Another death knell for niche-interest print? The Guardian reports that the weekly Accountancy Age magazine is about to become online only.
Last month, Computer Weekly said it was discontinuing print and would become online only. Reports said that title owner Reed Elsevier "sought to reshape RBI’s [publisher] portfolio by significantly reducing costs and channelling investment into successful data services."
The web is a lifeline for niche publishing. Special-interest publications can re-invent themselves for changing market conditions and consumer behaviours, rather than just go belly up, at far less investment than print. They can embrace new platforms such as tablets – look at the successful example of Dennis Publishing’s Evo magazine and its iPad edition: a success story in a competitive niche (motor industry).
Expect more such stories in a changing media landscape that continues to evolve rapidly.
(The Guardian’s report is published here with permission via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.)
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I am not surprised by this announcement but I am saddened that more and more magazines and newspapers continue to lose ground. The fact they have to go purely online is a bit disappointing but I suppose it’s better for the environment too. It would be very interesting to see how much the publishers save by taking a magazine online.
Another interesting area would be how the advertising rates change and whether companies are willing to pay as much for a purely online publication.
I see it more as an opportunity for a magazine publisher who is confronting dramatic changes in the marketplace and now has genuine alternatives to closure to consider. If being online-only presents a lifeline, then that must be a good thing.
I wonder, too, about advertising rates. Indeed, advertising itself given the downward trend in advertising.
Ultimately, I suppose it’s about survival of the fittest.