A new player with a strong publisher is entered the fray of business magazines aimed at the general marketplace (as opposed to B2B) – Conde Nast Portfolio (CNP) is the title, and Advertising Age has taken a look at the likely affect it will have on the marketplace.
AA says there is a lot of speculation that the new entrant will put a hit on "old guard" titles including BusinessWeek, Forbes and Fortune. For starters, AA notes that the sector may be further compromised by the shift of attention to the internet and the prospect of a new News Corporation business cable channel. But a shake-out may be coming to the business mag universe with or without CNP, and the likely victims are not the old warhorses, but new upstarts – AA mentions Smart Money, Money, Fast Company and Business 2.0.
The smaller titles are already facing a challenging economic climate for magazines of any type, regardless of the presence of new competition, and this will only make things more challenging. AA feels the old-timers have a much better chance of weathering the storm, while publishers of the newer titles will be increasingly tempted to pull the plug and place their bets elsewhere.
