Marsden Global

First off - I admit to be a magazine junkie. Everything from Architectural Digest to Vanity Fair to Model Railroader. But our habits are changing.

Rogers are a major magazine(s) publisher in Canada. Today comes this news....

The print edition of Canadian newsmagazine Maclean’s will become a monthly starting in January under a Rogers media overhaul the Toronto-based company calls a “doubling-down on digital.”

The changes mean that three magazines will reduce their print frequency as of January 2017. Maclean’s will be published once a month while Chatelaine will appear six times a year as will Today’s Parent.

And of course this begs the question - is Rogers bleeding dollars with their attempted take over of Hockey Night in Canada? Just a question.....

When I heard this on the radio, I was not surprised. There are many factors involved, Rogers may be bleeding cash from the NHL mess, then there is the cable cutters.

Magazines are expensive, they are no longer in the "impulse spending" category. For imported print material our low dollar hits us hard by raising the price, and then the government has the gall to charge us sales tax on the increased price instead of the real price.

When I want to purchase a book written by a Canadian and the price on the book is $20.00 USA , $25.00 Canada I get a wee bit annoyed and i think that the government loves the extra sale tax revenue on that $5.00 difference.

Book publishers know their market and books are priced appropriately, but the Canadian consumer may decide that the extra $5.00 on $20.00 plus the increased tax is enough to keep the charge card in our wallet.

Magazines are caught in this price squeeze, aggravated by the higher costs of fuel pushing up the costs of paper, ink and distribution.

Fuel, we cannot leave out that either. How much do all the magazines on the shelf at Chapters weigh? I would love to know. Consider that weight, and remember that the magazines on the shelf will have moved, great distances, from the paper plant, printing plant, bindery, mail and distribution centre, to the store, and then you purchase one. Some day you will place it in the recycle bin, to make one more trip. That is one huge amount of CO2 emission, and that is just the magazine stand that you are looking at.

We just can not keep on doing things this way. The magazine stand may disappear one day, and yes I will miss it. Ah the good ole days of my youth getting that sneak peak at Miss December. Long gone.