Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Condé Nast CEO: No More Magazine Closures

Condé Nast President and CEO Chuck Townsend informed Folio:'s Jason Fell that yesterday's closure of Gourmet, Elegant Bride, Modern Bride, and Cookie are the last Condé Nast titles to fold.

The closures, which came about in the wake of a McKinsey & Co. report commissioned by Condé Nast, were reportedly made because those four titles had less long-term growth possibilities than other titles. (Without knowing the details, I don't know if that means they could be expected to be profitable, just not as profitable as other titles in the Condé stable -- and therefore it's really just a matter of highest and best use of company capital -- or whether the magazines were so unprofitable they were never expected to contribute positively to the bottom line in a consistent manner again. But I don't have Chuck Townsend's e-mail address, and Fell doesn't go into that, so I'll have to remain in the dark.)

Fell's article does have some interesting musing about other Condé Nast titles that are perceived to be weak -- but if Townsend is to be believed, they are going to continue to be published.

No comments: