Min's B to B articles from March 2003

Min's B to B archives from March 2003

Editor's Note: Sign Up Now for min's b2b's Exclusive 'Trade Show Challenges and Changes' Webinar...
March 3, 2003... Join us on April 1 as min's b2b presents "Power Shift: How to Meet New Challenges and Changes in the B2B Trade Show Industry." This one-of-a-kind Webinar will show you how to rebuild your trade show business and provide key strategies for...

Red Herring Calls It Quits After Potential Buyers Back Out.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... The tech title implosion claimed another victim last week as RHC Media Inc. decided to shutter 10-year-old Red Herring. A pioneer of new economy magazines, Red Herring (-66.44% YTD ad pages/-66.19% ad revenues YTD, per CMR) had been struggling...

Box Scores: Broadband/Video Sector Sinks in 2002 (-16% $$$), Graphic Group Too.(Illustration)
March 3, 2003... Going up against soft post-9/11 numbers, CMR-monitored broadband and video books bounced back briefly in December (+2.35% ad pages/+10.29% ad revenues), but in the end succumbed to ad page (-21.07% YTD) and ad spending (-16.41% YTD) deficits in...

MediaBrains And Readex Go to The Marketer's Edge With New Launch.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... In an attempt to get a leg up in the highly competitive online media marketing game, MediaBrains and The Mail Research Center by Redex announced last week the joint launch of The Marketer's Edge. Targeted toward more than 17K B2B and consumer...

Eye on New Media.
March 3, 2003... By Steve Smith ZDNet Redux: Make Room for More IT Content It's not as if there is a dearth of content options for IT professionals online, so we have to wonder what of the shrinking market is left for ZDNet in its relaunched and...

CMP's Weitzner Axes Another, As Ridley is Latest to Leave.(CMP Media Specialized Technology Group's Steve Weitzner cuts costs by letting president Regina Starr Ridley go )(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... Last week, CMP Media Specialized Technology Group (Dr. Dobb's Journal/Game Developer/DV, etc.) president Regina Starr Ridley (ex-Miller Freeman) became the latest division head let go from the troubled tech publisher. (Former BTG president/CEO...

Ascend Lifts Off, Acquiring Atwood/GEM from VSS...(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... More than two years in the making, Ascend Media made its first acquisition last week, acquiring The Official Information Company subsidiaries Atwood Publishing and Gem Communications from Veronis Suhler Stevenson Fund II for an undisclosed sum....

... As Ron Wall Jumps Ship at Primedia to Join Ascend as Exec/Investor.(Ron Wall, new executive VP/sales and marketing)(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... Meanwhile, 25-year Primedia vet Ron Wall joined the fledging Ascend Media last week as executive VP/sales and marketing. Wall, who quietly resigned from his post as Primedia Business Magazine and Media president last month after Bishop...

min's b2b Exclusive Review of B2B Group Publishers' 2002 vs. 2001 Ad Page/$$$.(comparing two years of ad spending in trade publications)
March 10, 2003... Part IV: The RTC Group Battles Ad Slump to a Draw (+1% $$$) The fourth and final installment of min's b2b's exclusive review of B2B group publishers' year-end ad pages/revenues for 2002 vs. 2001 offers results from The RTC Group, Sys-Con...

Box Scores: Food Service Sector Serves Up Ad Page/$$$ Gains in January.(food service publications' ad sales better than some other vertical markets)
March 10, 2003... While the economy and a pending war have kept most advertisers at bay, CMR-tracked food service titles couldn't gobble up ad pages (+2.46%) and ad spending (+4.94%) fast enough in January. Viewed as a recession-proof industry by marketers, food...

Economy/War Worries Weigh on Ad Marketing Books in January.(ad spending down in business-to-business periodicals)
March 10, 2003... CMR's advertising and marketing titles kicked off the New Year with fewer ad pages (-5.14%) and anemic ad spending (-2.56%). Even poor post-9/11 showings from the previous year were unable to buoy the beleaguered group. By the books: Crain...

January's Back-to-Work Bounce and Archimedes (?) Bring Eyeballs Back.(business-to-business traffic improved and research revealed, "Archimedes discovered the mathematics of calculus two thousand years before anyone else.")
March 10, 2003... The long dry spell of B2B Web traffic came to an end for most sites in January as the country, if not the economy, got back to work. The tech sector is always a good barometer of office-based Web usage, and all signs were good as the recently...

Can Google Go B2B?(search engine Google Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... Is the B2B ad network idea about to make a comeback? Google may try to leverage its phenomenally successful keyword sales business into other people's sites, including business information destinations. The search engine announced a new Content...

Stock Watch: B2B Media Beats Back Wall Street Bears.(business-to-business media stocks closed stronger in the 'plus' column)
March 10, 2003... Investors warmed to B2B media stocks for the week as stock watch finished with seven up and four down with a push from Scholastic ($23.00/-36.00% YTD). Penton Media (+17.50% FTW, $0.47/-30.90% YTD)--whose stock still needs to reach $1 to avoid...

Kemp Puts Penton's Terrible 2002 (-34% $$$) Behind Him...(Tom Kemp, chairman, chief executive officer, Penton Media Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... In a teleconference with investors, analysts and the media last week, Penton Media chairman/CEO Tom Kemp could do little to downplay poor Q4 and yearend earning results. "The best we can say about 2002 is that it is behind us," quipped Kemp....

... As Investor Gabelli Sheds Some Shares.(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... Meanwhile, Gabelli Asset Management, led by prominent investor Mario Gabelli, appears to have softened its position in Penton, having recently shed some shares. GAM analyst Andrew Rittenberry wouldn't cough up the details behind the share...

B2B Media M&A Off to a Slow Start in '03...(mergers and acquisitions)
March 17, 2003... War worries and economic uncertainties kept B2B M&A activity to a minimum for the first two months (Jan.-Feb.) of 2003. Deal dollar value dropped to $652M from $1.5B in 2002 (-56.3%), while deals declined 33.3% (32 deals)--down from 48...

... While Top B2B Brass Offer Differing Opinions On What's Ahead.(business to business market executives; business, advertising climate)(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... However, B2B executives interviewed for the JEGI briefing presented a variety of outlooks for the overall business and advertising climate. "I see tech advertising revenue flat in the U.S., with enterprise IT advertising under pressure and...

Neal Awards Kicks-Off "Year of the Editor," Honors Billboard's Tim White...(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... It was the equivalent of the Grammy's and Academy Awards all rolled into one last week for B2B media as close to 500 of the industry's top publishing/editorial talent were on hand at New York's Waldorf-Astoria for the Jesse H. Neal National...

... As CIO Snags Grand Neal, IDG Walks Away Heavy Handed.(International Data Group)
March 17, 2003... The tech exec proved the hot topic of 2002, as the folks at International Data Group's CIO landed the Grand Neal, plus wins for "Best Single Article" and "Best How-To Article." All-in-all IDG walked away with seven awards while Thomson...

ABM's Hughes Offers B2B Publishers $60M Reasons to Write Congress.(American Business Media)(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... Ongoing postal rate reform efforts by the American Business Media may come to a head soon as the House Government Reform and Oversight Commission recently approved H.R. 735--legislation allowing the United States Postal Service to lock in...

VNU Profits Plummet in 2002 (-83%) As B2B Unit Limps Lower.(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... In another ominous sign that 2002 was a bear of a year for B2B, VNU reported net earnings of $188M--an 83% drop from the previous year--in a conference call last week with analysts, investors and the media. (The steep decline, however, is...

Box Scores: Banking Books End in the Red for January.(ad pages, revenues at banking publications)(Illustration)
March 17, 2003... B2B banking titles started 2003 on a sour note, running ad page (-5.84%) and ad spending (-4.40%) deficits in January, per CMR. Big banking books such as Thomson Media's American Banker (-10.07% ad pages/-3.99% ad revenues) and Wicks Business...

Pharma Books Have Healthcare Sector (+9% $$$) Feeling Good in January.(ad pages, revenues for healthcare, pharmaceutical publications)(Illustration)
March 17, 2003... Heathcare and pharmaceutical books received a clean bill of health from CMR in January as both ad pages (+2.65%) and ad spending (+8.59%) ticked up. Even so, healthcare was the weakest link as Modern Healthcare (-14.95% ad pages/-7.46% ad...

Can SubscriptionConnection Bring Publishers and Content Buyers Together?
March 17, 2003... File this under You Never Know -- It Might Just Work. Westchester, N.Y.-based Joseph Meth and co-developer Brian Alvey recently soft-launched a directory of fee-based content online. Meth comes to the Web from far afield, a 20-year veteran and...

Stock Watch: B2B Media Ends Week Battered and Bruised.(Illustration)
March 17, 2003... While Wall Street roared back by week's end, investors ignored B2B media leaving Stock Watch to finish with only 2 up and 10 down for the week. Winners were few and far between with Scholastic (+8.10% FTW, $24.86/-30.80% YTD) and Dow Jones...

War Bruises Already Battered B2B Media, Top Brass Mixed on What's Ahead.(business-to-business, Iraq-US war)
March 24, 2003... Now that war has begun, B2B publishers, bracing for the prospect, are faced with the reality. In a survey of publishers and executives by min's b2b this week, opinions varied. A few publishers polled believed that a short war might be a "good...

With War Looming VNU's Globalshop Attendance POPs (+13%)...(VNU Exhibitions, point-of-purchase)(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... With war raging in the Persian Gulf and the national terror alert on orange (high) B2B trade show producers are sitting on pins and needles hoping for a quick resolve. Trade shows, a soft spot for many B2B media companies recently due to the...

... As Western Interiors & Design Bolsters Book Launch With Expo Buy.(Western Design Conference )(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... Speaking of trade shows, Western Interiors & Design purchased the Western Design Conference last week from private investors for an undisclosed sum. The deal gives WID a conference that "complements" its yet-to-be launched Western Interiors &...

American Trucker to be Driver for Primedia B2B Trucking Group Growth.(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... Primedia is betting that the B2B trucking book market for smaller owneroperators is about to heat up again after 18 months of declines with the decision to launch American Trucker (circ. 600K) supplement Driver last week at the Mid-American...

People-To-Watch: Ziff Davis CEO Callahan Expected the Unexpected.(Ziff Davis Media chairman and CEO Bob Callahan believes the company is improving)(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... Taking the reins at Ziff Davis Media in the midst of the dot.com meltdown nearly 18 months ago (October 2001), chairman/CEO Bob Callahan (ex-ABC/Cap Cities) believes ZD has finally turned the corner. Pulling off a difficult financial...

BIN Ad Pages (-5%)/$$$ (+3%) Begins Year Near Even.(a list of the ad pages for business-to-business media advertising)(Illustration)
March 24, 2003... B2B media advertising began 2003 mixed as Business Information Network (BIN) ad pages (-5.35%) slid in January as ad spending (+2.90%) inched up against weaker post-9/11 numbers from a year ago, according to the joint American Business...

B2B People Movers.(several industry appointment news briefs)(Brief Article)
March 24, 2003... McGraw- Hill last week named Mostafa Mehrabani (ex-TRW) executive VP/ CIO, while appointing Bill Oldsey (ex-Pearson) School Education Group executive VP... Robert Carrigan (ex-AOL) returned to International Data Group as CEO of Computerworld......

Eye on New Media: B2B Shorts.(several industry news briefs)
March 24, 2003... Ziff Davis Media announced a partnership with IndustryBrains to sell advertisers contextually relevant text links within its network of IT magazine sites. In a model that seems to be taking the Web by storm, Ziff Davis and IndustryBrains will...

Stock Watch: War Brings Back Wall Street Bulls, Lifts B2B.
March 24, 2003... War did not deter investors from snatching up bargain priced B2B media stocks last week as all stocks finished up, except for a push from Jupitermedia ($2.75/YTD % n/a). Topping the ticker was Penton Media (+18.60% FTW, $0.51/-25.00%...

Nelson Takes Reins at Both CMP Network Books.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... CMP Media was back shuffling the personnel deck again as Network Computing (circ. 220K) publisher Fritz Nelson was called upon to fill-in for ailing Network Magazine publisher Bill Howard, who is on medical leave. And NM associate...

CSO Survey Says: Execs (63%) 'Not Confident' of U.S. Security Measures.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... With war raging, a poll conducted by International Data Group's CSO (Chief Security Officer) magazine--part of IDG's CXO Media group--last Wednesday (March 26) of 271 security executives, found a majority (63%) were not confident the U.S. has...

... As IDG's Bio-IT World Hits One-Year Mark On Top.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... Speaking of IDG, Bio-IT World last week marked its one-year anniversary with another first--passing the BPA Int'l audit. While IT books have taken a beating since the Y2K dot.com disaster, BITW (circ. 25K) has been a success story. Even so,...

Upstart Informant Comm. Pairs With Microsoft To Turnaround IT Publishing.(Informant Communications)(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... While bigger B2B media firms shed IT properties and sit tight with the ones left, smaller B2B publishers are emerging once again as the drivers in the high-tech marketplace. Evidence is Informant Communications, headed by president/CEO Jim Uhl...

Box Scores: Weak Economy/IT $$$ Causes Dour Developer Sector to Dip in January.(Illustration)
March 31, 2003... CMR-monitored developer books opened 2003 with a whimper as ad pages (-19.39%) and ad revenues (-19.75%) waned. CMP Media's Dr. Dobb's Journal (-41.22% ad pages/-35.64% ad revenues)--which recently bid farewell to group president and former...

January Sends Aero/Defense Sector South; Gov't Too (-8% $$$).(Illustration)
March 31, 2003... Aerospace and defense titles tracked by CMR plummeted in January, as ad pages (-6.31%) and ad spending (-4.77%) was grounded. Defense books Military & Aerospace Electronics (+22.33% ad pages/+8.63%) and COTS Journal (+22.34%/+16.42%) went on...

January Leaves Corporate Computer Sector Short; PCWorld Tops Rival PC Mag.(Illustration)
March 31, 2003... Corporate computer books came up short in January as ad pages (-2.41%) and ad spending (-4.99%) slid, per CMR. Top titles were split as International Data Group's CIO (+27.05% ad pages/+32.27% ad revenues) and Ziff Davis Media's eWeek...

Editor's Note: CMR Methodology for Reporting Box Score Data.
March 31, 2003... Please note that ALL classified and affiliated ads as well as not itemized advertising are excluded. For your information the following ads are considered Not Itemized advertising: * All advertisements less than 1/9 of a page, in a standard...

Eye on New Media: 101 Says, 'What Web Depression?'.
March 31, 2003... While many B2B publishers are scaling back Web operations or abandoning them altogether, tech publisher 101communications (Federal Computer Week, Microsoft Certified Professional) can't get enough of the Web. "I can tell you from a sales...

Stock Watch: B2B Media Rise Above War & Economic Worries.(U.S. media business stock watch)
March 31, 2003... With war and a weak economy (last week analysts/economists predicted Q1 GDP at +1.4%), investors were mixed as B2B media eked out a win with seven stocks up and five down for the week. With nowhere to go but up, Penton Media (+25.50% FTW,...