

"We recognize this is a big change from how we have operated and delivered the printed Golf World magazine in the past," the magazine said in a blog post. "But this evolution allows us to increase frequency, improve delivery time, and add video reporting to better meet the expectations of today's readers."

"These are the right decisions, but they're tough ones," said Jerry Tarde, the chairman of both Cond� Nast golf magazines. "This brand has been around a long time, and we want it be around for a long time. The only way to do it is by meeting the expectation of our readers."

Ten positions will be eliminated in the move, according to AdAge, and Golf World's editor-in-chief, Jaime Diaz, will now lead a new news-division team that will include contributors from both Golf Digest and GolfDigest.com.