Mag Bag: Bonnier Signs Up For ABC Rapid Report

Bonnier Signs Up For ABC Rapid Report

Bonnier Corporation has committed its four biggest enthusiast titles, recently acquired from Time Inc., to the Audit Bureau of Circulation's Rapid Report service, giving media planners and advertisers speedier access to circulation figures for specific issues. Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, Parenting and Popular Science will all be getting Rapid Report data effective immediately, to be followed by other Bonnier titles--although a specific schedule was given for the later additions.

The decision by Bonnier--whose American arm, World Publications, acquired the Time Inc. Parenting group and most of the Time4Media Group in January 2007--gives another boost to ABC's Rapid Report, introduced in July 2006. ABC has touted the new service to publishers as a way to make magazines more competitive with the Internet, providing faster data returns and greater accountability.

Meredith Corporation was an early joiner, followed at intervals by Hachette Filipacchi, Time Inc., Conde Nast, Hearst and now Bonnier. The last-ditch holdouts include BusinessWeek and Newsweek, owned by McGraw Hill and the Washington Post Company, respectively.

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ABC's Rapid Report isn't the only initiative to deliver magazine data faster. Mediamark Research Inc. (recently renamed Mediamark Research & Intelligence, LLC) bowed a new Issue-Specific Readership and Accumulation study in April 2007. The data, collected as a supplement to MRI's "Survey of the American Consumer" through online questionnaires, documents the accumulation of audiences for specific issues of magazines over time. It is delivered to subscribers weekly online in the form of interactive spreadsheets.

Mansueto Plans Upstart

Mansueto Ventures, the publisher of Fast Company and Inc., is planning to launch Upstart, a new magazine targeting entrepreneurs. Due out sometime in 2008, its specific launch date is still undecided. The new business magazine--set to debut during a difficult period for the business category overall--will be headed by publisher Adam Platzner, who previously worked for SpiralFrog.com and Cargo. Scott Medintz, formerly of Time Inc.'s Money, will serve as product development editor.

CVS Launches Custom Pub

CVS is launching a monthly custom publication, Great Health Magazine, which will be home-delivered to 500,000 relatively affluent people--mostly women--the primary health-care decision makers. The pharmacy hopes the magazine, produced by Basic Media Group, will attract health-care advertising, including both pharma and over-the-counter products. The mailing list is culled from the top tier of 75 million CVS ExtraCare cardholders.

Publisher Bob Preston says the average reader will be a college-educated woman in her mid-50s who owns her own home and still works to support a family, according to CVS. Surveys show women influence 80% of health-care decisions in their households, wielding buying power of about $1.2 trillion. CVS plans to increase the magazine's circulation to 1 million in 2009. The magazine will launch with a sister Web site.

MPA Creates Award For Magazine "Mentor"

As part of an ongoing push to encourage diversity in the industry, the Magazine Publishers of America has created a new award for the "Magazine Mentor of the Year." It honors someone who helped another magazine professional's career and promoted inclusion. Candidates can be nominated by an MPA member company employee or an ASME member. The deadline for submissions is April 1. The MPA will honor the winner at an awards breakfast on June 5 in New York.

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