Who says gay print media is dying? You know, besides everyone? The Advocate, the historic gay news bi-weekly monthly that Regent Media bought for a handful of pennies and nickels, says things are on the up and up!
Revenues is up 12.5 percent for 2009's first quarter, versus 2008's Q1. Ad pages are climbing, too, "bucking an industry-wide trend," bandies about a press release. Which explains why Stephen Macias, executive VP and general manager of Regent Media, feels confident enough to soundbite: "Advertisers come to The Advocate confident their product is being associated with the best brand in gay media. We speak directly to our diverse community on a daily basis."
This is true! The Advocate is a great gay brand. But to say advertisers are confident paying for pages in the magazine? That's not exactly true.
In conversations with our own advertisers, many of whom spend with Regent's portfolio of gay properties, they are feeling less and less inclined to buy ad pages in Advocate or Out, the company's other gay rag. And it's not because the brands are terrible (they're not … yet) or because advertisers bought into the rhetoric that "print advertising doesn't work" (often times it does, but more and more, not so much), but because there's no accountability with print advertising. And as media budgets grow more constrained with the collapsing economy and advertising climate, there's a constant push for "give us more and we'll pay you less" — something print magazines simply cannot compete with versus their online counterparters. Which means more and more full color ad pages are being given away to clients at steep discounts, or for zero dollars. Which doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Talking about advertiser confidence in gay print media serves no other purpose than to generate momentum for that mentality among clients, even if it's far from their best interests. Heh. It'll probably work.
Which Maybe-Gay Actor Maintains His Celebrity Relationship for His Career? (18)
· scott ny'er says: ahhh. Queerty is useful. I learned something new. Not useful in the big scheme of... »
ABC’s Ridiculous Policy to Ban ‘Controversial’ Adam Lambert From Daytime Airwaves (58)
· staciegirlie says: @Romeo–Awe, don’t be like that. Adam Official isn’t that bad.... »
· romeo says: @ Wicked: you don’t know shit about what’s been going on here. That’s... »
· Wicked Glitter says: I hate to be a bitch again, BUT WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU PEOPLE BEEN? Start... »
If You’re Born Gay, How Can A Homo Have a Straight Identical Twin? (18)
· Brandon says: Did any1 else guess right off the bat that the twin in black was the gay 1 b/f they... »
· AlwaysGay says: Dr. Reed at Harvard proposed a hypothesis which states homosexuality is maintained... »
· fuzzypony says: Considering all the science I’ve read, and based on my own experience as a... »
Want to Prove Gay Marriage Is For Socialists? Yup, There’s a Rep For That (1)
· MikenStL says: Now if I only had an iPhone, I wonder if Verizon will come up with a map for... »
Can the Best Policy for Gender-Bending Athletes Be Found In a Connecticut High School? (14)
· fuzzypony says: Why can’t we lump everybody together and then sort them out by weight, body... »
New Rules for GOP Candidates: You Must Support DOMA (10)
· Mark says: The Party of Prejudice, Discrimination, Fear, and willful Ignorance. Their Anti-Gay... »
If advertisers aren't feeling confident in buying ad pages in The Advocate, why is it no. 10 on the list of the top magazines growing in terms of advertising?
http://www.facebook.com/ext/sh.....amp;ref=mf
I don't understand.
1. How is print advertising less accountable?
2. If the ad space is being given away for so little, why are revenues up?
I love the advocate. I hit the website everyday and while I lived in canada I dutifully bought my new issues ever 2 weeks. Until I moved to australia, I have every advocate magazine from exactly 3 months after I came out totalling 92 issues and have basicll forked over $836 to h newstands. I also used their ads as tool to identify queer friendly brands, just like I use Queerty and Towleroad. Their more reliable though in making sure my queer dollar is going towards queer friendly places.
The ad pages claim may be based on pages per issue mailed, and since they are mailing 50% fewer issues, they can claim higher ad pages. Say that in 2008 January through March, there were six issues and 20 pages of (paid) ads per issue. That's 120 pages. Now (09) there would be three issues, with say 25 – 30 pages per issue. While the net ad page count is down, the pages per issue are up, and that latter number is reported. As for the revenue claim, that LA accounting of theirs may be open for debate. Revenues measured how? Total LPI heritage? Revenue per issue? Who knows. Out ad pages are down along industry trends, and I would bet so too Are Advocates, if you measure apples to apples. That said I hope to hell they are in fact doing well. No one wants to see these magazines go away, and the new Advocate is far better than it has been, in my opinion. The web presence is no better, however. There was an interesting piece in the new Vanity Fair about the NYT. The clincher (toward the end of a rather long, tedious examination of the heir who runs the paper) was a quote with reference to "platform agnosticism." The author pointed out that the phrase is misleading to a fatal degree, making an analogy to the early days of film. His point in essence is that the medium is the message, and simply rehashing print content on the web misses out on the forces driving web development — he equates many news sites to simple putting a camera up in front of a theatrical stage and filming the play. Meanwhile web-centered and tech driven media plays are better harnessing the new media vernacular evolving online, further dimming the hopes of the traditional media that simply reheat their content for a web presentation.
While not my thing as they don't cover gay issues that are of interest to me, I do wish them success, they are still relevant to many in the glbt community.
@Dabq: That's the high road I want to get to. Well said, good idea.
Gay media ? Not doing that well "Jossip" web-site just died for lack of ad sales and no buyer to keep it going.
@Bob: Bob I am sure you mean well with your comments and link but I would not trust those numbers.
The NYTimes is one of the major newspapers in the country and they have had to mortgage the new HQ they built in midtown Manhattan because of money woes.
I do hope the advocate hangs in there. It would be like Stonewall closing. An arrow in the heart. Unfortunately it is an arrow that I know can't be deflected much longer.
I hear rumors the last magazine shop in the village on 8th ave. might not make it past summer.
@Alec: 2. A: Bistromatics.