In the wake of Pitch Weekly going for a dirt nap, all eyes are on the future…
First on how long will a monthly Pitch be able to keep the wolf away from the door And second, how long will the Kansas City Star continue to choke out what’s left of its nine year-old entertainment weekly INK.
Like the Pitch, INK has withered away to next to nothing.
It’s latest 24 page issue falling far short of making an actual profit.
That said, the Star has a long history of engaging in money losing projects from books and magazines to holiday retail stores.
However in years gone by, the gang at 18th and Grand could afford to spread a little red ink around to build its brand and for the good of mankind.
That was before they laid off more than 1,500 staffers and started selling off real estate to keep the ship of state afloat.
The flip side of that pending death sentence being with the Pitch out of the way, INK seems to have been able to pick up some extra advertising, increasing its ad count from seven to eleven pages in a 24 page issue.
Trust me though, that’s still not gonna cut it.
Be interesting to see the first monthly Pitch.
Hearne, Would like to see you do an article on the layoffs at Metro Sports: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/article143820389.html
Stewart and Lisec seem like really good guys, but they should count themselves fortunate they’ve been able to pull down some really large salaries for doing what they’ve done the last 12 years.
I’d be in favor of granting non-profit and tax exempt status to media organizations with a daily print edition, an online edition and a minimum number of paid subscriptions. That idea has been kicked around in Congress for some time and there are many questions about who might qualify, but the idea has merit.