Newport Beach-based Orange Coast magazine, part of Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications Corp., has made some additional cuts to its monthly Orange County lifestyle magazine.
The magazine recently let go Jeff Ditmire, the magazine’s president, and Lisa Jackson, the magazine’s director of marketing, as part of a series of job cuts by the parent company.
Emmis publishes several regional lifestyle magazines including Los Angeles magazine, Atlanta magazine and Texas Monthly.
Emmis reported about 100 positions within the organization were cut from its publishing and broadcasting divisions to offset an expected revenue drop this year.
Other cuts were made at Texas-based Texas Monthly magazine and Emmis Radio, which lost 60 positions.
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Orange Coast magazine: parent company cutting 100 positions |
Emmis has taken several actions to deal with declining ad sales, including layoffs, salary reductions and the sale of its “Be One” nine-FM network Belgium radio station.
The media company reported a first quarter profit of $7.5 million after buying back some of its debt, compared to a loss of $1 million for the same period a year earlier.
In a letter to employees, Jeff Smulyan, chief executive at Emmis, said he believed the company has hit the bottom of the economic downturn but is not sure how long it will take to climb out of the trough.
Ditmire took the president title in September 2007 when he was brought on to handle general operations at the magazine after Linda Goldstein was promoted to publisher of Orange Coast. Goldstein will take over some of Ditmire’s responsibilities.
Jackson was recruited in February 2008 to help market the magazine through events and public relations.
Home Awareness
Chicago-based National Association of Realtors has launched a $14 million advertising campaign to increase awareness of the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit to consumers.
The campaign is part of the association’s attempt to prompt potential buyers to take advantage of the tax credit,which gives first-time homebuyers up to $8,000 off their taxes if they close escrow before Dec. 1,before it expires in November.
The association tapped Aliso Viejo-based Most Brand Development + Advertising to handle the campaign
“We discovered in our research that half the country didn’t even know the tax credit existed,” said John Most, chief executive at Most. “Obama didn’t call us up, but we decided we would help him carry the water a little and get the word out to consumers.”
The National Association of Realtors spends on average about $40 million in advertising a year on national, state and local marketing initiatives. Most handles both the creative and media buying duties for the organization, which centralized its account in the ad shop a couple years ago.
The association is putting about 35% of its budget behind the campaign, committing $14 million during the next two quarters to spreading the word.
“The housing market is just starting to turn around and we want to do anything we can to help continue the momentum,” Most said.
The TV spot will run during primetime and early mornings on major networks including ABC, CBS and on cable channels, including HGTV. The spot is expected to run from July through mid-November.
The commercial takes place in the home of a young couple who are hosting a housewarming party and Uncle Sam shows up with an envelope containing $8,000.
The TV spot is complemented by existing tax credit radio spots and local print advertising, currently appearing nationwide in multiple media outlets.
The association is trying to extend the popular credit into 2010, increase its amount to $15,000 and make it apply to every homebuyer,not just those who are buying for the first time.
Angry Rant
Irvine-based business publisher Entrepreneur Media Inc. has found itself in the press again after an angry blog posting by a former employee circulated through various media Web sites.
Former staff reporter Dennis Romero, who was let go last month from the business magazine, posted a lengthy blog depicting his time at the organization.
In the post, Romero took aim at Entrepreneur editor-in-chief Amy Cosper, as well as alleged a personal grudge as the reason he was let go.
The publisher didn’t take a formal stand on the emotion-filled blog, but the magazine has been making cuts across the board to withstand the down economy.
“He’s a very good writer, there is no doubt of that, but he seems to have let his emotions get the best of him,” said Peter Shea, chief executive at Entrepreneur. “You can take about 95% of (what he wrote) and discount it, but as you know, there are always three sides to any story.”
The magazine has had several of its editorial members depart in the past couple months including James Park, research editor, Kim Orr, associate editor, Allison Gergley, associate editor of franchise, Mike Kessler, deputy editor, and Elizabeth Wilson, associate Web editor.
“We’ve made a lot of changes in response to this economy,” Shea said. “We went from some 40-something people in editorial down to less than 10.”
The company, like many publishing companies nationwide, saw a sharp decline in advertising revenue last year as the recession took its toll on its major advertisers.
“About 50% of our ad revenue comes from a small group of advertisers like the American Expresses of the world, the bank cards and the car companies, and of course those guys have really been whacked pretty good,” Shea said.
Things are starting to look up for the business magazine, Shea said.
“We’re up about 50% in print ad revenue for September and I think we will be up pretty much every month after September,” Shea said. “Its great news, but it is still far less than we used to do compared to years before.”
