Gay Media Matters Redux

Last month, I blogged about the importance of gay media and discussed the potential sale of The Advocate and Out to a new publisher in light of current owner PlanetOut’s financial difficulties. At the end of last week, we learned (thanks to the Gay & Lesbian Leadership SmartBrief) that Mediaweek and other publications are reporting that a unit of here! Networks has signed a “binding letter of intent” to buy the magazine and book publishing arm of PlanetOut for a reported $6 million. According to the article and a press release on the the PlanetOut Inc. Web site, the deal is expected to close by August 31.

I hope this announcement is good news and that here! will continue to promote the power of our voices in these important print publications. here! seems to be a on a tear lately, with growing success in broadcast and online ventures so I’m hoping that means their “deep pockets” will be put to good use in bolstering these gay print media icons.

I was also interested to see the circulation and ad page figures for both The Advocate and Out mentioned in the article. Apparently, although the circulation figures are up for both magazines, the ad pages were down last year. The article cites several reasons for the slide (lack of a publisher for part of the year, a decline in entertainment and pharmaceutical advertising, etc.), but I wonder what you think. We’ve talked a bit lately about advertising and various new campaigns aimed at our community. At the same time, we’re hearing about the decline of gay print advertising in two leading print publications. Is this evidence of a trend or just a symptom of PlanetOut’s troubles? Share your thoughts in the comments below.   

Comments

[Ad Insider]

I'm afriad that PlanetOut's symptoms, due to their size/status, might result in a trend for everyone else.

When they're offering full page ad campaigns in exchange for theater tickets - that's pretty hard to compete with.

Based on circulation figures I have a theory that it is just as easy to get as many gays by advertising in Details as it is in Out. So you've paid a little more but you've gotten several birds with one stone.

Also, when a brand advertised specifically to the LGBT community they were making a statement - and we listened. Now it is just a part of the mix - so what? (I'm not saying that's what I think - I'm theorizing that perhaps that's the community's sentiment).

Is LGBT advertising dying at the hands of the Metrosexual????

[Ben Finzel]

That's a good point you raise. I don't think LGBT advertising is dying - at least not based on what I'm seeing in other gay publications. I think the market is probably changing somewhat, but my (rather rudimentary) understanding of the PlanetOut situtation is that their issues had as much to do with their own company as they did with declining ad pages. And I think we still expect to see companies advertising to us explicity - in both gay publications and others. In fact, I think that's increasingly the price of entry into the market: more and more, we expect companies to advertise AND to reach us via PR and other communications vehicles.