• Mediaweek, Monday, June 8, 2009 10:16 AM

Digital copies of magazines -- which are essentially electronic replicas -- have mushroomed in the past year, but many media buyers are skeptical of digital editions as an ad vehicle. By the end of 2008, 110 titles reported paid digital subs of nearly 1 million. Without digital editions, many titles would miss their rate-base guarantees.

That situation is shaping up to be a problem. Scott Daly, executive media director at Dentsu America, says if he were negotiating with a magazine that sells digital subs as part of its circ, "we would probably discount it, because a digital version of a magazine is not the reason we'd go into a magazine."

Robin Steinberg, director of print investment at MediaVest, wants more information about the difference between readers of print and digital editions. "To serve these copies as part of the rate base without understanding the difference is questionable," she says.

Case in point: Hearst's Cosmopolitan, the second-biggest user of digital subs. Its paid digital subs totaled 99,012 in the second half of 2008, or 3.4% of its circ. More than half of those copies were sponsored, or free to the recipient. In the same period, about three-fourths of the digital copies counted toward the rate base. A Hearst rep points out that all the copies are ABC-approved. Another case is food magazine Saveur. Its sponsored digital copies accounted for 8.5% of its 307,298 circ in the second half of '08. The digital copies usually come with a membership or ticket to an upscale event, so "it is still a quality audience," say editors.

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