Mags, TV To Face Off On The Net

Digital video production techniques and broadband penetration will allow magazines to compete with established TV players in the online sphere, according to panelists at the 2006 "Leadership Conference for Independent Publishers," hosted by the Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) and the Independent Magazine Group (IMAG). Indeed, in a revealing turn of events, the panel discussion on "Editorial Leadership for a Multi-Channel Brand" soon turned exclusively to the possibilities and pitfalls of video on magazine Web sites.

"From a business standpoint, we hope to take dollars from television--not cannibalize print," said Steve Hedlund, president of the Ehlert Publishing Group, which produces multiple titles targeting "power sports" enthusiasts including aficionados of cars, motorcycles, boats, jetskis, and other recreational vehicles. With a portfolio of strong print publications, video can't help but extend Ehlert's brand, Hedlund said: We'll try to capture what we do in print, but now with sound and movement--because our enthusiasts are all about the sound and movement."

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For publishers like Hedlund, the Internet is a path to achieving a longstanding goal that's been blocked by the structural forces of traditional media--namely, TV's "powers that be." Hedlund recalled: "We tried for a number of years to get into television programming... but for a small company, you try to start some cable television programming... and the production costs are so high, and negotiations are so painful."

In the old world, Hedlund went on, "ultimately the networks work against you... they start talking to your sponsors and they always find a better deal just outside your own shows."

The move to video is shaking up the world of text journalism too, other panelists said. Steve Waldman, CEO, founder and editor in chief of Beliefnet.com--which began as a text-only online publication--noted that "one of our last hires was from HBO, while our first ten hires were from magazines and newspapers."

And according to Waldman, the economics of video versus text are clear enough, from an advertising perspective: "We're getting about $25 per CPM for video, and $3 per CPM==so that tells you where advertisers are now heading, and what direction we're going to be scurrying as we go forward."

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