With billionaire Carl Icahn abandoning his six-month bid to wrest control of Time Warner, Ed McCarrick is keen to reassure concerned Time advertisers that the public battle to split the world's largest media conglomerate into four independent companies is finally over.
On a recent visit to Asia, the global publisher and newly appointed president of Time announced that the media giant had initiated a US$20 billion stock buyback plan and was extending its $500 million cost-cutting initiative to $1 billion in targeted savings by the end of 2007. It would also elect two new independent directors as part of the Icahn settlement.
"It's all about revenue now," McCarrick, who first joined Time Inc as a sales trainee in the early '70s, explains. "It's about the Time brand being relevant to consumers in Asia." McCarrick was appointed president of Time last year-end when the venerable organisation, in a move that caught the US publishing industry by surprise, sacked more than 100 senior staffers, including former president Eileen Naughton.
The reorganisation eliminated a layer of bureaucracy, set the agenda for investments in new areas such as online as Time prepared to celebrate its 83rd birthday, and made headlines, along with the bruising Icahn battle.
But -- whether it's due to his evangelical belief in the product or experience from a lifetime in publishing -- McCarrick appears unfazed by the recent publicity. The latest promotion is just another in a series of milestones McCarrick has chalked up in his past three decades with the group.
In just one of his many roles at Time Inc, the New York-based executive, as publisher of Life magazine in the late 90s, led a team that was instrumental in fattening up issues and revenue by 52 per cent and 78 per cent respectively during his six-year tenure. He also developed custom publishing programmes and TV specials.
And, after all these years in the business, McCarrick -- who with his wife and two children calls Connecticut home, and volunteers for an inner city education programme -- still talks animatedly about the business and the editorial process involved in producing magazines. "It's just fascinating to watch them build something from nothing every week."
As much as he is wedded to print, McCarrick is acutely aware that tomorrow's growth lies in the digital space. The explosion of digital channels, from mobiles to blogs, he believes is forcing a rethink of the delivery of news.
In this respect, Business Week's decision to shutter its Asian edition, likened by some to a bolt out of the blue, is still top of mind, so much so McCarrick feels compelled to defend Time's future plans when asked about the group's commitment to the region. "Asia has the highest value for subs than anywhere else in the world. The subscriber is paying US$100 for the magazine in Asia, compared to $36 in the US. There's no reason why we wouldn't want to continue here," he says.
Time claims a circulation of 290,000 in Asia (compared to 550,000 in Europe) and McCarrick and his team are eyeing greater investment in Timeasia.com. There are also plans to expand Time's advertiser base from travel, tourism, auto, and luxury watches, to the B2B space. Product launches in China (including Style and Design) are also on the cards.
"Last year in Asia was relatively flat because the tsunami and a variety of things that depressed the marketplace overall for the year. The year before was very good. Advertising grew 14 per cent from 2003 to 2004. In 2006, we hope to grow our business in the area of five or six per cent."
