• by Larry Dobrow , October 3, 2003

During an economic era that has sent most media mavens scurrying for cover, CurtCo Media has been one of the few companies to aggressively grow its slate of offerings. Following the late-2002 launch of Robb Report Home Entertainment & Design, the Malibu-based publisher purchased what little was left of Worth magazine in June (the revamped title will return later this month) and announced plans to debut Robb Report Motorcycling, a mag for affluent cycle aficionados, in February. Worth magazine had a circulation of 500,000 when purchased, which will be trimmed by half when relaunched.

Sensing a potential opening in the consumer electronics space - not to mention natural cross-selling opportunities with any number of the company's titles - CurtCo confirmed this week that yet another launch, Digital TV, will hit newsstands on December 2. The new title will be a companion of sorts to HE&D: HE&D will cover home theater and automation, while Digital TV will report on the projection televisions, HDTV-enabled sets, plasma screens and flat-panel displays that are fueling home-theater expansion.

"With the onset of HDTV, video technology is just exploding," notes Mark Mendelsohn, group publisher of Digital TV and HE&D. "There's nothing out there to demystify it for consumers."

With an initial circulation of 75,000, Digital TV cements CurtCo's return to the CE publishing business. Though now known for luxury mags like Robb Report, the company debuted Home Theater in 1994 and followed it up with Home Theater Buyers' Guide, Home Theater Interiors, Audio Video Interiors and Car Audio. "I think we have some credibility there," Mendelsohn says.

Whether or not the Sonys of the world remember these publications fondly, Digital TV's launch will be driven more than anything else by the emergence of its eponymous product category. Digital televisions have yet to invade consumers' living rooms, but CE companies are banking on the technology's rapid onset; they compare its potential growth curve to that of DVD players.

Then there's CurtCo's affluent readership. Mendelsohn guesses that the mag's readers will be mostly men (between 35 and 55) who boast a household income in excess of $80,000 - a good thing, given that a $3,000 television, much less Mitsubishi's new $20,000 80-inch projection unit, remains a substantial purchase for most of the U.S. population. He hopes, however, to lure an increasing number of woman readers as the magazine evolves.

"Men traditionally do most of the CE buying - you know, 'toys for boys,'" he explains. "But with the flat-panels and plasma displays, you're getting TVs off the floor for the first time. Women can relate to them from a style and design perspective."

Among the challenges Digital TV faces is expanding the magazine beyond its endemic ad base, not to mention convincing suppliers of home-theater furniture and accessories that they need to be in both DTV and HE&D. For now, Mendelsohn plans to concern himself primarily with obvious targets - manufacturers of next-generation TV and video gear - though he doesn't rule out expanding the range of ad categories down the road. He's shooting high within the CE/multimedia spectrum: Microsoft, Sony PlayStation and Nintendo rank among his primary targets.

Mendelsohn doesn't view the established magazines in the high-end CE space, such as Sound & Vision and Home Theater (now owned by Primedia) as competition for Digital TV. While he acknowledges that "we're all going after the same pot of money," he believes those other titles have a significantly wider editorial scope than Digital TV. "If it were my money, I'd put my dollars into the publication that is more targeted and specific," he says. "Digital TV is the only publication that captures this side of the marketplace, which is why advertisers need to be in it. I'd think that most companies want to go where the consumer is buying."

As for CurtCo's ongoing expansion, Mendelsohn reveals few plans beyond an increase in HE&D's frequency in 2004, to eight issues per year from the current six. On the other hand, he doesn't exactly expect the status quo.

"When you work with an entrepreneur like Bill [Curtis, CurtCo prexy], you get used to going after an opportunity as soon as you see it," he says. "One of the nice things about what we do here is that we deal with a customer that doesn't have too many problems on the financial side. They'll continue to buy and advertisers will continue to target them, and hopefully more opportunities will come from there."