More on EE Times

To put all this stuff in perspective, a few days ago, Techinsights announced that their circulation for EE Times was now at 70,000 in Europe.  That's a 40 percent increase.  Lots of people read EE Times, both online and in print.  Lots of companies all around the world want to get their news in that magazine.  But no one wants to pay for the advertising that supports that news.


The parent company of Techinsights, United Business Media, is doing well.  Interim results showed a 10 percent increase in revenue and the profit margin is well over 20 percent.  That's good news in today's economy.  But it is not good enough to continue to subsidize the marketing programs of individual companies.  Business decisions have to be made.


It's a sad fact of life, but there it is.

Comments

  1. John DonovanNovember 19, 2008 at 7:22 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, other than PR clients) I'd place a semicon or component ad in a design book that might contribute to design-in activity, but what's the point of getting in front of someone who's not interested at the moment in what you're selling? That may prove to be the fatal flaw in their business plan.

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  2. Donnie AdamsNovember 20, 2008 at 1:46 AM

    For the 24 years I have been in this business, EE Times has been more than just a "news mag"...it is read first because it is the industry newspaper. It keeps all of us informed on the latest technologies, companies to watch,or as Girish Mhatre always said, "business and technology are inextricably intertwined" which drives us to EET to understand the dynamics of our business. EET.com has taken on this same position with our traffic exceeding all others with unique vistors monthly of over 500k. The internet has long surpassed the design/product book as the go to place for engineers to look for product. Research from Reed, Hearst and Techinsights (formerly CMP) have said that for years. What is happening today is a sad day for all of us left to continue on...Loring and Rich, as well as the others laid off, closes a chapter on our community that will long be remembered. They were our colleagues, but also our friends. If I have learned anything in these last few years with the advent of the internet is to follow the direction of our audience and understand how they want information and to deliver the best solutions to reach them for my clients. And Paul Miller our CEO must also make these changes to stay a viable and vibrant company.

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  3. John DonovanNovember 20, 2008 at 4:16 AM

    Donnie makes some good points. I'm not saying that EE Times is just a news mag, though that's the main reason I read it. I was trying to hypothesize why their European ad sales would badly trail (per Lou's comment) their circulation increase. I don't claim to have the answer on that, but something is going on there that we'd all do well to figure out.
    In line with Reed's "Mind of the Engineer" studies, I also believe that engineers would rather read technical articles in print than online; and that companies wanting 'design in' activity will advertise there. I have no argument with Girish's observation, but a lot of different business plans can follow from it.
    All of us are trying to figure out a viable communications mix that combines print, online, multimedia, blogs, social networks, etc. I don't think a single winning formula has appeared yet, though Paul Miller is placing some interesting bets. Whoever does get it right will wind up way ahead.

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  4. Todd BriaNovember 24, 2008 at 11:34 AM

    I'm not certain we can track EE Times Europe advertising sales with the increase in circulation (full disclosure I am the US Sales Director for EE Times Europe and EE Times Japan). The increase in circulation is in the "digital edition" which will increase from around 17,000 in November to 30,000 by the end of March of 2009. "digital" subscribers cost very little to acquire and cost much less to maintain then print editions. In Europe the surprise to me has been the large number of readers who were requesting "digital" editions. This of course is in support of Lou's assertion that advertisers no longer are willing to spend most of their ad dollars to support "print media" so TechInsights has to explore ways to increase the reach of the publication without increasing the cost.

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