• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, December 1, 2004

Downloads are usually associated with the Internet, but on Wednesday the process became the central issue for a small but rapidly growing segment of the magazine publishing industry: digital editions of printed magazines. It was the primary discussion point at two separate industry events in New York Wednesday afternoon: a BPA audit committee meeting, and a panel discussion between the heads of the publishing industry's two circulation auditing bureaus.

"The issue of the day seems to be whether to have a download requirement. And, of course, how to define that," said Michael Lavery, president of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) during the Digital Magazine Forum. Glenn Hansen, president-CEO of BPA Worldwide, echoed Lavery's sentiment, noting that it was the focus of a concurrent meeting taking place among the BPA committee members, who were wrestling with whether and how to redefine digital magazine downloads based on changes in technology, mainly new "delivery managers" that can cause a digital edition of a magazine to open on a subscriber's computer or e-mail inbox without the subscriber "proactively" causing it to happen.

"In the minds of the media buyer, is that a download?," asked Hansen, adding that while media buyers want downloads to emerge as the digital circulation metric, they have recently begun to "back off the premise that it's downloads they want audited." That is, at least until an industry consensus can be developed over what constitutes the download of a digital edition. Until then, he said, the audit bureaus effectively measure "people who subscribe, not people who open it."

While the numbers are still relatively small by print circulation standards, both the ABC's Lavery and the BPA's Hansen indicated that they are growing fast. Currently, 70 members of the BPA report digital circulation, and among them it accounts for 15 percent of their total circulation. Interestingly, of the 95 ABC members that report digital circulation, the vast majority are consumer-oriented, not business publications that have been leading the development of digital publishing. Seventy-one are newspapers, 16 are consumer magazines, and only eight are business publications.

But Gordon Hughes, president of American Business Media, who moderated the panel discussion, noted that digital publishing is the fastest-growing segment of business media. While he did not reveal explicit data on the contribution of digital editions of his member's magazines, he said revenues from their Web sites now account for $2.1 billion, or 7 percent of total business media revenues. "That's a big number," said Hughes.

While the subject of downloads of digital magazine editions may have seemed messy, what actually constitutes a digital magazine appeared to be equally confusing during the audit bureau panel discussion, as well as throughout the day-long digital magazine forum.

The BPA, for example, defines digital editions as exact replicas of the editorial content of the print version, but recommends that the advertising should be different. The ABC, on the other hand, is less rigid about the editorial content being exactly the same, but prefers that the ads be essentially the same.

"Preponderance is the operative word," said the ABC's Lavery, adding that as long as the editorial and advertising content are consistent with their print counterparts, the digital editions would pass muster with the ABC.

"The digital version should be a replica of the print version in terms of editorial. The advertising, in my opinion, should not be. Otherwise you defeat the purpose," countered the BPA's Hansen.

Internet Revenues for Business Publications

       Internet Revenues   Change Vs. Prior Year 
2004        $2.1 billion                    +31% 
2003        $1.6 billion                    +33% 
2002
$1.2 billion                    +33% 
2001        $0.9 billion                    -25% 
2000        $1.2 billion                     NA 

Source: American Business Media.