• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, June 8, 2007

Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons said Thursday that print magazines have the potential to continue being very profitable, adding that the company has no intention of selling its Time Inc. publishing division. Speaking at Merrill Lynch's annual media conference in London, Parsons said the company will continue a limited sell-off of some less profitable print properties.

"It can be in an 8%, 9%, 10% growth business for a long time if we successfully make this transition to digital," Parsons was quoted as saying. Time Inc. has recently invested heavily in its digital media capabilities, including the creation of its in-house video production studio to serve dozens of consumer-magazine titles.

On the print side, Editor in Chief Richard Stengel led a makeover of flagship magazine Time, including a shift to Friday distribution in imitation of competitors The Economist and The Week. After slashing its guaranteed circulation rate base from 4 million to 3.25 million, Time also began offering media buyers sales based on circulation to a total audience metric derived from data collected by Mediamark Research Inc.

Time Inc. has also closed or sold a number of titles considered less profitable or peripheral to its core business, including most of its Time4Media titles, which were sold to Swedish publisher Bonnier in January. Titles in the sale include Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, Popular Science, and Parenting. The company held onto two of Time4Media's biggest titles, Golf and This Old House--both strong multiplatform operations. In 2006 Time closed Teen People's print edition, followed by the Web site in April. In March of this year, it also closed Life magazine, a venerable title that had been reinvented as a newspaper supplement.

Inc., Fast Company Go Green

Inc. and Fast Company will now be printed on 100% recycled paper, according to Mansueto Ventures CEO John Koten. Koten said in a statement, "doing our part to amplify environmentally responsible magazine publishing and leaving the world a better place is important to the values of our company."

Atlantic Monthly Goes on TV

The Atlantic Monthly is joining forces with Plum TV to create a TV morning show with a very specific geographic scope--the area around Nantucket Sound in Massachusetts--targeting well-heeled residents with author readings and related literary events. Plum TV is known for its focus on areas with affluent consumers. It has broadcast operations in the Hamptons, Sun Valley and Miami Beach.

BusinessWeek Brings Car Column to China

BusinessWeek is launching a monthly automobile industry column in its Chinese edition, BusinessWeek/China, in partnership with J.D. Power and Associates. The column, simply titled "Auto," is set to debut in BusinessWeek/China's June edition.

Time Inc. Appoints Peter Bauer VP, Corporate Sales And Marketing

Peter Bauer has been named vice president of corporate sales and marketing for the Time Inc. Media Group, the company announced this week. Previously the publisher of Life magazine, Bauer is occupying a newly created post where he will direct company-wide initiatives coordinating all Time Inc. brands.

Kiplinger's Names Alex McKenna Publisher

Alex McKenna has been named publisher of Kiplinger's Personal Finance. McKenna is replacing Robert H. Kelly, who is moving to the position of vice president of East Coast advertising sales for Entrepreneur magazine. Previously, McKenna was ad director and then associate publisher with the company.