Canadian Publishing Industry News
27 March 2024,     MONTREAL

Farewells to Reader’s Digest Canada

 

Cover of last issue of Reader's Digest Canada
Cover of last issue of Reader's Digest Canada
Letter from Reader's Digest Canada :The April 2024 print edition of Reader’s Digest Canada was its last. Founded in 1947, 25 years after the original U.S. publication, Reader’s Digest Canada brought a focus to Canadian stories and became a national treasure for more than 70 years. Its readers were incredibly loyal. So while the website will no longer be updated and newsletters no longer sent, we will leave you with some words from readers themselves that we ran in the final print edition.

23 March 2024,     VANCOUVER

Glacier Media Moving Out of Print

 

Print publication sales and profits have been declining
Print publication sales and profits have been declining
Glacier Media revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023, was $154.9 million, down $21.1 million or 12.0% from the prior year. The company's loss for the year was $4.2 million, down $7.3 million from positive $3.1 million in the prior year. The Company completed the sale of its printing assets into two new joint venture operations. Certain print community media operations were treated as joint ventures from January 1, 2023.

23 March 2024,     OTTAWA ,

Canadian Geographic Claims #1 Paid Magazine

Canadian Geographic magazine of Royal Canadian Geographical Society
Canadian Geographic magazine of Royal Canadian Geographical Society
 Canadian Geographic claims Canada's number one paid magazine, with a monthly readership of 4.3M people online and in print according to Vividata, a not for profit organization that provides marketing research on print and online readership in Canada. Now ranking #1 in the 18-35 age category, Canadian Geographic is drawing younger Canadians and newcomers to the country in unprecedented numbers.

9 March 2024,     SIMCOE, ONTARIO

Annex Becomes an Employee-Management Partnership

 

now 50% employee owned
now 50% employee owned
Annex Business Media took a major step in its evolution to an employee-driven business. As Phase 1 in the transition to a unique Employee-Management Partnership (EMP), 50% of Annex Business Media shares are now owned by a broad management team. Phase 2 will see the remaining Annex employees more closely integrated with the financial success of the company through an Enhanced Employee Incentive Program (EEIP).Annex has been working with consultants Ernst & Young (EY) for the last 10 months to secure financing and find an option to dedicate up to 50% of after-tax profits to power this significant employee benefit,

7 March 2024,     TORONTO

Chris Chambers Leaves Magazines Canada

 

newsstand sales average is between 25 to 30%
newsstand sales average is between 25 to 30%
Chris Chambers is no longer with Magazines Canada. Chris was with Magazines Canada for over 23 years and in that time he cultivated long lasting relationships with our dealers and membership. James Ross will take over the distribution department . James continues to work with Pelcro to design their new SaaS distribution software that will be integrated into the new website and CRM.

7 March 2024,     OTTAWA

Ottawa Extends Local Journalism Program Grants

 

Helps administer $58.8 million for Local Journalism.
Helps administer $58.8 million for Local Journalism.
The Federal Government is extending a program that funds 400 local reporting jobs across Canada. Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge says the Federal Government  will spend $58.8 million to continue the Local Journalism Initiative program up till 2027. Started in 2019 the program, which provides funding for news media organizations for hiring local reporters.

7 March 2024,     CALGARY

Zoomer Media Buys Curiosity Group

 

Sites in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and Seattle
Sites in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and Seattle
Curiocity Group has been sold to Zoomer Media. Zoomer Media says they want to expand their digital presence. The company was sold for $5 million in cash for Curiocity, which it says is one of Alberta’s leading digital publishers. Curiocity also has a presence in other key markets in Canada and focuses on hyper-local content.

7 March 2024,     LONDON

British Magazines Report Drop in Circulation

 

Britain has always had better public engagement with magazines than in North America
Britain has always had better public engagement with magazines than in North America
 Britain has always had a healthyer magazine industry than North America. So this report is not a good sign for  Canadian magazine publishers. The latest British Audit Bureau of Circulations  consumer media report makes grim reading for print, with just a handful of titles showing print circulation increases against a backdrop of significant falls for many. The data revealed that only a few titles posted a year-on year increase in total print circulation.Across the board though, digital gains were not in many cases enough to offset the declines seen in print, and most titles recorded overall circulation declines when print and digital were combined.

4 March 2024,     OTTAWA

Court Decision Allows Royalty Free Copying For Universities

Represents publishers and writers on copyright use .
Represents publishers and writers on copyright use .
 The Federal Court of Canada’s decision in the legal action launched by the Ontario school boards and Ministries of Education (excluding British Columba and Quebec) (the “Plaintiffs”) against Access Copyright reinforces the urgent need for the federal government to repair Canada’s broken copyright regime. This reform is long overdue. In its decision, the Federal Court declined to find that the Plaintiffs were voluntary licensees under the Access Copyright Elementary and Secondary Schools Tariff, 2010-2015, requiring Access Copyright to return amounts overpaid under a continuation tariff by the Plaintiffs between 2010 to 2012.

4 March 2024,     OTTAWA

The Online News Act (Bill C-18)

 

includes AQEM, AMPA, MagsBC, and Magazines Canada.
includes AQEM, AMPA, MagsBC, and Magazines Canada.
The Federal Government has proposed a new Bill C-18 (the Online News Act). The intent is to support news businesses to negotiate and receive fair compensation when third parties with a dominant market position monetize their news content in a market environment that has been disadvantageous to news businesses. The bargaining framework has been created to ensure that platforms compensate news businesses fairly. It encourages platforms to reach voluntary commercial agreements with a range of news businesses..

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