Media Agency Leaders Respond to Newsweek Decision

The decision by Newsweek to end its print edition on Dec. 31 and proceed as an online-only publication certainly got the attention of Madison Avenue, which has spent hundreds of millions of dollars through the decades to buy advertising pages in the magazine.

Here are reactions to the decisions from five senior executives at some leading media agencies:

Brenda White, senior vice president and publishing activation director at Starcom USA, part of the Starcom Media Vest Group division of the Publicis Groupe: “This was not a surprise in light of Newsweek's business challenges over the last several years. I am encouraged by their new digital strategy and look forward to hearing consumer reaction to the translation of the Newsweek brand.”

Barry Lowenthal, president at the Media Kitchen, part of the Maxxcom Global Media division of MDC Partners: “It was just a matter of time. But what IAC did was brave. Newsweek is a famous brand and IAC is a digital com pany that knows how to leverage digital brands. Newsweek probably has a better chance of succeeding at IAC as a digital-only play.”

“Print just doesn't matter. What matters is great content served over the right platform. For many of us, news belongs in the digital format. Hopefully Newsweek can flourish as a digital-only publication.”

George Janson, managing partner and director for print at GroupM, the WPP unit that oversees media agencies including MEC, MediaCom and Mindshare: “The jury is still out as to whether a pure digital play for the Newsweek brand is a sustainable business model. The site will need to have scale, a unique point of differentiation and exclusive, breaking news if it is to prosper. A huge issue is whether consumers will pay for a digital-only subscription to the Newsweek brand.”

“Also, is Barry Diller going to invest the resources needed to create a world-class news gathering organization to compete against some of the other global behemoths like Time, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, or is this a complete re-imagining of the Newsweek brand as we know it?”

“This does not portend the demise of print in the very short term. Newsweek has been struggling for the past several years. Obviously Diller took a long-term look at the future for Newsweek's print edition and didn't like what he saw.”

“There are a number of weekly magazines whose print products are faring better and who have created business models 'beyond the page' such as The Economist, Time and The New Yorker. Some of these long-established brands such as The New Yorker have had success in developing robust mobile and tablet platforms that are attracting younger people to their brands.”

Robin Steinberg, executive vice president and director for publishing investment and activation at MediaVest, part of the Starcom MediaVest Group division of the Publicis Groupe: “It's evident we've ex perienced a paradigm shift in how consumers engage and connect with content, and news content specifically.  As such, this is a progressive move for Newsweek as they transform their product and business model to support the multitude of devices and screens where consumers and advertisers invest plenty of time and money.”

Bryan Fuhr, senior vice president at Havas Digital North America, part of the Havas Media unit of Havas: “Newsweek was the first publication my parents gave me. The decision by Newsweek to cease printing is an occasion to reflect not only on changes in the way society gets its news, but also how advertisers and brands can continue to support the need for great commentary and analysis.”

“The work Daily Beast and Newsweek have done to lead the industry forward is very exciting. We are eager to see how the Newsweek brand continues to reshape itself.”