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Masthead News Archives
June 2002
June 2002
Correction
June 28, 2002
NMAF studies alliance with CMPA
TORONTO-We reported yesterday that the boards of both the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association and the National Magazine Awards Foundation had agreed to an outcome that would see the CMPA "take over" the NMAF. That's inaccurate. While the two organizations have been in talks, neither board has voted on such an outcome. NMAF president Terry Sellwood explains that since the NMAF is a registered charitable foundation, its charter must first be consulted to determine the rules governing the foundation's administration. Further, Sellwood says a consultant was commissioned earlier this month to complete a long-range planning study regarding the NMAF's options, including a "strategic alliance" with the CMPA. That study is expected to be completed by this fall. "Until we get the results of this study, we're not sure what our next step will be or can be," Sellwood notes. MastheadOnline regrets the error.
June 27, 2002
CMPA to take over awards program
TORONTO-The boards of both organizations agree: The chronically cash-strapped National Magazine Awards Foundation, now a quarter-century old, will become a creature of the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association, says Al Zikovitz, chairman of CMPA's board. "It's being worked on as we speak and we hope for that to be finalized by the latter part of this year," Zikovitz says. Terry Sellwood, general manager at Quarto Communications (Cottage Life, Explore), was appointed president of the NMAF last week.
June 25, 2002
Honours galore at Western Mag Awards
VANCOUVER-The Far North Oil & Gas Review was named trade magazine of the year while Adbusters got the nod in the consumer category at last week's 20th annual Western Magazine Awards. In all, there were 26 award categories, including the lifetime achievement award given to Georgia Straight publisher and editor Dan McLeod for his role in founding Canada's largest urban weekly. For a profile of McLeod, check out the July/August issue of Masthead magazine. For a complete list of winners and nominees visit www.westernmagazineawards.com/20thannualawards.html.
June 20, 2002
Publisher threatens to sue for libel
TORONTO-A spirited series of letters to ski-industry advertisers by rival publishers of Canada's two paid-circ skiing magazines has triggered rumblings of a libel action. In a letter sent out to advertisers last March, Ski Canada publisher Paul Green, whose title recently turned 30, challenged upstart SBC Skier's media-kit claim of 39,825 newsstand circ per issue. SBC Skier publisher Steve Jarrett, who launched the magazine late last year and who also owns SBC Media flagship title Snowboard Canada, responded with a letter of his own, assuring advertisers that he stood behind his numbers. "I can tell you that we are headed to court," says Jarrett, who declined to reveal SBC Skier's average newsstand circ, which is not audited. Ski Canada is audited by CCAB.
June 18, 2002
Fitness publisher gets "sexy dexy"
MISSISSAUGA-Glossy photos of extremely fit women wearing not much more than come-hither-you-handsome-devil looks will fill a new magazine set to launch in November. Bob Kennedy, publisher of MuscleMag International and women's fitness title Oxygen, says American Curves will be published bimonthly with a stateside circ of 170,000, and 30,000 in Canada. Each issue will contain about 200 photos of toned, buffed women posing in lingerie and swimsuits. Sprinkled throughout will be service articles on such things as dating and flirting. About 20% of the women will be Canadian, Kennedy says. Women featured in Oxygen will feed American Curves' model pool as many of them aspire to modeling or Hollywood careers and realize "being a little bit sexy dexy will jet them up the ladder of popularity." Kennedy says he won't go the route of showing areolas, nipples or genitalia. "We'll keep it above board so we don't get thrown out of the grocery store."
June 13, 2002
Work cut out for new NMAF prez
TORONTO-Financial instability, volunteer burnout and what some feel is an annual gala that drags well into the evening because there are too darn many award categories (33)-those are just a few of the problems that the new president of the National Magazine Awards Foundation will have to tackle. Current president, Toronto Life editor John Macfarlane, will complete his two-year term this coming Monday at which time he'll recommend to the board his hand-picked successor. It's been suggested that the NMAF could solve its financial and staffing issues by joining with the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association. "It should happen but how is the question," says Macfarlane. It was one of Macfarlane's accomplishments as president that he secured a sum of money from the Department of Canadian Heritage to produce a compilation of the best work from the NMA's 25-year history. The special 25th anniversary keepsake will appear on newsstands next spring in, naturally, magazine format.
June 11, 2002
ABC outbids CCAB for Hollinger contracts
TORONTO-Twenty-four of Hollinger's 34 trade magazines are poised to drop their membership in CCAB (a division of BPA International), says Bruce Creighton, president of the company's Business Information Group. It's a chunk of business worth an estimated $100,000 annually. "We are going to shift [our membership] to ABC," Creighton said yesterday. "I don't change suppliers lightly," he added, "especially good suppliers, and they have been." Cost savings prompted the change. Creighton invited CCAB more than two years ago to examine the potential efficiencies that could arise from auditing Hollinger's central circ database rather than each title on an individual basis*. BPA could not deliver savings, he said. ABC was then invited to bid on the job, and did submit a bid that represented "quite measurable" savings. "I don't move things for just a small number," Creighton noted. BPA president and CEO Glenn Hansen and ABC (Canada) senior vice-president Bob White declined to comment on Hollinger's switch.
*Clarification
It should be noted that individual audit statements for each of the 24 affected Hollinger titles will still be produced.
June 04, 2002
Maclean’s wins top newsstand cover award
TORONTO-The Sept. 24, 2001 issue of Maclean’s has won the Newsstand Magazine Cover of the Year award at the inaugural National Newsstand Awards/Grand prix d’excellence en kiosque. Maclean’s also won in another category, Best Special Issue, for its annual Guide to Universities and Colleges. Chatelaine, also published by Rogers Media in Toronto, was awarded Best Newsstand Issue in the Large Magazine category for its November 2001 issue. Best Newsstand Issue, Mid-size Magazine, was awarded to Canadian Home Workshop, published by Avid Media Inc. of Markham, Ont. In the Small Magazine Category, Best Newsstand Issue went to Capital Santé, a health magazine published by Transcontinental Media in Montreal. Launched this year, the National Newsstand Awards/Grand prix d’excellence en kiosque honour excellence in newsstand sales and cover execution by Canadian magazines. Judging is based on both quantitative sales results (50% of the overall score) and qualitative design considerations (50%). Winners were announced last evening at a special reception at Magazines University. Each of the five winners receives $3,000 in credits towards promotions to be spent in retail outlets owned by HDS Retail, a major magazine retailer and lead sponsor for the awards. Other sponsors include NCompass: Newsstand Navigation, a newsstand services company, and the CMC Circulation Management Association of Canada. The awards were produced by Masthead.
June 28, 2002
NMAF studies alliance with CMPA
TORONTO-We reported yesterday that the boards of both the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association and the National Magazine Awards Foundation had agreed to an outcome that would see the CMPA "take over" the NMAF. That's inaccurate. While the two organizations have been in talks, neither board has voted on such an outcome. NMAF president Terry Sellwood explains that since the NMAF is a registered charitable foundation, its charter must first be consulted to determine the rules governing the foundation's administration. Further, Sellwood says a consultant was commissioned earlier this month to complete a long-range planning study regarding the NMAF's options, including a "strategic alliance" with the CMPA. That study is expected to be completed by this fall. "Until we get the results of this study, we're not sure what our next step will be or can be," Sellwood notes. MastheadOnline regrets the error.
June 27, 2002
CMPA to take over awards program
TORONTO-The boards of both organizations agree: The chronically cash-strapped National Magazine Awards Foundation, now a quarter-century old, will become a creature of the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association, says Al Zikovitz, chairman of CMPA's board. "It's being worked on as we speak and we hope for that to be finalized by the latter part of this year," Zikovitz says. Terry Sellwood, general manager at Quarto Communications (Cottage Life, Explore), was appointed president of the NMAF last week.
June 25, 2002
Honours galore at Western Mag Awards
VANCOUVER-The Far North Oil & Gas Review was named trade magazine of the year while Adbusters got the nod in the consumer category at last week's 20th annual Western Magazine Awards. In all, there were 26 award categories, including the lifetime achievement award given to Georgia Straight publisher and editor Dan McLeod for his role in founding Canada's largest urban weekly. For a profile of McLeod, check out the July/August issue of Masthead magazine. For a complete list of winners and nominees visit www.westernmagazineawards.com/20thannualawards.html.
June 20, 2002
Publisher threatens to sue for libel
TORONTO-A spirited series of letters to ski-industry advertisers by rival publishers of Canada's two paid-circ skiing magazines has triggered rumblings of a libel action. In a letter sent out to advertisers last March, Ski Canada publisher Paul Green, whose title recently turned 30, challenged upstart SBC Skier's media-kit claim of 39,825 newsstand circ per issue. SBC Skier publisher Steve Jarrett, who launched the magazine late last year and who also owns SBC Media flagship title Snowboard Canada, responded with a letter of his own, assuring advertisers that he stood behind his numbers. "I can tell you that we are headed to court," says Jarrett, who declined to reveal SBC Skier's average newsstand circ, which is not audited. Ski Canada is audited by CCAB.
June 18, 2002
Fitness publisher gets "sexy dexy"
MISSISSAUGA-Glossy photos of extremely fit women wearing not much more than come-hither-you-handsome-devil looks will fill a new magazine set to launch in November. Bob Kennedy, publisher of MuscleMag International and women's fitness title Oxygen, says American Curves will be published bimonthly with a stateside circ of 170,000, and 30,000 in Canada. Each issue will contain about 200 photos of toned, buffed women posing in lingerie and swimsuits. Sprinkled throughout will be service articles on such things as dating and flirting. About 20% of the women will be Canadian, Kennedy says. Women featured in Oxygen will feed American Curves' model pool as many of them aspire to modeling or Hollywood careers and realize "being a little bit sexy dexy will jet them up the ladder of popularity." Kennedy says he won't go the route of showing areolas, nipples or genitalia. "We'll keep it above board so we don't get thrown out of the grocery store."
June 13, 2002
Work cut out for new NMAF prez
TORONTO-Financial instability, volunteer burnout and what some feel is an annual gala that drags well into the evening because there are too darn many award categories (33)-those are just a few of the problems that the new president of the National Magazine Awards Foundation will have to tackle. Current president, Toronto Life editor John Macfarlane, will complete his two-year term this coming Monday at which time he'll recommend to the board his hand-picked successor. It's been suggested that the NMAF could solve its financial and staffing issues by joining with the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association. "It should happen but how is the question," says Macfarlane. It was one of Macfarlane's accomplishments as president that he secured a sum of money from the Department of Canadian Heritage to produce a compilation of the best work from the NMA's 25-year history. The special 25th anniversary keepsake will appear on newsstands next spring in, naturally, magazine format.
June 11, 2002
ABC outbids CCAB for Hollinger contracts
TORONTO-Twenty-four of Hollinger's 34 trade magazines are poised to drop their membership in CCAB (a division of BPA International), says Bruce Creighton, president of the company's Business Information Group. It's a chunk of business worth an estimated $100,000 annually. "We are going to shift [our membership] to ABC," Creighton said yesterday. "I don't change suppliers lightly," he added, "especially good suppliers, and they have been." Cost savings prompted the change. Creighton invited CCAB more than two years ago to examine the potential efficiencies that could arise from auditing Hollinger's central circ database rather than each title on an individual basis*. BPA could not deliver savings, he said. ABC was then invited to bid on the job, and did submit a bid that represented "quite measurable" savings. "I don't move things for just a small number," Creighton noted. BPA president and CEO Glenn Hansen and ABC (Canada) senior vice-president Bob White declined to comment on Hollinger's switch.
*Clarification
It should be noted that individual audit statements for each of the 24 affected Hollinger titles will still be produced.
June 04, 2002
Maclean’s wins top newsstand cover award
TORONTO-The Sept. 24, 2001 issue of Maclean’s has won the Newsstand Magazine Cover of the Year award at the inaugural National Newsstand Awards/Grand prix d’excellence en kiosque. Maclean’s also won in another category, Best Special Issue, for its annual Guide to Universities and Colleges. Chatelaine, also published by Rogers Media in Toronto, was awarded Best Newsstand Issue in the Large Magazine category for its November 2001 issue. Best Newsstand Issue, Mid-size Magazine, was awarded to Canadian Home Workshop, published by Avid Media Inc. of Markham, Ont. In the Small Magazine Category, Best Newsstand Issue went to Capital Santé, a health magazine published by Transcontinental Media in Montreal. Launched this year, the National Newsstand Awards/Grand prix d’excellence en kiosque honour excellence in newsstand sales and cover execution by Canadian magazines. Judging is based on both quantitative sales results (50% of the overall score) and qualitative design considerations (50%). Winners were announced last evening at a special reception at Magazines University. Each of the five winners receives $3,000 in credits towards promotions to be spent in retail outlets owned by HDS Retail, a major magazine retailer and lead sponsor for the awards. Other sponsors include NCompass: Newsstand Navigation, a newsstand services company, and the CMC Circulation Management Association of Canada. The awards were produced by Masthead.
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| Jaded says: | |
Wow, Torstar really seems to be on a mission to bankrupt one magazine after another.... |
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| Lorene Shyba says: | |
Full of terrific information, Thanks!... |
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