Time Magazine isn’t just tweaking a few things—it’s literally retooling, like a plant being refitted to produce a new car. In addition to changing the publication day to Friday, already announced, Time is:
—adding an audience model, a la television networks, as an option to the rate base. Time is guaranteeing 19.5 million print and online readers per issue.
—cutting circulation (don’t worry, #1 status is safe) by 375,000 to 3.25 million.
—launching a substantial redesign of the venerable magazine in January. Exepect a focus on breaking news at Time.com and lean-back reading in print.
—reducing the number of targeted U.S. print editions to three from eight.
—raising the cover price by a dollar to $4.95. That alone should drive some occasional print readers online. It won’t make much of a difference when it comes “historic” keepsake issues.
MediaPost: John Squires, Co-COO, Time Inc., at the Audit Bureau of Circulations Conference: “It’s not about a competitive positioning in print; it’s about relevance for readers, wherever they may read the brand. We’re building the newsmagazine brand of tomorrow.”
—“Of course, if the audience guarantee proves highly successful, we’d certainly think about whether it might be appropriate for other titles.”