PC Magazine to go all-digital, stop print publication

In a reflection on the realities of modern media and communication, Ziff Davis Media announced on Wednesday that it was ending print publication of its 27-year-old flagship, PC Magazine, and would take the title online.

PC Magazine is the latest of several magazines to drop a print edition, as advertising plummets and the cost of printing a paper version rises.

Publications are increasingly betting on internet-only business models. Last month, The Christian Science Monitor, a Pulitzer Prize-winning international newspaper, announced plans to give up its daily print editions in April and focus on posting news online instead to cut costs. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a small publication that was established in 1945 and won a National Magazine Award last year, recently announced it would go online beginning January. (See: 100-year old Christian Science Monitor to stop daily newspaper)

PC Magazine's publisher, Ziff Davis Media, said the magazine's last print edition would be the January 2009 issue. The magazine's web site and related sites draw more than seven million unique visitors a month, more than 10 times the print circulation, Ziff Davis said. The publication is well known for its product reviews. Further emphasizing its all-digital direction, it was also announced that the PCMag Network will be renamed PCMag Digital Network with PCMag.com as its lead property.

"Moving our flagship property to an all-digital format is the final step in an evolutionary process that has been playing out over the last seven years," stated Jason Young, CEO of Ziff Davis Media. "Since 2000, online has been the focal point where technology buyers get their information and technology marketers are directing their dollars to drive demand and build their brands. We have been carefully preparing for this step and are fortunate to have a digital business that has the scale, profit, and opportunity to carry the brand powerfully into the future."

"The Internet is a powerful marketing platform that combines perfectly with the highly contextual nature of our content and allows us to deliver marketers active buyers with powerful engagement and strong return on their investment. We have a great legacy of innovation in delivering on this promise that we expect to accelerate further," he concluded.

While most magazines make their money mainly from print advertising, PC Magazine derives most of its profit from its Web site. More than 80 per cent of the profit and about 70 per cent of the revenue come from the digital business, Young said, and all of the writers and editors have been counted as part of the digital budget for two years.

"Over the last 27 years, PCMag has garnered an extraordinary level of trust and credibility among consumers and technology companies alike, who consider our news and reviews to be the gold standard in the industry. This is an exciting time for our company and we look forward to this next stage in the growth and development of the PCMag brand," states Lance Ulanoff, Editor-in-Chief of the PCMag Digital Network.