Time Inc selling off assets as revenues collapse

How the mighty have fallen!  Reuters reports:

Time Inc said on Friday it was looking to sell several assets, including Time Inc UK, and warned it experienced more-than-anticipated softness in both print and advertising revenue during the current quarter.

The publisher, which said in April that it would not sell itself, said assets identified for sale include Time Customer Service and a majority stake in the Essence magazine.

The assets marked for divestitures represent about $488 million, or 17 percent of total revenue for the 12-months ended June 30, the company said.

A sale may be announced as early as the fourth quarter, the company said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

Selling off almost a fifth of the company.

Revenue is collapsing:

Time Inc, which reported a 17 percent fall in second quarter print and other advertising revenues, had said it expected sequential improvement in the third quarter ending Sept. 30.

The company's magazine circulation revenue fell 12 percent in the second quarter ended June 30 and its advertising revenue dipped about 12 percent, as more readers and advertisers shift to digital platforms.

I am old enough to remember when Time, Incorporated was the richest, glossiest media company in the world.  A couple of friends from my higher education years went to work there and became stars all of a sudden as their bylines began appearing.  Doors opened to them everywhere.  The expense accounts were legendary and the travel budgets lavish.  In an era of black and white TV with 15-minute newscasts, the glossy pages of Life and Time Magazines provided the best way to stay current on the images and news dominating the nation's political discussion.  Advertisers flocked to their pages, and the fat issues of both attested to the profitability of the enterprise.  Additions to the print stable like Sports Illustrated and People added to the cash-generating capacity of the company.  In 1959, it moved into a lavish new 48-story skyscraper featuring custom-designed "Time-Life chairs" from Charles Eames.

The good times lasted until the internet really hit.

In the media, the internet has changed everything, and we have only begun to see the consequences.

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