• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, November 4, 2010

The proportion of publishers that expect mobile distribution to play a major role in their future increased from 55% in 2009 to 65% in 2010, according to the "Going Mobile" survey from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

What's more, publishers believe that mobile could begin contributing to their bottom line in the not-too-distant future, with 37% saying they expect mobile to have a positive effect on total revenues within the next two years.

But at the same time, most publishers envision a mix of delivery formats, at least in the near term, with 78% saying they didn't think their publications would switch to digital-only delivery within five years.

There's also a good deal of dissent about current mobile business models: Specifically, only 19% of the publishers surveyed by ABC said they were satisfied with Apple's business model, which gives the company a substantial slice of revenues from content delivered to its mobile devices, including iPhones and iPads.

The Next Issue Media consortium, of which Conde Nast is a member, projects total digital subscription revenues for newspapers and magazines will rise to $3 billion by 2014 -- with perhaps half going to magazine publishers. Focusing on mobile in particular, in September, the managing director of Conde Nast U.K., Nicholas Coleridge, received a great deal of press for predicting that 15 years from now "70% of our sales to come from print and 30%, or even 40%, to come from products such as the iPad."

There's no question that the mobile market is expanding at a remarkable pace, thanks to surging smartphone sales, spurred by the growing popularity of Google's Android operating system. Over the last year, smartphones jumped from 43 million, or 14% of global mobile sales, to 77 million, or 23% of global mobile sales.

On the tablet computer front, Apple sold about 7.5 million iPads by the end of the third quarter, putting it on track for over 10 million units sold in 2010. UBS is predicting annual iPad sales to rise to at least 28 million in 2011.

Economist Launches Online Fairs

The Economist Group is unveiling a new online event program called Online Fairs, which it is positioning as an innovative approach to response advertising. The Online Fairs create virtual 3D trade shows, combining the experiential aspect of expos and networking with the Internet's potential scale and accountability. The first monthly events will focus on the education, investment and employment/ recruitment sectors, as well as a host of technology-related topics. The first Online Fair will be the Global MBA Forum from November 15-16, serving as a virtual jobs fair for prospective business students

Nielsen Buys 2 Photo Industry Trade Mags

The sale of a number of trade mags, including Adweek and Editor & Publisher, doesn't mean the Nielsen Company has lost its appetite for trade publications. This week, it purchased two photo industry trade mags. The first, Rangefinder, targets wedding and portrait photographers, while the second, AfterCapture, deals with post-production photography work.

Rangefinder has a monthly circulation of 60,000; AfterCapture, which publishes six times a year, has a circulation of 38,000. Along with the magazines, Nielsen also acquired an event, the Wedding and Portrait Photographer International Trade Show, held annually in Las Vegas with a total attendance of about 15,000.

Algire Named Prez of Source Interlink Distribution

David G. Algire has been named president of Source Interlink Distribution, responsible for all of the company's activities, from sales and retail support to planning and business development. Previously, Algire worked for Meredith Corp.'s National Media Group and the Reader's Digest Association. Source Interlink publishes a number of enthusiast magazines, including Motor Trend, Automobile and Hot Rod.

Rodale Combines Mountain Bike With Bicycling

Health and fitness publisher Rodale Inc. is closing Mountain Bike as a stand-alone publication, and is merging advertising and editorial operations with the larger Bicycling, according to Folio. Mountain Bike will cease publication with its November issue, now on newsstands, ending a 25-year publication run. Bicycling's circulation of 425,000 and publication schedule of 11 times per year will remain unchanged, according to the report.