[URBAN NOTE] On Rogers' axing of Canadian mass media

[rfmcdonald]

Bloomberg carried the startling news in a brief article.

Rogers Communications Inc. is pulling back from its magazine business, shuttering some titles, selling others and reducing the frequency of its most-popular magazines, dealing a major blow to Canada’s already-struggling publishing industry.

“Maclean’s,” Canada’s best-known public affairs magazine, will shift from weekly publication to monthly while “Chatelaine” and “Today’s Parent” will move to six times a year. The print editions of “Sportsnet,” “MoneySense” and “Canadian Business” will be cut completely and become online-only. French-language titles will be sold, though a buyer has not yet been found, Rogers said in a statement Friday.

Shares in the Toronto-based telecommunications and media company were little changed at C$55.96 at 11:49 a.m. and have gained 17 percent this year.

Rogers has been struggling to maintain media revenue as advertisers continue their flight to the internet from traditional TV and print ads. It cut 200 media jobs earlier this year in a bid to save costs. The company isn’t alone. Newspaper and magazine owners including Postmedia Network Canada Corp. and Torstar Corp. have all made deep cuts in the last year.

The Toronto Star's Michael Lewis had more.

“We are going where our audiences are and doubling down on digital to grow our consumer magazine brands,” said Rick Brace, president of Rogers Media.

“We have already made significant investments in creating content and making it available on digital platforms, including Texture, Sportsnet Now and Rogers NHL GameCentre Live.”

Janice Neil, chair of Ryerson’s School of Journalism, called the moves another sign of the “end of the Guttenberg era,” referring to the German publisher who is credited with introducing the printing press to Europe in the 1400s.

Although she said the digital shift is inevitable given the online reading habits of younger generations, she called it a shame for older people who are not as tech savvy.

Neil also noted that Maclean’s, a venerable publication with a loyal print readership, is being scaled back in frequency while glossy showbiz magazine Hello! Canada will remain in weekly print.

This is huge news for Canadian mass media. MacLean's a monthly?