PUBLICATION PRINTING OUTLOOK --Challenging Issues

Mags Thinning Out

From his perspective, John Paloian, COO of Quebecor World North America in Greenwich, CT, says 2002 has been a year of remarkably "thin" magazines, with a few notable exceptions. "Publishers have focused on aggressively managing their (subscriber) lists with a net reduction of five to 10 percent in overall run lengths for many titles," he reports. "However, the continued softness in the paper market has led many publishers to refrain from the traditional cost cutting measures of converting to lighter basis weight stock and making further reductions in trim sizes. In fact, a few titles are considering implementing an increase in size."