Why would I purchase a magazine if I can access more up to date content in a digital magazine (ezine) for free? Playstation 3 fans now have P3Zine. XBox fans have had 360zine for a while. Publisher of both, GamerZines, has a range of titles which gamers tell me are better than the over the counter product – because they are free.
I have blogged here before that retail sales of game and computer related titles are down in Australia. No wonder when good content is available free and through a medium of more interest to the target audience.
It’s not just the technology area which is affected. Take look at Monkey Magazine. It’s a UK title competing with several weeklies – for an Australian context, think Zoo. Monkey, being free and an excellent product, is bound to succeed.
Ziff Davis last week reported 144% growth in digital business earnings for Q4 2006 and 70% earnings growth overall for A4 2006. Earnings overall rose 70 percent. Source: Paid Content. No wonder Ziff David will focus more on their digital business and less elsewhere.
The International Herald Tribune published an article exploring the impact of the Internet on magazines last week. Publishers seem to acknowledge that the impact will be significant even if it is not yet in their patch.
The question I started with is key – why would a teenage boy purchase a Playstation 3 magazine when he can get what he wants from a free online product, which he can even access through his Playstation?
This is why newsagents need to consider carefully future capital investment. There is no point to the traditional newsagency shopfit in these changing times.