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spirited away by G+J
Brewster nabs Carey to head biz publishing group
By Jeff Bercovici
Dan Brewster strikes again.
Continuing a six-month-long spree, the CEO of Gruner + Jahr has raided Conde Nast and made off with David Carey, publisher of the New Yorker.
Carey will join Gruner + Jahr as president and chief executive of the company’s still-forming Business Information Group, a unit that includes new acquisitions Inc. and Fast Company. The move, announced today by Gruner + Jahr, was first reported in The New York Times.
Carey’s tenure as publisher of the New Yorker was by most measures a successful one. Though the magazine continues to lose money, as it has done since Conde Nast bought it in 1985, the losses have decreased considerably, totaling a reported $10 million in 2000.
Carey can also take some of the credit for major circulation and advertising gains in 2000, as well as a new events strategy that includes film and cultural festivals and a readings series.
In an interview with Media Life in November, Carey declined to discuss the New Yorker’s financials, saying only that the magazine was "a much better business than it historically has been."
Ad pages in the weekly were up 16.0 percent to 2,408.39 for full-year 2000, while revenue increased 29.6 percent, to $106.5 million, making it the first year the magazine has surpassed the $100 million mark.
The New Yorker increased its rate base from 700,000 to 750,000 last January and raised it to 800,000 in July.
Meanwhile, the price of a one-year subscription was raised from $42 to $49.95, and the cover price went from $3 to $3.50 beginning this month.
"We’re raising our rate base and our subscription rate," said Carey in November. "We’re perfectly countercyclical to the rest of the world at this point."
At Gruner + Jahr, Carey will help Brewster execute what is looking to be a truly ambitious growth strategy.
One of Brewster’s first moves after joining Gruner + Jahr last summer was to buy small-business magazine Inc. from the Goldhirsch Group for $200 million.
Last month, he spent a reported $340 million to acquire Fast Company from owner Mortimer Zuckerman in a deal that could be worth even more depending on whether the magazine meets certain advertising goals.
The price was considered by many to be rather high, given the waning fortunes of other New Economy magazines such as Red Herring and the Industry Standard.
Brewster, formerly the CEO of American Express Publishing, is reportedly on the lookout for another business title to add to his collection. Gruner + Jahr parent Bertelsmann has given him a mandate to grow the company into a first-rank publisher in America, putting at his disposal its $8 billion war chest. According to one published account, Brewster is rumored to be considering a bid to buy Meredith Corp., publisher of Better Homes & Gardens and Ladies Home Journal.
Among his other moves since taking over, Brewster replaced the editors of YM and Fitness and contracted with talk show host Rosie O’Donnell to be the editorial director of women’s service magazine McCall’s.
The title will be relaunched this spring for a younger target audience with the name Rosie's.
-Jeff Bercovici is a staff writer for Media Life.
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