On the heels of the news that Jann Wenner and son, Gus, will be selling iconic music magazine Rolling Stone, Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair has taken the elephant in the room—the brand’s decades-long downfall—and paraded it around for the whole world to see.
It’s a telling tale, mainly because it’s a microcosm of how far the print industry has fallen in the wake of the digital age.
RealClearLife has teased out some of the more surprising facts from Sherman’s feature.
-According to documents VF obtained, Rolling Stone‘s projected advertising revenue for 2020 will be just $10.9 million, down from $28.6 million in 2015.
-Part of the Wenners’ sales pitch to possible buyers in cutting the print budget by 30 percent and going from a biweekly format to a monthly one. It will save the magazine over $15 million.
-The brand’s future is almost entirely online, argues Gus Wenner. “We have an enormous amount of belief in our ability to create premium video content, TV shows, and documentaries to service a massive market,” he told Sherman. (Their current video revenue is reportedly just $100K, but is projected to hit $1 million by 2020.)
-The Wenners will likely only get about $25 million for their 51 percent stake in the magazine. Putting that into perspective, Jann was once offered $500 million for it.
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
