Rather than sell its tech-focused biz mag, Business 2.0, Time Inc. has decided to shut it down. The struggling title didn’t even get to report its own demise, with the New York Times getting the scoop yesterday as executives from Time Warner headed to San Francisco to formally informer staffers of the shutdown and their options. Editor Joshua Quittner and some of his editorial staffers are reportedly being offered jobs helping to beef up tech coverage for Fortune, also owned by Time Inc.
Business 2.0 was, as the name indicated, a child of the Internet boom. It first appeared in 1998 and Time Warner bought it from UK-based Future Network in 2001 for a reported 68 million bucks. The Times says it almost broke even in 2005, but then suffered a sharp drop in advertising.
RBR/TVBR observation: We liked Business 2.0. The writing was good and the stories interesting, but it never became a must-read for us. With technology news moving so fast, you have to wonder how any monthly can be much of a must-read in the sector.
