Three of America’s great business magazines have been around for a long time — Forbes since 1917, BusinessWeek since 1929, and Fortune since 1930. I started reading them in 1967 when I completed engineering school and joined IBM. I stopped reading Forbes and Fortune regularly some years ago but have remained faithful to BusinessWeek for more than forty-two years. While some have criticized the magazine from time to time I have always found it an easy to read summary of what is going on in the business world. The business news coverage has been consistently good but what has not been consistent is the number of pages — the current issue has 68. It used to be hundreds of pages. BusinessWeek has become "paper thin".
24/7 Wall St published an online story "The Sun Sets On BusinessWeek, Forbes, And Fortune" in May in which it claims BusinessWeek is in the worst shape of the three business magazine giants. Its advertising pages are said to have fallen 16% in 2008, are down 38% this year through the end of April, "and in the most recent issue, the drop was an extraordinary 63%". All of the magazines have an online presence but so many advertisers have moved online that advertising rates have declined. Industry experts say that Business Week has lost money for two years and will lose over $20 million this year if its advertising continues in a nose-down dive.
If the sun does indeed set on the three great business magazines, they will certainly not be the first to fall. The first issue of PC Magazine back in the summer of 1981 was a thrill to read and it was sad news this past November when Ziff Davis Media decided to cease publishing the magazine. “The viability for us to continue to publish in print just isn’t there anymore,” Jason Young, chief executive of Ziff Davis, said in an interview.
The problem is not just the recession, in my opinion. Certainly the economic times have accelerated things but the fundamental problem with advertising is that much of it is not effective. I would dare say most of it. Various consultants tell advertisers how many people are reading a magazine or watching a TV show. With a magazine there is no way to know. TV viewership gets sampled but I question any conclusions other than when an advertisement starts during my watching of CNBC, I hit the mute button. I watch 6 PM evening news starting at 6:20 and fast-forward over the ads. Some years ago there was a story about Buffalo, New York where someone measured the use of the city water system during the Super Bowl. For some reason water usage spiked upward during quarter ends and at halftime. If it could have been measured, no doubt that refrigerator compressor usage went up during these periods too.
It is true that some ads are watched and enjoyed and in fact WebMediaBrands (where I am a director) has made a business out of the phenomenon. Ads of the World — a part of grahpics.com — allows visitors to view top ads, news about ads, and learn how to create great ads. Aside from people who love ads, most people do not like ads that are blasted out in shotgun fashion. There may be ten million people who are candidates for a particular product or service but 200 million are presented with the ad. Advertisers don’t like it either. That is why they are cutting back and causing the advertising recession. What advertisers do want is targeted ads. They want to advertise a new sports car to only those people who are ready to buy a car, can afford to pay for it or finance it, and who are inclined to want a sports car. The technologies of the Internet and supercomputing are laser focused on making targeted advertising possible. The emerging question will be whether the right to privacy will ultimately prevail. Stay tuned.