Changes at Folio, Circulation Management, and Online Journalism Review

Two changes to report about news trade journals:

The ownership of Folio: and Circulation Management magazines has changed. Both were wholly-owned by Primedia, a company that during the Internet Boom both overgorged on dot.coms (for example, purchasing About.com for spending USD800 million) and overexpanded its print magazine operations. Since that boom went bust, Primedia has been selling off assets to payoff its huge load of debts. Rumors began circulation last week that it wanted to sell Folio:, Circulation Management, and American Demographics magazines.
Yesterday, Primedia announced that it and Red 7 Media, which publishes M10, a small upstart competitor to it Folio, had formed a partnership to operate Folio: and Circulation Management. The financial terms weren’t announced, but Primedia and Red 7 did say that the latter organization would operate the partnership and that all of Primedia’s New York City operations for these properties would be moved to Red 7’s offices in Norwalk, Connecticut.

“Essentially, Folio: will assume the M10 editorial platform. The M10 brand will continue to be used in a variety of media. Circulation Management will continue to be published,” Red 7 said on its M10 Web site.

Primedia CEO Kelly Conlin said, “A single organization for these properties will create the most comprehensive portfolio for both readers and advertisers in the publishing and media industry. This should help accelerate the growth of these properties and increase their value to the markets they serve.”

What the deal really means is that (a) Primedia dumped Folio: and Circulation Management magazines but kept part of their equities and (b) Red 7 boarded and took over its larger competitors.

Robert Niles

Japan Media Review

Los Angeles Times

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