ROSIE'S CLOSET OUTING HURTS: Mag Bottoms Out

NY POST ^ | 5/22/02 | KEITH J. KELLY

[Liz]

Rosie O'Donnell's eponymous mag hit the circulation skids with its May issue.

May 22, 2002 -- ROSIE O'Donnell's magazine, Rosie, has been plagued by newsstand erosion since early this year, but the numbers fell off the table in May - the issue in which the controversial talk show host came out and confirmed that she was gay.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Could it be that it was a bad magazine, trying to compete in a group of "women's magazines" that are all alike?

Run, of course, by an ugly, overweight, screeching b*tch who hates men and conservative values.

Funny. Most women buying "women's magazines" seem to be desperately trying to lose weight (if you read the diets and advertised and the constant articles), want glamorous front covers, and have husbands and families ...... If not conservative, they certainly aren't screaming homosexuals.

[newgeezer]

Could that be because they constantly overestimate the number of homos in the general population?

I'm satisfied that they overestimate the general population's acceptance of sodomites. It does my heart good to see that, despite Hollywood's and the media's efforts, people are still turned off by queers.

[antidisestablishment]

Niche magazines run in the 70-100K range--though many are much smaller. National advertisers generally don't work with consumer publications of less than 100K, so that is the unofficial delineation for "niche."

The minimum "economic" print run on offset press is 20K, so that is about the smallest. Alternative Zines may print runs shorter than that, but most are not economically viable--they exist for a "cause."

80% of all magazines shut down in the first year--50% before their second printing. Almost 50% of the remaining will go out of business before the end of the second. However, the ones that make it are very lucrative.

[InvisibleChurch]

i won't be surprised if she blames a 'homophobic America' for her lack of success

[Stand Watch Listen]

My sister subscribed to McCalls magazine. During the subscription run, the publishers dropped McCalls and substituted this Rosie crap. Calls to cancel the entire subscription were in vain. The publishers substituted Prevention mag instead.

[bvw]

Again, thanks!

[biblewonk]

Every time they out themselves, their careers shrink up to nothing. I'm sure they console themselves as having made a sacrifice for 'the cause'. That's not really what it is though.

[stainlessbanner]

Rosie, along with Oprah's magazine, can go in the garbage - cause that's what they are.

[stainlessbanner]

Reason #562 not to be gay: People won't read your stupid magazine.

[William Terrell]

So, to conclude, this book is saying bye-bye.

I'm glad to hear it. In my opinion, though, any cooking of numbers for the purpose of masking reality is a lie.

[Liz]

I think they are lying about this circulation report. I believe it's 'way
lower than this. Why? Rosie's past history of deceit and hypocrisy.

Right. In the post-Enron/Arthur Andsersen era, all figures are suspect.

[Liz]

It seems to me, it is the two humans (one male and one female) who bring a child into the world who should raise and love that (their) child. I'm tired of being told we're intolerant when we object to children being treated like chattel.

Amen. Says it all.

[Liz]

The average readership of a national magazine is 750,000, so 200K is not even close to break even. Average costs of a major launch run in the 5-7 million range and break even is 3-5 years. Plus, magazines make their money on the second and third year customers, so losing a large percentage of your subscription base actually costs twice the net loss. Of course, newsstand sales are probably the largest part of Rosie's market, so the immediate decline reflects a direct relationship with her outing.

Nice input. Thanks.

[Liz]

....it's OK to be gay and raise children......but guns are bad...... (sez Rosie)....

Messed-up values.

[My Favorite Headache]

One day my mom went to her mailbox and there it was...a copy of Rosie. It apparently replaced..REDBOOK. She called up and ranted for about 30 minutes about how she was not notified of the change and did not want Rosie's face and her left wing propoganda in her mailbox every month. She flipped out. She had been a subscriber of REDBOOK forever. Needless to say she called everyone that got the magazine and told them what to expect...all of them cancelled subscriptions.

She was angry for the publisher to assume right away she would want to read Rosie and not her REDBOOK. She was damn right. This is a beautiful story. As for Oprah's book, well that was pushed on her as well by publisher's and when I finally showed her the real side of Oprah and how she snubbed W., she cancelled her subscription.

One by one folks...we can get rid of these morons.

[Eva]

I think that this must be just an excuse for slumping sales. Everyone knew that Rosie was Gay, she was never really in the closet (she wouldn't fit). All magazines are doing poorly because of the inter-net.

[My Favorite Headache]

They did the same thing with Redbook wasn't it? Or are you sure it was McCalls? I just wrote a similar piece. If your mag is the right one...I stand corrected.

[Kermit]

The women who buy "Rosie" must've known she was gay for ages. Maybe they were embarassed to buy a "gay" magazine cover story. I guess June's issue will tell. But if Rosie doesn't have her tv show to plug her magazine, it's doomed to decline anyways.

[bribriagain]

"Well, I thought I'd help bring you into this world, but didn't feel you needed a father, and felt just dandy in turning you over to two strangers to be raised? It seems to me, it is the two humans (one male and one female) who bring a child into the world who should raise and love that (their) child. I'm tired of being told we're intolerant when we object to children being treated like chattel."

Never mind that, just think about how that poor turkey baster must have felt.