The end of Gourmet

As reported by multiple news outlets, Conde Nast, the publisher of Gourmet magazine, has decided to shutter printing of the famed magazine, effective with November issue. Needless to say, the print readership, supported by advertising revenue is not what it used to be. Its magazines have lost more than 8,000 ad pages, excluding its bridal titles, so far this year.

As CNN article noted: "The magazine industry is in a difficult position generally speaking, it's losing revenue to online advertising and it's a tough business right now," said Richard Dorfman, managing director of Richard Alan Inc., a financial advisory and investment company focusing on the media industry." A bit of a truism statement, if you ask me.

This was by no means a sudden decision. Conde Nast was well aware back in January of this year, that there were problems with Gourmet media buys and was reviewing its options, according to financial media company 24/7 Wall St. :

Gourmet will probably not see the end of the year. Its parent company, Condé Nast, can no longer rely on the huge profits of the newspaper portion of the Newhouse family business.

The magazine operation needs to go on a diet. Condé Nast . . . owns Gourmet, Bon Appétit, and epicurious.com. Condé Nast simply owns too many titles in this category. From 2004 to 2008, Gourmet's ad pages have dropped from 1,364 to 955, with a 24 percent drop last year. January's ad pages were down another 32 percent according to MIN. Gourmet can survive since it has a competitive audience of web visitors to its food site, but it will have to migrate totally to its website.

The CEO's of Conde Nast, Charles H. Townsend, in his interview to the New York Times has made the point quite clear. Gourmet wasn't making money and it's sister publication, Bon Appétit was. With its wider circulation and more diverse readership, its the survivor of the foodie magazine rack along with, Saveur, Food & Wine and Cook's Illustrated amongst others. Sadly, Gourmet's editor-in-chief, famed food writer and critic, Ruth Reichl, whom I an enormous fan of, seemed stunned by the developments at the parent company.

According to nj.com "The Gourmet brand will live on in cookbooks (Reichl was in the midst of a promotional tour for “Gourmet Today” when she got the news — awkward!) and television programming, including “Gourmet’s Adventures With Ruth,” which premieres Oct. 17 on public television. "