Hurdles Await 'Life' Sunday Supplement

By: Lucia Moses Hurdles await Time Inc. if it decides to resurrect Life magazine as a Sunday newspaper supplement. But Life, which closed in 2000 after various reincarnations, could fill a need for newspapers looking for ways to broaden their audience.

"I definitely would want to take a look at it," said John Fish, publisher of The Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal, who thinks supplements' feature and service content can help attract female and young readers. "I think it has a strong brand, it has a history most Americans are aware of, and I think the brand represents quality journalism."

Time Inc. spokesman Peter Costiglio stressed that the company is still months away from deciding whether to go ahead with the Life proposal, which The New York Times first reported on May 19.

Life would have to make itself attractive to younger readers who didn't grow up with the brand and compete with the established weekend supplements from other media heavyweights, Gannett Co. Inc.'s USA Weekend (carried by 598 dailies with a total circulation of 23.4 million) and Advance Publications' Parade (in 330 dailies with a total circulation of 35.5 million).

To be a true national publication, Life would need a strong presence in the top 20 markets, said media buyer Mickey Marks, president and CEO of PHD New York, part of Omnicom Media Group's PHD Media Network. And those markets often are dominated by Parade, which has a general policy against sharing the market with other supplements. Parade executives, through a spokesperson, declined comment for this story.

In Melville, N.Y., Newsday Editor Anthony Marro said, "I'm not looking to drop Parade." Marro, who hasn't seen a prototype of Life, said of supplements, "I'm not sure you would need two or three of them."

And Douglas C. Clifton, editor of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, said: "We carry Parade, and it's quite popular. I don't anticipate making any changes, but they [Life] haven't approached us."

Homegrown Sunday newspaper supplements have fallen on hard times due to dwindling reader time and a proliferation of more targeted media choices. Today, there are fewer than 30, about half the number of 20 years ago.

David Altschiller, who consults consumer advertisers through his New York firm Altschiller Associates, expressed skepticism about the viability of another general-interest newspaper supplement, given the growing preference for targeted media. "As an advertiser, I don't want to pay for lots of waste, and newspapers offer a lot of waste audience," he said.

But as Life itself shows, magazines haven't had it easy, either. That Life is looking at a supplement model "reinforces and kind of validates the medium," said Dick Porter, president and CEO of Publishing Group of America, whose rural-oriented supplement American Profile is carried by more than 900 dailies and weeklies. "I think it demonstrates how difficult traditional magazine life is." USA Weekend Publisher Chuck Gabrielson similarly sees the Life idea as a good sign: "The more interest in Sunday magazines, the better."

Nevertheless, Porter acknowledged difficulties in selling newspapers on a new weekend magazine, even one keeping with the Life tradition of rich photography on heavier stock. Said Porter: "If they're satisfied with Parade, is there a need to pay more for Life?"
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