FEATURES: Regional publications cautious over 2001 prospects

<p>Regional publications are cautiously optimistic about their </p><p>prospects for 2001 despite seeing their advertising revenue surge 22 per </p><p>cent last year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This followed a rise of just three percentage points the year before, </p><p>according to CMR International, indicating the industry has rebounded </p><p>strongly from the economic turmoil of the late 1990s. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Factors weighing heavily on the minds of publications include worries </p><p>about the US economy as well as political uncertainty in a number of </p><p>major Asia-Pacific markets. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But despite the cautiousness, many publications have reported strong </p><p>starts to the year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Newsweek Asia advertising director Theresa Yeung described the first two </p><p>months of the year as "not bad". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But while some publishers are bracing themselves against the worst case </p><p>scenario, most have adopted a wait-and-see attitude. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"This year, the jury is still out with a lot of people predicting a </p><p>boring year. It could go either way but if the US picks up in the second </p><p>or third quarter that will be a good sign," said Asiaweek president </p><p>Peter Brack. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Last year, of the top 18 regional magazines and newspapers, 12 posted </p><p>double-digit growth rates of between 11 and 52 per cent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Forbes Global scored the biggest increase, however, being still </p><p>relatively new in Asia, the growth has come off a small, albeit, </p><p>fast-growing base. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, the International Herald Tribune and Reader's Digest </p><p>experienced significant declines of 6.8 and 19.3 per cent </p><p>respectively. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>IHT Asia-Pacific advertising director Jonathan Kenny said that the CMR </p><p>report should only be taken as a rough guide because it does not take </p><p>into account discounts. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"There was a lot of discounting in 1999 but we stopped that last year </p><p>and instead offered things like event sponsorships and the like as added </p><p>value. So actually, we weren't down, we were up 10 per cent," he </p><p>said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Technology, telecommunications and dotcoms helped fuel the rebound in </p><p>2000. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>For this year, technology and telecoms are expected to be big spenders </p><p>with travel and lifestyle and corporate advertisers replacing the </p><p>dotcoms. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Time, meanwhile, continued to top the revenue chart with USdollars 64.8 </p><p>million, up 31 per cent from the year before. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Asian Wall Street Journal was not far behind at USdollars 63.2 million, </p><p>almost 38 per cent higher compared with 1999. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Newsweek held third spot with an advertising revenue of USdollars 43.8 </p><p>million, more than 34 per cent up year on year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>CMR International Report Advertising Revenue (USdollars '000) </p><p>Publication 2000 1999 % Change </p><p>Time Asia 64,826,301 49,438,784 31.1 </p><p>Asian Wall Street Journal 63,274,721 45,991,443 37.6 </p><p>Newsweek Asia 43,764,580 32,534,371 34.5 </p><p>Asiaweek 30,205,870 27,107,492 11.4 </p><p>BusinessWeek 24,870,353 19,937,991 24.7 </p><p>International Herald Tribune 22,514,758 24,165,204 -6.8 </p><p>Far Eastern Economic Review 21,900,005 15,470,797 41.6 </p><p>Fortune 19,163,750 15,254,058 25.6 </p><p>Economist 17,005,575 14,031,292 21.2 </p><p>Reader's Digest Asia 10,531,653 13,055,271 -19.3 </p><p>Yazhou Zhoukan 9,961,424 9,518,108 4.7 </p><p>Financial Times 9,533,092 7,141,726 33.5 </p><p>USA Today 5,802,016 5,603,961 3.5 </p><p>Fortune China 5,328,584 3,616,879 47.3 </p><p>Forbes Global 5,233,114 3,433,783 52.4 </p><p>Asiamoney 3,933,514 5,156,816 -23.7 </p><p>National Geographic 2,647,175 2,353,690 12.5 </p><p>Business Traveller 1,639,255 1,956,725 -16.2 </p><p>Total 362,135,740 295,768,391 22.4 </p><p>Produced by CMR International. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>