Companies behind the latest online magazine business headlines include Time Inc., Twitter, and Active Interest Media
Despite all of the ups and downs of digital publishing, the online magazine business keeps on cranking along, and companies like Time Inc. continue to set the pace with strategic partnerships. In addition, social media strategy gets a bit of news, and we relay word of more mergers & acquisitions.
Today’s trends come courtesy of MediaPost. Let’s get right to them!
Time Inc. Partners With Wochit on Video Strategy
Time Inc.’s latest gambit is an alliance with cloud-based Wochit to create more video, MediaPost reports.
“Through this partnership, Time Inc. video producers can now incorporate Wochit’s technology into their daily editorial workflow to generate a rapid production of video stories. They will then be distributed across their brand sites and social channels, adding supplemental content to each brand’s existing video projects,” Sara Guaglione writes.
“According to TechCrunch, Wochit helps online publishers create short videos by analyzing the text of an article and uses their technology to find licensed photos, videos and graphics to build a video around that story. Publishers can edit the video and add features such as background music and narration.”
Twitter for Publishers: Easier to Embed Timeline?
Twitter is struggling to make positive strides with recent defections and a declining stock price; one of its many recent moves is one that will appeal to publishers, MediaPost reports.
“Twitter has officially let publishers embed timelines on their properties since 2012. Then, this past March, it upgraded the embedded timeline with a more modern design,” Gavin O’Malley writes.
“With what Twitter calls ‘factory functions,’ publishers can now generate timelines for any Web app, as well as use new Embed API to integrate profile, list, like, or collection timelines directly into their CMS. Publishers now have the added option of going straight to publish.twitter.com to customize their own embedded timeline display.”
[text_ad]
Active Interest Media Purchases Yonder App
AIM has acquired social app Yonder, MediaPost reports.
“Launched in 2013, Yonder is a free platform that lets outdoor enthusiasts share their experiences, adventures and activities with friends and ‘fellow Yonderers.’ Yonder has sponsored interactive Web experiences with brands and organizations like the U.S Forest Service, The North Face, Burton and Xanterra,” Guaglione writes.
“According to a statement from AIM, the company believes Yonder’s technology will “accelerate the deployment of AIM’s partner brands into interactive platforms. Yonder is expected to ‘improve brand awareness, custom content and aggressive call to action campaigns using hashtags, native content and push notifications.'”
Sales of Print Magazines at Newsstand Down Again
According to MagNet, newsstand retail sales of magazines have declined once more, MediaPost reports. This may not be online magazine business news directly, but it sure does make for some relevant info.
“The total number of magazines distributed by wholesalers in the U.S. fell from 369.1 million in the first quarter of 2015 to 334.8 million in the first quarter of 2016, for a 9.3% decline over this period. The number of magazines actually sold fell 10.1% from 98 million to 88.1 million, meaning that the proportion sold slipped from 26.6% to 26.3%,” Erik Sass writes.
“Newsstand sales in dollar volume fell from $509.8 million to $481.5 million, for a roughly 5.6% drop. In the same report, MagNet saw a 7.5% drop in Canadian newsstand sales over this period, from 14.6 million copies to 13.5 million.”
What online magazine business news are you keeping tabs on? What would you like to see more of? Let us know in the comments!
To read more about the online magazine business and other news, visit MediaPost.
