Time vs. Newsweek: Time is Still Winning
Like Pepsi vs. Coke, or ‘N SYNC vs. the Backstreet Boys, we just assume that Time and Newsweek are cutthroat competitors who despise each other and want nothing more than to make the other look bad. Time, like Coke, has been on top for a while. But now Newsweek has Tina Brown! Have things turned around?
Not quite, according to Adage. Even though everyone who joked about the Newsweek issue with only six ads was chastened when it came out with an issue with 32 pages, the most in over a year, apparently that’s nothing to get too excited about. Ad buyers told Adage that they are still holding off on putting money into Newsweek, because it has its work cut out for it still.
Newsweek‘s ad pages have declined 34% this year from last year. If that’s not depressing enough, they have to deal with a gloating Time magazine, whose ad pages have increased 7% year to date and are more than double Newsweek‘s. Can’t be easy.
Though it’s still early to tell, no one seems particularly excited about Brown’s take on Newsweek so far. Except for Arianna Huffington, naturally, who is delighted about everything, all the time. “She’s brought the ‘Tina Touch’ to Newsweek, making it feel punchy and alive,” she said. Let’s hope the “Tina Touch” eventually brings in some money.
