Business 2.0 To Close After October; No Sale
So it has finally been decided, as long rumored: Business 2.0 magazine is closing down, after Time Inc. (NYSE: TWX) tried to sell it but in the end decided not to. The October issue, to be closed next week, will be the final one, reports NYT’s Bits blog. The magazine got a one month extension last month, as the parent company tried to sell it, and reports pegged offers from Mansueto Ventures and others. But Time Inc. did not want to boost a competitor, and look bad in case the magazine was revived. The Bits post says “Kill Teams” from Time Inc. in NYC will visit the magazine’s 29th floor offices in San Francisco tomorrow.
NYT’s main story: Time Inc. will reassign the editor of Business 2.0, Joshua Quittner, and nine other editorial staff members to Fortune magazine, where they will help with Fortune’s technology coverage, conference business and website. A benefit of the magazine’s two-month closure-decision-making process is that most of its laid-off employees now have other jobs lined up, the story says.
Related StoriesPosted In: Media & Publishing, Magazines, Companies, Time Warner, Time Inc.
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Comments (3)
Sep 5, 2007 1:45 AM
Pretty graceful exit.
Good synthesis with Fortune.
The scrappy spirit of Biz 2.0 will live on.
Sep 5, 2007 11:32 PM
Sad. I love this magazine. It’s always so innovative and inspiring.
-Janet
Sep 6, 2007 5:50 PM
What a waste! I thought it was the best magazine for bringing people up to date on the happenings of the Web2.0 era.
Here is my editorial.
This is as unAmerican as you can get Time Inc. “...Time Inc. did not want to boost a competitor, and look bad in case the magazine was revived…”. How cool is that? If you think the magazine could be doing well in someone else’s hands, then SHAME on YOU! for not giving it an honest effort.
This is like a food company throwing away unused food in containers, rather than give it to those that might need it. If it doesn’t sell, or if it doesn’t appeal to those that have to pay and buy it, give it to the poor that need it. That’s what responsible companies do with their unused or unpopular items. They don’t say, we’d rather throw away this food that we don’t use, because if we give it to the poor, then they will not buy our new stuff!
Why not change it to a free version that you could get corporate employees to subscribe to and be able to sell more advertising. You know the subscription model is the equivalent of the “Buggy Whip” market and the market share you hold in other print media will follow soon.
You have to try something different. Why would you even have a “Kill Team” in the first place? Follow the lead of the successful startups in the Internet space. Why not open it up to pre-screened editors (Hundreds of them) to contribute as a user run magazine? Why kill it off? Why?
You are just postponing the inevitable when you do something like this. Which of your magazines will be next? Business 2.0 is a gem of a magazine. The format is unmatched, the contributors are smart, the content is gold. I read the magazine cover to cover, and I have given 5 gift subscriptions.
BTW, instead of killing it off, can you GIVE IT TO ME? I will not compete against your other magazines, I will make sure Business 2.0 becomes one in a space all it’s own.
This is my opinion. I welcome yours (Maybe?)
Diran Afarian
President, CEO
BlueGrind.com