As an easy-to-use service magazine that inspires readers to seek out and engage television and online content, delight! has carved out its niche in the market.
Oct 13, 2008
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"The world of TV and Web content is constantly exploding and reinventing itself," says Jim Weidert, director of the delight! brand. "There's no way the average consumer can keep up. Our publication and online program are designed to highlight what's new and exciting, bringing a very valuable proposition to advertisers, whether they are creating or underwriting that content."
As an easy-to-use service magazine that inspires readers to seek out and engage television and online content, delight! has carved out its niche in the market. Unlike a TV program guide or an entertainment/celebrity magazine, delight! brings TV and Web content together in a format that encourages reader interaction. "Our strength is to expand on that content with tips, ideas and applications that will increase its relevance to the reader," Weidert says.
For example, recent issues of delight!featured Discovery Channel's Planet Green and National Geographic's Human Footprint programming. For its January 2009 issue, the magazine chose Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs, a Discovery Channel program, for its cover feature. "Our magazine will be building viewership for that TV program, as well as greater exposure for its sponsors-something you don't get from other magazines," says Weidert.
While some print publishers make you "dig" for more content online, Weidert notes, delight! makes it easy for readers to self-navigate: the online version of the magazine exactly duplicates the print version-with the inclusion of hot links to featured content. "If The Human Footprint article intrigues you, you can see the button at the bottom of the print page, go online to our site, click the button and go directly to that site."
One of the keys to the magazine's success has been its reader-friendly response model. Every issue invites readers to participate in an online survey and send in their suggestions and ideas for interesting articles. In addition, delight! has built an active 1,500-reader panel to help develop the most relevant story content for future issues, while keeping advertisers and partners engaged.
A typical delight! reader is a female head of household age 25 to 54 with one or more children. The magazine is mailed to the homes of premium cable subscribers-typically households spending more than $100 a month for cable TV and Internet access. "That give us a lot of 'stickiness,' and we have fewer churn problems than a subscription magazine," says Weidert. While delight! does not have a newsstand presence, it is often displayed in cable company retail centers.
Published six times a year, a typical issue of delight! runs about 40 pages with a 55:45 percent advertising:editorial ratio. The first issue of 2009 will include special "charter" offers for advertisers.
With the support of new consumer brand advertisers-and a continuing shared-cost structure with cable providers Comcast, Cox and Time Warner Cable- delight! is planning to significantly expand its circulation, reaching 2.5 million to 3 million digital cable homes in 2009. Weidert says delight! has "applied for" status with ABC and that the audience will be classified as paid circulation.
"The voice of our magazine emerges from our reader community." says Weidert.
"It's an enthusiastic and helpful sharing of discoveries and experiences over the backyard fence. We strive to be real, sincere, honest and reliable. We love discovering TV and Internet content- then delivering it to our readers so they can use it and enjoy it for themselves."
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