TV Guide, October 2005
ò Eliminated 3M sponsored sales for a rate base of 3.2M
ò Cut paid circulation from 9M to 4.5M.
ò Went from having
140 different editions to 1.
ò Overhauled design to full-size, four-color format, increased editorial content.
Effect: 2007 ad pages 511.22 for first half, 2006: 393.46, 2005: numbers unavailable.
Time Magazine, January 2007
ò Cut rate base by 18.8 percent, dropping from a circulation of 4M to 3.25M.
ò Increased newsstand price by $1
to $4.95.
ò Added style, travel and leisure content to select copies, which were then sent out to 800,000 of the publication’s wealthiest readers.
Effect: Revenues and ad pages stay effectively flat
Readers Digest, January 2008
ò Plans to cut rate base from 10M to 8M
ò “It’s more cost-effective to let go
subscribers who are more expensive to get or keep” – Eva Dillon, RDA president and group publisher
ò Began selling back cover to advertisers
Effect: Too early to say, but with all the other shake-ups going on at RDA, it seems that this move is part of a calculated effort to push ad sales.
