• by John Gaffney , October 28, 2002

In a move that could signal deeper sharing of reach and resources for magazines, the James G. Elliott Company announced a new magazine network called The Pro 5 Media Network.

The Pro 5 Network packages rates, circulation and insertion orders for five of the country’s biggest professional journals: The American Bar Association Journal, American Medical News, (AMA); Journal of the American Dental Association, the Electrical and Electronic Engineers Spectrum and Realtor magazine. Taken separately, the publications have circulations ranging from 100,000 to 800,000. Together they represent a rate base of 1.8 million. Elliott believes his network of doctors, lawyers, dentists and other professionals will be a compelling and efficient buy for media planners.

“It’s simpler, it's more economically efficient, and I believe the demographic profile represented by this network is unparalleled,” said Elliott.

Whether or not his claims are true, the concept of networking has been used effectively within magazine companies for years. TimeWarner, Primedia, and Hachette have all been successful in presenting top-tier slices of their readership. Elliott believes his concept of tying professional books together from different companies is just the beginning of a new wave of networking. He expects that even consumer magazines from different owners will find advantages to networking in today’s environment.

“Some consumer books have trouble navigating their internal networks,” says Elliott. “But that could be because they’re not taking the best advantage of their potential audience. We think you need to go outside the corporate framework to find the best network audience.”

Opportunities? Women’s professional journals, university magazines and maybe the tech sector. After one week, Elliott says the Pro 5 network has received a good reception from agencies, but so far, no orders.