After accounting for potential cannibalization of some print subscriptions, the industry could realize $1.3 billion in incremental revenue, the consortium says.

The study dealt with about 230 periodical titles and surveyed 1,800 consumers in the U.S. It looked at "likely formats and features of emerging interactive periodicals" and did not take into account advertising, commerce or single copy sales. In other words, we’re talking subscriptions only.

"The landscape for digitally distributing magazines and newspapers is about to rapidly change," said Martin Kon, partner and head of the global media and entertainment practice at Oliver Wyman, which conducted the study for Next Issue. "Our Future Marketplace Simulation shows significant consumer enthusiasm for interactive periodicals that offer enhanced features, personalization, multimedia content and optimized layout and navigation."

Next Issue lists the following as "key findings that underpin the revenue projections" in the study:

1. Among device-owning subscribers, the availability of interactive editions at the point of renewal, at the same price as today’s print editions, drives a 9 point increase in the overall subscription renewal rate, from today’s 55% industry average to 64%.

3. The interactive format enables effective cross-selling via recommendation engines and browsing features; 17% of current subscribers make additional purchases.
 
4. Automatic renewals eliminate the traditional "bill-me later" model and greatly reduce churn, from an average of 45% today to 25%.
 
5. The introduction of interactive editions in an online store setting, at the same price as today’s print editions, triples uptake rates among device-owning non-subscribers, from 5% to 15%.

The findings can be perused in a white paper available here (pdf).

These companies released a joint announcement today saying that they have entered into an independent venture to develop open standards for a new digital storefront and related technology that will "allow consumers to enjoy their favorite media content on portable digital devices."

The idea is that publishers can boost online revenue in a similar fashion to what the companies behind Hulu are doing with online television The publishers say the goal is to create a highly featured common reading application capable of rendering the distinctive look and feel of each publication, a publishing platform optimized for multiple devices, operating systems and screen sizes, a consumer storefront with an extensive selection of publications, and a rich array of advertising opportunities.

The selection of publications will not be limited to just those from the companies involved. They are saying that the venture will welcome other publishers to offer their content as well. Publishers will get their revenue from content and advertising sales, as well as print subscriptions.

"For the consumer, this digital initiative will provide access to an extraordinary selection of engaging content products, all customized for easy download on the device of their choice, including smartphones, e-readers and laptops," explained John Squires, the venture’s interim managing director. "Once purchased, this content will be ‘unlocked’ for consumers to enjoy anywhere, anytime, on any platform."

The storefront will of course offer magazine and newspaper publications, but will also include books, comic books, blogs, and other media. The venture does not yet have a name. It will be interesting to see what they come up with and if consumers jump on board with the model.

Is this a step in the right direction for publishers? Tell us what you think.

Related Articles:

> Google Changes How it Handles Paid Content

> Minds of the Media Gather to Discuss Future of News

> Google Okay With Blocking News Corp.

> Is it Really Crazy to Block Google?

The app’s long-term performance might be a better indicator of its success (or failure) -early interest or even a bunch of Googlers could have inflated current numbers.  Also, Vanessa Fox points to evidence that it may have snuck out of development earlier in the month, giving it time to build an audience.  Still, The New York Times News Quiz is a similar app, and with just 650 daily active users, it’s already been labeled a success.

On to what the Google News app does, then.  “This experimental application enables users to create custom sections or select from a set of pre-defined topics, then browse and share stories with their friends on Facebook,” wrote Google’s own Tina Huang and Dan Meredith.  You might imagine that this is out of line with popular Zombie- and food fight-related apps, but again, we’ll just have to see how the numbers stabilize.

The Google News team revealed one other trick in recent days: YouTube videos became somewhat easy to find on the main Google News page.  It seems that a lot of products are getting tied together; this development also acts as evidence of Google’s interest in Facebook.

Dubbed “PubMed/Medline Search” and “Clinical Trials Search,” the tools’ names are fairly self-explanatory, but as a press release spells out, they exist “to help consumers find relevant biomedical literature and clinical trials information.”

What’s more, it appears that they’ve got a good shot at fulfilling this mission.  I’m fortunate enough to not be familiar with many medical conditions, but searches for autism, diabetes, and epilepsy never failed to turn up less than 55 results, and in one case, yielded around 274,000.  The results did, by the way, appear to be relevant.

Following a recent acquisition by Meredith, this development could be taken as a strong sign that Healia is in good hands.  And at a recent conference, Dr. Tom Eng, the president and founder of Healia, assured listeners, “At Healia, we are constantly looking for ways to make complex health information much more accessible and relevant to the average consumer.”

In terms of what’s next, an official statement promises “additional enhancements and search tools.”

The second sentence of an official press release, for example, states, “Terms were not disclosed and the transaction will not have a material financial effect on Meredith.”

(Meredith, by the way, reaches “more than 75 million American women on a monthly basis through our publishing, broadcasting and online media brands and services,” which include “American Baby” and “Ladies’ Home Journal.”  We’re talkin’ deep pockets and/or purses, here.)

Want to know something else that’s going to stay the same?  The very last sentence of the press release discloses that Healia “will remain in the Seattle area.”  Um . . . right.

To be fair, however, some changes are in store, and the acquisition is a piece of a pattern on Meredith’s part.  AdvertisingAge’s Nat Ives reports, “The buy follows the purchase of three online agencies since last year – Genex, New Media Strategies and O’Grady Meyers – part of Meredith’s bid to extend its custom publishing, direct mail and ad sales further into the digital realm.”

Sounds like this powerful girls’ club is growing even more influential.  It’ll be interesting to see if Healia grows more female-centric in the coming months – that may have been what the “no big changes” fuss was all about.  Yet Meredith is, according to its own home page, “the leading media and marketing company focused on women,” so don’t be too surprised if Healia throws a spotlight on women’s health.

 Meredith is one of the USA’s leading media and marketing companies whose businesses center around magazine and book publishing, television broadcasting, integrated marketing, and interactive media. The actual terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

In the next few months, Healia’s technology is going to be integrated into Meredith’s existing web sites, which include bhg.com, familycircle.com, lhj.com, fitnessmagazine.com, parents.com, child.com americanbaby.com, and others. Meredith Corporation reports that their web properties receive over 9 million unique visitors per month and over 110 million pageviews.

Meredith and Healia will also expand the functionality of Healia.com and offer the technology through licensing and distribution agreements with certain health organizations, consumer web sites, employers, and other “premier partners”.

This is Meredith Corporation’s fourth acquisition recently. Previously, the company acquired online marketing service firms O’Grady Meyers, Genex and New Media Strategies. Additionally, the company has recently redesigned its flagship site, Better Homes and Gardens.com and has launched its first broadband video channel called Better.tv. Next month, Meredith Corporation reportedly will launch a new portal exclusively for parents on Parents.com and will add its second broadband tv channel at Parents.tv.

Healia, was represented by The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc., a New York-based investment bank that specializes in the media and information industries. Healia will remain in the Seattle, Washington area with no plans to relocate.

Meredith (http://www.meredith.com/) is one of the nation’s leading media and marketing companies with businesses centering on magazine and book publishing, television broadcasting, integrated marketing, and interactive media. The Meredith Publishing Group features 25 subscription magazines — including Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies’ Home Journal, Family Circle, Parents, American Baby, Fitness, and More — and publishes more than 200 special interest publications under approximately 80 titles. Meredith owns 13 television stations, including properties in top-25 markets Atlanta, Phoenix, and Portland.

Meredith has more than 400 books in print and has established marketing relationships with some of America’s leading companies through Meredith Integrated Marketing. Meredith’s consumer database, which contains more than 85 million names, is one of the largest domestic databases among media companies and enables magazine and television advertisers to target marketing campaigns precisely. Additionally, Meredith has an extensive Internet presence that includes more than 30 Web sites and broadband channels. Meredith Hispanic Ventures publishes five Spanish-language titles, making Meredith the leading publisher serving Hispanic women in the United States.

Healia, Inc. (http://www.healia.com/) is the creator of a proprietary, health-optimized search engine that uses patent-pending technology to generate high quality, highly targeted, and personalized results for consumers. Research and development of the Healia search engine was partly funded by the National Cancer Institute’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The Healia team is comprised of nationally recognized experts in eHealth, consumer health informatics, and emerging technologies.

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Here’s a link to page entitled Parents Report: Vaccine Update 2007 on healthykids.com. The original article comes from Parents.com but the content is featured on HealthyKids.com. Here’s the exact same article on Parents.com . Here’s the same article on LHJ.com (Ladies Home Journal) AmericanBaby.com, Child.com, Fitnessmagazine.com, More.com, midwestliving.com heck this article may be on hundreds of sites for all I know.

All of these publications are owned by the Meredith Corporation (ack sound link). Is the Meredith Corp a bunch of low down rotten black hat spammers? I don’t know if I’d go that far but if I had to guess I’d say they thought they were being “helpful” (to their users and themselves) publishing the content in multiple spots. However if they were my clients my advice would be “umm no, you guys should really stop doing that, sooner rather than later, and next week sounds like a really good time to start”.

Now looking at the SERP’s for [Report: Vaccine Update 2007] Google seems to have done a good job eliminating the duplicate listings. However I don’t know if HealtyKids.com is the best domain, it looks like they wanted it on Parents.com since that’s what the banners on all of the pages above indicate (that’s why I say you don’t want Google guessing the best spot, you want to tell Google where you want it).

What’s the takeaway here:

1) Put your content on only one page. It doesn’t matter if it’s your site, another site you own, a site you syndicate to, or your aunt’s sally’s macramé hobby website. Content should only be on one URL period.

2) if you are going to pull that web 2.0 mashup line on me and how it’s better for the users and Google should just figure it out, then you need a double mocha frappe espresso Grande with soy milk, cause it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee. Google may get it right they may get it wrong, why take the chance and cast your fate to the wind. Block the web 2.0 double tagging/publishing nonsense with robots AND meta tags … mkay (yes I said and remember people deep link).

3) Spend the time to make sure your CMS isn’t wackadoodle and letting you do stuff like this by design on purpose or by accident. I’m sure wordpress thought they were being helpful doing a lot of things that aren’t SEO-friendly.

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The two companies currently anticipate signing definitive agreements early next month and are targeting a close by the end of June. G + J will have until June 30, 2005, an option to sell the assets of business publications Inc. and Fast Company to Meredith.

According to a press release, if Meredith does acquire the magazines, it plans to sell them through either a private sale or auction. Meredith does not believe the net impact of the purchase and subsequent sale of the business publications will be material to the overall purchase price.

“Parents, Child, Fitness and Family Circle are established and well-known consumer magazines that will benefit greatly from Meredith’s proven editorial, circulation, sales, database and brand-building expertise,” said Meredith Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William T. Kerr. “These titles have significant upside but have underperformed in recent years. We possess the unique skills and resources needed — particularly in the circulation area — to help these magazines realize their potential.”

Kerr said Meredith expects the transaction to generate EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) in the low-to-mid $30 million range and be modestly accretive to earnings per share in fiscal 2006. Meredith plans to finance the acquisition through the expansion of existing credit facilities, resulting in a debt to EBITDA ratio of 2:1, leaving room to continue existing programs of share repurchases and dividend increases.

Meredith President and COO Stephen M. Lacy said the acquisition helps implement Meredith’s previously articulated corporate strategies, especially its initiative to attract younger women readers to Meredith magazines.

“Our acquisition of the American Baby Group in late 2002 helped us establish a foothold in this market,” said Lacy. “Now, with the addition of Parents, Child and Fitness, we will have added approximately 30 million female readers with a median age below 35 in just over two years. This establishes Meredith as the premier magazine company serving expecting and new families, who are leading purchasers of consumer products and services.

“Additionally, the acquisition adds to our growing presence in the Hispanic marketplace,” Lacy continued, noting that Parents’ Spanish-language title, Ser Padres, is an established title. “Combined with American Baby’s Hispanic titles, our custom marketing programs and the September 2005 launch of our new Spanish-language women’s title — Siempre Mujer! — Meredith is uniquely positioned to serve Hispanic consumers, the fastest-growing segment of the American population.”

Meredith Publishing Group President Jack Griffin said the company will use its industry-leading database and circulation practices to grow and strengthen its new additions. “We will employ our long-term direct-to-publisher strategy that emphasizes our editorial content and commitment to service journalism. Over the years, this has proven to be effective in generating highly profitable circulation for Meredith,” Griffin said.

Griffin added that Meredith plans to continue operating the titles in New York City, and the company’s recent successful integration of American Baby into its publishing portfolio will facilitate the transition process.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, according to John Zieser, Meredith’s General Counsel and Vice President of Corporate Development. “While integrating these titles is an immediate priority, we will continue to look for strategic opportunities for profitable revenue growth, increasing shareholder value in the process,” Zieser said.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

… Bob Liodice, President and CEO of the Association of National Advertisers. The satirist, George Simpson, makes it sound like Meredith was blindsided by Bob’s controversial blog post last week on how advertisers are killing television. Heh, funny.

Honestly, I could have sworn this satire was written by Homer Simpson, not George. Any relation? In all seriousness, Georgie, thanks for giving us even more PR than we could have ever dreamed for. Don’t you just love blogs?

It’s no secret that my firm, CooperKatz, is behind the ANA weblog. We counsel our client on the do’s/don’ts of the blogosphere. However, the wonderful thing about blogs is that we advise Bob to write whatever he wants and then he runs with it.

So the next time you feel an urge to write satire, stick to politics. It’s far more entertaining than poking fun at a PR professional who has done nothing but work hard to build a good relationship with MediaPost. But no worries, dawg, we still love ya. Holler.

Steve Rubel is a PR strategist with nearly 16 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman, the largest independent global PR firm.

He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.