And in this corner...

OK, so we had the news on EE Times mini-layoffs and PC Mag dropping the print publication after the first of the year.  Now Bloomberg breaks the news that the bidding for Reed Business (the company that owns both Variety and EDN) has dropped to $1 Billion, about half of what was expected.

The story goes on to say that they will either pull the sale offer or sit down with talks to the highest bidder.
What does all that mean?  I haven't a clue.  Reed could decide to hold on to it and do another consolidation, which doesn't bode well for EDN unless someone wants to pick them up (Hello, Advantage Media?) or a new buyer ... would do pretty much the same.
Oh, and back to EE Times for a sec.  They plan on having four special sections next year.  The subjects are Test & Measurement; Avionics and Defense Electronics; Automotive; and Smart Sensors, Sensor Networks & Medical Electronics.  No EDA.  No semiconductors.  All embedded systems.
Interesting...

Comments

  1. John DonovanNovember 19, 2008 at 7:31 AM

    You bring up an interesting point. Times is first and foremost a news mag. Who wants to pay to be in the news? (OK, except for PR clients) I'd pay to put a semiconductor ad in a design book that could increase design-in activity using my parts. But why would I pay to put the same ad in a news outlet where the readers aren't currently interested in what I have to say? This may be the tragic flaw in that business plan.

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  2. Paul MillerNovember 21, 2008 at 8:44 AM

    John, worth listeniing to the readers. I can tell you that when asked which one publication they couldn't do without, it is EETimes (every time - the design books were the first to go when asked!) The breaking news biz is online (and EETimes.com is the clear, clear leader) but not analysis of that news - Design ifo and product search is clearly online NOT print.

    At the end of the day, it is about engineers seeing your ad...no one has more of them eyeballs than EETimes...

    Also, EETimes print and online is a very profitable brand - the problem is that advertisers don't always make data driven decisions, there's a whole bunch of "gut feel" - the web changes this because people vote with their measurable mouse clicks!

    I think EETimes has moved on from a news paper to being the brand that engineers, managers, financial analysts, market analysts and CEOs trust to stay up to date on the global industry...

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