The return of advertising revenue has fuelled the Spectator’s decision to return its spin-off title Spectator Business to monthly distribution.
Spectator managing director Ben Greenish told Press Gazette that online revenue was up 80 per cent year on year at The Spectator while advertising in print was up 12 per cent year on year.
He said: “That gives us a lot of confidence that Spectator Business will work again and attract the level of advertising that we want.”
Spectator Business was launched as a monthly in May 2008 out of the ashes of The Business – a weekly business newspaper turned magazine that closed in February 2008 after a 12-year struggle to turn a profit.
Related
The magazine started with a free distribution of 42,000 but reduced its frequency to quarterly in April 2009 as the credit-crunch hit.
Spectator Business moves back to monthly distribution in October with a target circulation of 30,000. This will include a controlled circulation of 20,000 aimed at chief executive and director level business people, as well as 5,000 copies bundled in with copies of The Spectator sold through WH Smith stores located in travel hubs.
New editor Tom Rubython came on board in the summer and has been driving the move back to monthly format, Greenish said.
Content from our partners
Rubython is a media entrepreneur who was involved in the launch of The Business and Business Age in the 1990s and focused on Formula One magazines in recent years.
Greenish said the plan was for Spectator Business to make a significant amount of its income from events and other brand extensions, as well as from the core display advertising sales.
He said: “One area we have had a lot of success at the Spectator has been with face-to-face events. We are doing a lot of conferences and debates and a couple of awards. This is an area we are going to move into quickly with Spectator Business.”
He added: “Magazines can’t exist on a single revenue stream any more.”
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
