From the Guardian, online the story of how one media giant took a money losing print publication on line with dramatic results.
But axing print editions of popular magazines is a bold move and McGovern acknowledges this was a risky strategy - InfoWorld was distributing 180,000 copies in the US every week when it decided to ditch print, retaining online and events. "Many said without print people wouldn't be reminded every week of our brand and 40% of our revenue would disappear overnight," he recalls.
One year later McGovern, who still privately owns IDG, says InfoWorld's online revenues had trebled, the magazine's overall revenues were up 10%, and without the costs of print, paper and postage, profit margins went from -3% to 37%.
Flip of the fedora to In front of your nose and Andrew Bruce Smith.
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