News and Updates on Quantum Partners and Projects

• Quantum Principal to Deliver Keynote at Audiovisual Media Days

May 07, 2011: 

Quantum Media Principal Stefanie Lemcke will deliver a keynote address at the International Audiovisual Media Days (AMD) event to be held on June 7th - 8th in Munich, Germany.  The AMD is a conference for the entertainment and communication tools: online-video and web TV. The main focus this year is on moving-image content, its conceptual design and best practice in media and companies. In recent years, the AMD has become the information and business platform for moving image.  It is the first two-day conference of experts devoted exclusively to the topic of strategies for moving pictures.

Lemcke will be speaking on “Creativity and online video – Best practice in the US” on June 8^th.  You can find more information about AMD here, and those conversant in German may find more information here.

• Quantum Principal to Release Special Report at Columbia University

April 27, 2011: 

Digital media's economic conditions are addressed in "The Story So Far: What We Know About The Business of Digital Journalism", a special report by Bill Grueskin, Quantum Media's Ava Seave, and Lucas Graves.  According to Seave, "the report will examine some legacy business models for media, but our focus is on the economic issues that news organizations face with their digital ventures.   We confine our report mostly to companies in the commercial market."  She further goes on to explain the difficulty in obtaining quantifiable information.   "There were real challenges in preparing the report.  Not only is a lot of the data about digital ventures completely invisible because it is a small part of big companies or the major part of private companies, but it's changing all the time."

There is a release discussion with co-authors Grueskin, Seave, and Graves at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Tuesday, May 10, 2011.  The reception will be from 6:00pm to 7:00pm in the World Room, with the Panel Discussion taking place from 7:00pm to 8:00pm in the Lecture Hall.  The event will be moderated by author Ken Auletta, with opening remarks by Nicholas Lemann, Dean, Columbia Journalism School, and Emily Bell, Director, Tow Center for Digital Journalism, Columbia Journalism School.  See details and how to sign up in Quantum's list of Events.

• Quantum Advises German Publisher’s Expansion

March 24, 2011: 

A German-owned publisher, with some 34 profitable music-oriented books, magazines, websites and special issues, launched a single title in the U.S. in 2007, with a very small operation.  While the German company is the Goliath of music in Germany, it is the “David” in the U.S., going head-to-head with a 34-year-old dominant player in this particular music category.

A Quantum Media Principal was engaged to evaluate the business and help bring it to profitability.  Key strengths of the business were:

·         Clear differentiation through inclusion of a CD with every  issue, featuring master classes with master performers in the category

·         A relatively high single copy cover price, and strong newsstand sellthrough

·         The Editor-in-Chief is a talented professional musician, who owns a recording studio and has a personal relationship with many top performers

·         The Managing Editor is resourceful, very knowledgeable about the field, and an operations wizard

The editorial quality is high, and a relatively straight translation of the U.S. edition into Chinese has sold surprisingly well in China.

Quantum Media worked closely with a newsstand specialist to identify opportunities to match the most profitable distribution of the key competitor.  This resulted in a 70% increase in newsstand draw, from the low point in May 2010 to the March issue in 2011, while maintaining a healthy sellthrough, with the average for 2010 coming in 8.5 percentage points above the national U.S. average newsstand sellthrough for 2010.

Next, the magazine tested and adopted the “small-envelope insert subscription-offer” that a number of U.S. magazines use as a “control.”

A new professional ad salesperson was engaged, and a subscription acquisition campaign has been developed, with expected overall breakeven by early 2012.