July 27, 2004
Dawe to spearhead “Publishers Alliance”
TORONTO—Senior Canadian media planners can expect a few free breakfasts if Geoffrey Dawe’s idea comes to life. Dawe, an industry veteran and president of Kontent Publishing (Inside Entertainment, FQ) proposes to enlist about 30 senior-level magazine advertising executives who will meet regularly with key ad community executives to tout the communication powers of magazines. “After we finish the busy fall period, we’ll sit down with senior VPs and ad director types and say ‘let’s do this,’” says Dawe. “We have to break away from the mold and get the message out to clients.” Referred to as the Publishers Alliance, the initiative is supported by incoming Chatelaine publisher Kerry Mitchell. Speaking on a state-of-the-industry panel organized by Magazines Canada last week, Mitchell said the Alliance’s formation is at an early stage but there is a need for it. “We have to do more partnering and promotion,” she told a crowd of about 150 media reps and planners. Fellow panelist Patrick Walshe, CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group, applauded the idea. “I think this new initiative is a wonderful thing and can only be good for the magazine industry in Canada.”

July 22, 2004
Glogovac steps down
TORONTO—It was announced to staffers last Friday that Marina Glogovac, vice-president and group publisher of St. Joseph Media’s Urban Group (Saturday Night, Toronto Life) was no longer with the company. She has resigned. “I have been feeling that I would love a break,” Glogovac says. “It could be a sort of mid-life crisis evaluation,” she kidded. Stepping in as interim group publisher for the two titles is St. Joseph Media president Greg MacNeil. Glogovac was appointed associate publisher of Toronto Life in May 2000, when it was owned by Michael de Pencier’s Key Media. She succeeded William Duron as publisher in July 2001. After St. Joseph purchased Key in February 2002, Glogovac was promoted by MacNeil to group publisher of both titles. She spearheaded the plan, implemented this year, to boost Saturday Night’s frequency from six to 10 issues per year. Prior to joining Key she spent nine years with alt weekly giveaway tab NOW. Glogovac is a strong industry volunteer though her change in job status required that she also resign from the CMPA board; she chaired the professional development committee but will continue to volunteer her time to the organization, she says. "I came to Canada from Yugoslavia in 1987 and have been working like a dog ever since," she says, adding that different opportunities have been intriguing her. “When your imagination runs contrary to your willpower, imagination will win in the end." Glogovac says she was not pushed out of the company but that "differences in style and opinion" stemming out of the St. Joseph-Key acquisition contributed to her decision to step down. She plans to take the summer off to spend time with her two boys, aged eight and 11.

July 20, 2004
Feds to assess value of PAP, CMF
HULL, Que.—The Department of Canadian Heritage has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to complete an evaluation of the Canada Magazine Fund and the Publications Assistance Program by next March. The RFP identifies several questions to which DCH seeks answers, including whether there is a “continued need for the government to support the production of Canadian content magazines and periodicals and their distribution to Canadian readers.” The evaluation will investigate the number of split-run magazines in Canada and their impact on Canadian publishers. The budget for the evaluation is as much as $125,000. The deadline for proposals is Aug. 16. Meanwhile, Canada Post Corporation, which enjoys exclusive-supplier status with the government’s $49.4 million PAP program, has hit publishers with an average postal increase of 4.5% for 2005, according to the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association. Chris Wood, president of would-be Canada Post rival Canadian Delivery Service, challenges the post office’s “monopoly” on publications mail (see News Archives Sept. 6, 2002, July 17, 2003) and says these latest rate hikes will serve to make private-sector suppliers even more attractive.

July 15, 2004
Kerry Mitchell to lead Chatelaine
TORONTO—Rogers Publishing announced yesterday that Profit publisher Kerry Mitchell will succeed Donna Clark as publisher of Chatelaine, Canada’s second-largest paid-circ magazine (702,000). “Chatelaine is an essential brand in the Canadian media landscape and a trusted friend to millions of Canadian women. I feel honoured to have the opportunity to steer it towards continued growth and relevance in an ever-changing media mix,” Mitchell said in a released statement. She has previously served as publisher of Chatelaine rival Canadian Living as well as Style at Home and now-defunct Equinox magazine. The appointment, effective Aug. 16, allows Rogers Publishing senior vice-president Donna Clark to focus on other files. Last month, Chatelaine editor Rona Maynard announced that she would be stepping down as editor as of the December 2004 issue after a satisfying 10-year run in the slot. Her hand-picked successor is managing editor Kim Pittaway.

July 13, 2004
Gordon & Gotch, LMPI strike deal?
CONCORD, Ont.—The largest direct-to-retail distributor in the country is said to be in the process of dissolution, sources close to the action say. While company officials were unavailable for comment, the rumblings over the past few months have hatched into persistent rumours that Gordon & Gotch Periodicals, based here, has sold its right to distribute hundreds of foreign titles to rival LMPI, a sister company to HDS Retail North America, which operates about 240 retail outlets in Canada under such banners as Maison de la Presse, Relay (airports) and Great Canadian News Co. LMPI and HDS are both owned by France-based Hachette Filipacchi Médias—the world's largest magazine publisher. Gotch, owned by a media-shy collection of ageing movers and shakers from the magazine wholesaler community, appears ready to cash in its chips. Gotch is one of the larger players in the direct-to-retail scene in Canada. Other DTR outfits include Coast to Coast Direct, the CMPA and Doormouse. Gotch has long positioned itself as a champion of Canadian titles, a role it could afford to assume largely by the economies of scale achieved through its distribution of the foreign titles. Without them, the company could cease to exist. Canadian legislation precluding the outright sale of Gotch to a foreign-owned distributor (see News Archives, May 25, 2004) had been a stumbling block. If rumour of this deal is true, by selling the choicest portion of the business—the right to distribute high-volume foreign titles—the principals at Gotch seem to have cleared that legal hurtle.

July 8, 2004
Editorial shake-up at Razor magazine
TORONTO—Razor magazine publisher Richard Botto has announced that he has “terminated” the employment of founder and editor Craig Vasiloff and will himself become editor-in-chief following a “major reorganization.” Vasiloff was released due to “internal transgressions over time,” Botto says. Vasiloff says he still retains a 20% interest in the magazine and that he’s suing Botto for monies owed. Razor, a glossy men’s magazine launched in November 2000, is based in Arizona but editorially headquartered in Toronto. That will now change; editorial offices are moving to Arizona this fall. The magazine attracted controversy last month after a New York Daily News gossip columnist reported that the magazine had issued a torqued press release which alleged the June issue contained an “exclusive” interview with Howard Stern. It didn’t. Vasiloff says Botto wrote the press release.

July 6,2004
Cosmo split run targets Canadian advertisers
NEW YORK—Racy U.S. sex, love and beauty advice book, Cosmopolitan, owned by the Hearst Corporation, has recently drafted a separate rate card for the Canadian market. For $29,671 (US$22,000), Canadian advertisers can purchase a full-page, four-colour ad in Canada-only editions of Cosmo. With a Canadian circ of roughly 220,000, the cost-per-thousand works out to $135, which is comparable to CPM rates at Canadian rivals Flare ($115), Fashion ($136) and Elle Canada ($95). Donna Kalajian Lagani, senior vice-president and publishing director of The Cosmopolitan Group, did not return calls.