Summer in the magazine business usually means little news, with executives focused on their vacations. Long ones.
Perhaps it’s a product of the funk the industry has been mired in the last few years, but this summer has been different, with an unusual number of high-profile executives changing positions -- shuffling the org charts at major publishing houses as companies look to build on the advertising recovery they saw during the first half.
In June, David Carey, Condé Nast group president, left to become the magazine division president at Hearst, replacing Cathie Black, who was kicked upstairs.
Condé Nast, in turn, made a slew of management changes in July, including the promotion of Bob Sauerberg, president of its consumer marketing group, to president of the company, reporting to Chuck Townsend, who had been president and chief executive officer (Townsend retained the CEO title). Lou Cona, EVP of the Condé Nast Media Group and former New Yorker publisher, was named chief marketing officer. John Bellando, Condé’s chief operating officer, was given the chief financial officer title, too.
At Meredith Corp., the second largest magazine publisher in the U.S., president Jack Griffin announced this week he would step down to “pursue another opportunity.” That opportunity appears to be at the world’s largest magazine publisher, Time Inc., where according to the New York Times Griffin is expected to take over for Ann Moore, the company’s first female chief executive and recent Magazine Hall of Fame inductee. An announcement will be made this week. (Griffin will be replaced at Meredith by Tom Harty, its president of consumer magazines.)
(Update Monday a.m.: See accompanying story, "It's Official: Time Inc. Replacing CEO Ann Moore With Jack Griffin.")
Moore’s contract with Time Inc. isn’t up until 2012, but she will be leaving on a rare high note. Time Warner reported that profits at its magazine publishing unit nearly tripled to $203 million during the first half of the year, driven, in part, by the Moore’s deep cost-cutting. (Ad revenue was up 4 percent.) And Moore steered the company through one of its darkest hours, a dramatic restructuring in 2008 during which roughly 600 staffers at the mega-publisher were laid off.
“It’s been a home run,” Moore said in 2009, a few months after the restructuring was executed. “It changed a culture that had been getting in the way. Decisions, efficiency -- and innovation -- are occurring faster inside Time Inc. than ever before."
Griffin is also leaving on a high note. Meredith, which publishes women’s titles like Better Homes & Gardens, More and Family Circle, last week reported a “marked a return to earnings growth” during its 2010 fiscal year. According to Folio, in terms of magazine industry advertising market share, Meredith’s increased to 12.3 percent -- the highest mark in company history.
Carey’s defection also appears to be well-timed. After a tumultuous 2009 -- in which the company made a slew of cuts, closings and watched ad pages evaporate -- things appear to have stabilized at Condé Nast, at least in terms of advertising.
