Ziff Davis To Close Print PCMag, Focus On Online; Still Looking For Options For Gaming Division

Paid Content ^ | Nov 19, 2008 | Rafat Ali

[Mike Fieschko]

Ziff Davis, the tech/gaming media company that recently exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is now taking the brave but inevitable step of closing down the print version of PCMag to focus its energy on its growing PCMag online network of sites, led by flagship PCmag.com. The magazine, which was started in 1982, has a storied history, but its print base eroded over the years as its core brand of journalism--news you can use while shopping for computers--moved online. It cut back from bi-weekly to monthly earlier this year. PCMag, which literally invented the idea of comparative hardware and software reviews, at one time during the '80s averaged about 400 pages an issue, with some issues breaking the 500- and even the 600-page marks, according to this Wikipedia history.

The last issue will be dated January 2009; the closure will claim the jobs of about seven employees, all from the print production side. None of the editorial employees, who are now writing for the online sites anyway, will be affected. The site will still be called PCMag (with mag remaining in the name), but the online network--which has sites such as ExtremeTech, Gearlog, Appscout, Smart Device Central, GoodCleanTech, DL.TV, Cranky Geeks, and PCMagCast--will now be called PCMag Digital Network, with PCMag.com as its lead property. The company has about 200 employees, and the PCMag division has about 140 employees.

I spoke in detail today with Jason Young, the CEO of Ziff Davis, about this move, the online focus, and the status of the company's more-troubled gaming division.

What he said after the jump

On the online side, he wouldn't disclose the revenues for the PCMag brand, but said it was in "tens and tens of millions" of dollars. He said the revenues on the online side have grown an average of 42 percent yearly since 2001; digital is about 70 percent of the revenues for the PCMag brand, and overall is profitable. He said that despite the economic situation, the PCMag brand revenues grew about 18 percent in Q308, and thinks that it will hold up despite advertising downturn due to the power of the brand. Of course competition is heavy for those shrinking ad dollars, from everyone including other established brands like CNET, to newer ones like Engadget and others.

As for the status of its gaming group, which consists of its 1Up online brand and other gaming sites and EGM print magazine (the only print book left within Ziff Davis), Young said it is considering strategic options for the division. Same is true for its now shuttered DigitalLife consumer tech expo event. The company has tried to sell the gaming division before as well but was not able to find the right buyer then, our sources say.

Update: PCMag will continue to be published as an electronic/digital edition, as editor Lance Ulanoff explains here.

[Mike Fieschko]

(Haven't bought it in years.) I've seen it on some magazine racks recently, as well as Computer Shopper, which used to be the size of a telephone book.

[js1138]

Add it to the heap along with Byte, 80 Microcomputing, and Computer Shopper.

All of these guys had 700 page issues.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

I remember the days when the ad pages outnumbered the news by about 5:1. Lately, I’ve picked up a copy in a waiting room or at the airport and had the sensation that at least the other half was missing.

[Paul46360]

Its end is way over due.

There is really nothing in the magazine that you can’t find online for FREE.

[SolitaryMan]

Well that stinks... Now I’ll have to get another magazine subscription to read in the John ;-)

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

End of an era ping!

Remember when.....

[The Duke]

Don’t forget ‘Compute!’ and ‘Creative Computing’. :)

[KarlInOhio]

Add it to the heap along with Byte, 80 Microcomputing, and Computer Shopper.

Computer Shopper used to be a advertising catalog with just enough editorial content to count as a magazine ... and I loved every ad in it. Doing a price search on the internet just doesn't have the sense of accomplishment as digging through Computer Shopper to find a vender with a $20 lower price on a 50 MB hard disk.

I'll miss PCMag. I haven't subscribed in a while, but they did a good job in their heyday.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

A lot of their problems were editorial, not technological. For a long time, when you picked up a copy, you were likely to find practical information inside about hardware and software.

One big problem was that in trying to be “cutting edge”, they forgot that upgrades are not instantaneous. But they would lose interest in what everybody was currently using, and put all their attention on was was coming out, even if it stunk as a product.

In this way, they tied their boat to some real sinking ships, like Windows ME. At the time Windows 98SE was peaking, and that’s where reader interest lay. And once word leaked out that ME was a stinker, a lot of 98SE users decided to wait it out for the next OS that actually worked. But they no longer had support from the magazine, that had to tread water and pretend that everyone was using ME.

Their leap to the Internet wasn’t particularly well planned, either. From the start, they should have tried to be a portal like Yahoo!, instead of a “backwater” website. While it is a nice website, it needed to be one of the big ones, with lots of public flow through.

They could have been a huge information resource about computing, attracting people with things like “How do I build this kind of computer from scratch?” If you’ve ever done so, you know the joy of following all the manufacturer instructions and the machine still not working.

Things like that.

[bert]

.........Now I’ll have to get another magazine subscription to read in the John ;-)......

In a eureka moment, Bert sees clearly the design for a laptop to toilet tank attachment arm permitting wireless internet on the john.

[mkjessup]

Personally, I think Maximum PC and CPU (Computer Power User) kick the asses of most other publications.

[SolitaryMan]

lol! How about one of these: http://www.jottodesk.com

[Viking2002]

Yeah, that was one of the Big Four in the magazine rack next to my porcelain perch: PC Mag, Bassmaster, American Rifleman, and American Legion mag, along with the odd Duluth Trading Co. and Cabela's catalogs. LOL

[roadcat]

Well that stinks... Now I’ll have to get another magazine subscription to read in the John ;-)

I get my magazine subscriptions digitally downloaded to my laptop. Fortunately my vanity sinktop has space on top and is next to the john.