Ad pages in consumer magazines fell about 26%, while ad revenue declined about 20% in the first quarter of 2009, per the Publishers Information Bureau. This news comes one week after the Business Information Network reported that ad pages for b-to-b magazines fell 27% and revenue dropped 21% in January 2009 compared to January 2008. Some of the largest drops among consumer magazines came from Conde Nast's Portfolio (down about 61% in pages) and Country Home (down 65% in pages). A majority of the magazines tracked posted double digit declines in both pages and revenue. A few lucky …

Is there a hopeful future for event marketing and conventions? Las Vegas thinks there is. More than 400 conventions and meetings have been canceled in Las Vegas in the last six months and tourism and conventions are down nationwide. Nonetheless, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority decided this week to keeping its advertising firm R&R Partners and its $92 million annual ad budget. R&R has been with the LVCVA since the '80s and claims to be responsible for the marketing savvy that has made the city and its slogan, "What What Happens Here, Stays Here," cultural icons. …

Subscribers to Wenner Media's Us Weekly will be greeted by an ad that looks like a cover atop the April 20 issue. It is part of a five-page ad package that Us sold to promote HBO's film "Grey Gardens". The cover is meant to resemble a 1940s-era issue of Us Weekly and features "Grey Gardens" stars Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore. It's the latest salvo in a battle over ads on magazine covers. Such ads blur the line between advertising and editorial and raise the ire of the The American Society of Magazine Editors. So far, false covers …

Marriott International claims guest demand for newspapers has dropped about 25% and it will become the first major hotel chain to stop automatic newspaper delivery to guest rooms. The hotel is shifting to a new system based on customer preference. Marriott Rewards members can put in standing requests to receive their preferred newspaper automatically at the chain's 2,500 U.S. hotels. Non-members will be asked if they/want a paper at check-in. The choice will be USA Today, The Wall Street Journal or the local paper. Cutting automatic delivery is expected to cut total distribution by about 50,000 daily copies.

This Thursday's earnings report for newspaper publisher Gannett is expected to kick off the ugliest quarter in recent memory for the newspaper industry. Declines in print ad revenue accelerated through the end of last year, and if early returns this year offer no clearer view of a bottom, publishers could start taking more aggressive action, including closing papers or shifting operations online. Analysts and industry executives will be searching for any glimmer of an ad recovery. As for Gannett, though most of its papers are profitable, profits are shrinking. The company's entire debt structure is due to …

There is a growing sentiment among marketers and media folks that advertisers and publishers have a lot in common. Design consultants Tim Leberecht and Adam Richardson blog about the current opinion among many insiders that publishers need to morph into marketing agencies. "At a moment in history when ads are giving ground fast to immersive and informative experiences, publishers need to quit selling space and start selling their ability to help tell and host media experiences." The consultants call on traditional media to transform themselves into content-based marketing services organizations. To make it work, media buying and advertising …

TV networks are offering more hours of original content aimed at outdoor sports enthusiasts, with a special emphasis on high-def. Among them, Outdoor Channel is the most established and The Sportsman Channel has created the most buzz in the last 18 months with an aggressive campaign to transform itself. Sportsman's parent InterMedia Outdoors bought Primedia's outdoors magazines last year and is trying to integrate the two media to hook a bigger audience. "Because of our magazines, we can be faster to identify under-served microniches and we have a pre-existing market and easier branding," says Sportsman's president Willy Burkhardt. The …

A study commissioned by the Foundation for Outdoor Advertising Research concludes that digital billboards do not pose a safety threat to drivers. The study centered on Rochester, New York and echoed findings from a 2007 study of digital boards in Cleveland, Ohio. The report analyzed Rochester Police data from about 18,000 traffic accidents over a five-year period and found that digital billboards had no statistically significant relationship with the occurrence of accidents. In fact, accidents actually decreased 4% within a half-mile mile of the digital boards. The study is designed to assure local governments that accepting digital boards …

It looks like cable could lead upfront sales this year, something that hasn't happened since 2004. Buyers are suggesting that top-tier cable networks -- those that produce original programming that have gained ratings traction -- could see a few percentage ticks upward in their CPM, despite the troubled economy. Media buyers say their clients are more interested in the cable networks this year, according to Marci Ryvicker, media analyst at Wachovia. There are two reasons for the shift. First, more advertisers are interested in reaching large slices of audience who flock to a particular topic, such as food …

Network execs' new message to the industry: "We can't live the way we've lived in the past." The old business model of funding a pilot for $3 million to $10 million -- when it has only a 10% chance of survival -- can't be sustained much longer. Hefty license fees for shows that are only performing so-so are also too expensive. Now, international co-productions, which network chiefs would have never considered a few years ago, are suddenly in vogue, thanks to their thrifty sticker prices. The nets are also more willing to give low-rated series another shot, "as long …