• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, February 11, 2010

Big Pubs Miss Rate Base

The magazine world contracted in a number of ways in 2009 -- with ad pages decreasing 25.6% per the Publishers Information Bureau, and total newsstand sales slipping 10% according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. But there was shrinkage in less-remarked areas, too. Per Jack Hanrahan, a print veteran who now publishes a newsletter on magazine issues called CircMatters, the number of magazines included in ABC's FAS-FAX circulation report declined from over 600 titles in the second half of 2004 to 511 in the second half of 2009 -- a loss of at least 15%.

Among the 85% that remained, 32 failed to meet their rate base in the second half of 2009, Hanrahan added, including Reader's Digest, Playboy, In Touch, OK!, Star, Jet, Ebony and First For Women. Playboy led the way with a 22% deficit, up from 6% in the first half of 2009; Jet was off by 11.7%; Reader's Digest sank 11.3%; Star fell 6%; and OK! was off 5.8%. Also missing their rate base were Los Angeles Magazine (by 6.7%) and Ebony (6.4%).

A number of these titles have already announced plans to slash their rate bases, apparently anticipating these drops: Star is slimming 16% to 925,000 beginning in mid-April, Playboy dropped 42% to 1.5 million at the beginning of this year, and Reader's Digest is losing 31% for a new rate base of 5.5 million, effective with its February issue. Other titles on the list had already lowered their rate base, but missed it anyway: most notably, OK! lowered its rate base 11% to 800,000 in August, but missed this by an average 46,000 per issue in the second half of 2009.

Out Debuts City Guides for iPhone

Gay social life tends to be concentrated in big cities, and gay men have a tradition of being early adopters, so it's amazing this service wasn't already on offer: a new iPhone app that allows users to download Out's "City Guides" to their Apple mobile device. According to Editor in Chief Aaron Hicklin, it delivers "the inside scoop on where to eat, drink, shop, and play," covering the best local gay bars, restaurants, shops, nightlife and hotels in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The free app comes with geo-targeting services. Out plans to add new cities from around the United States and the world to eventually achieve comprehensive coverage of the globe's gay cities.

Kirkus Reviews Gets Saved, Too

Like its former sibling Editor & Publisher, Kirkus Reviews had a near-death experience. It was technically dead for a couple of weeks before being revived by new ownership. Kirkus, one of the leading trade publications of the book publishing world, was bought by Herb Simon, the chairman emeritus of the Simon Property Group, perhaps best known as the owner of the Indiana Pacers. The book trade title had been briefly shuttered by Nielsen Business Media, as part of a larger move divesting most of its media trade titles through sales or closures. Now published by the newly created Kirkus Media, the trade title is keeping its editorial leadership, with Elaine Szewczyk staying on as editor and Eric Liebetrau still serving as managing editor. Simon stated: "At a time when even the definition of a book is changing, my love of books makes me want to be part of the solution for the book publishing industry." Kirkus Media will be a division of Calendar Holdings, a specialty company owned in part by Simon.

Myers Gets Lucky

Michelle Myers has been named vice president and publisher of Lucky, according to Conde Nast. Previously, Myers worked at Time, Inc. as the publisher of People StyleWatch, one of that company's up-and-coming celebrity-fashion titles. Earlier, Myers served as associate publisher of Conde Nast's Allure from 2000-2004.