Reader's Digest Magazine

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 11:06pm on Sunday, November 8th, 2009

Purpose Driven Connection magazine, produced jointly by Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California, and The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., will move to a fully Web-based, digital format in January 2010, it was announced on November 4, 2009.

"Impressive reader feedback has prompted us to focus all our energies on our digital format, so our content can be expanded, international, interactive and free," Warren explained. "The positive response from readers was so overwhelming we didn't want the content to be limited only to Americans who could afford a subscription to a magazine."

The last print issue will be the Christmas issue, due out in mid-November. Issues in 2010 will be posted free of charge on www.purposedriven.com

To ensure a successful transition to an all-digital Web magazine, RDA is refunding any unused print subscriptions, and will be working closely with Saddleback Church in hosting the site through the first quarter of 2010.

"Reader's Digest has been so helpful to us, bending over backwards, and offering expertise, in order to help us fulfill our dream," said Warren. "From the start, we've been amazed by the company's commitment to us. They believed in this magazine before we did."

Since the launch of Purpose Driven Connection magazine in January 2009, subscribers to Daily Hope, Warren's free, daily digital devotional has grown to nearly 400,000 people.

"Our biggest discovery was learning that people prefer reading our content online rather than in print, because it is more convenient and accessible," said Warren. "Cell phones now allow us to take content everywhere. And, from our viewpoint, an online magazine allows us to minister to people internationally; provide more content and features than we could fit in a print magazine; create interaction and two-way dialogue; and offer it for free.

"So when we heard the feedback and noticed subscriptions to the print magazine lagging behind Internet usage, in spite of strong retail newsstand sales, we jumped at the chance to go all digital," Warren concluded. "Thankfully, Reader's Digest was willing to help us make the transition."

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 9:48pm on Friday, June 19th, 2009

On June 19, 2009, Reader's Digest announced that it is cutting the rate base and reducing its publication frequency.

The rate base of the U.S. Reader's Digest will drop from 8 to 5.5 million over an 18-month period, beginning with the February 2010 issue. It will also reduce its frequency from 12 to 10 times a year. Total global circulation will be 14.5 million, the largest paid circulation magazine in the world.

Reader's Digest also announced that it will begin to offer a suite of multimedia products under the "Reader's Digest Version" banner.

In addition, Peggy Northrop, the U.S. Editor-in-Chief of Reader's Digest magazine, has been named Global Editor-in-Chief and will assume the additional responsibilities for directing the brand's 50 international editions as well as content for all Reader's Digest platforms, print and digital.

Reader's Digest Community President Eva Dillon said: "Reader's Digest is a $1 billion-plus global brand, with 50 editions worldwide reaching 70 million readers and more than 40 million branded books, music, and videos sold annually. As one of the world's largest producers of original content, we will continue our transformation into an innovative multimedia brand by delivering content to users whenever and by whatever means they want, through expanded digital and print investments and the development of new mobile, video, and multimedia applications."

A full suite of products will be launched over the next year, many of them branded "Reader's Digest Version" to capitalize on the title's heritage and expertise in producing condensed, accessible, and useful information. "To people everywhere, the 'Reader's Digest Version' is a concept that means getting to the point," Dillon said. "We will now turn that concept into an explicit brand--'Reader's Digest Version'--delivering essential content the way in which consumers expect from Reader's Digest."

This summer, Reader's Digest will roll out a global web platform, localized by market, in 21 languages.

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 4:35pm on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009

Reader's Digest won the National Magazine Award (nicknamed an Ellie) for general excellence in its circulation category (over 2 million) in April 2009.

In this year's citation, the American Society of Magazine Editors wrote: "Reader’s Digest has reinvented itself with fresh design, imaginative and timely feature stories and an engaging contemporary voice. Articles about ordinary people overcoming extraordinary obstacles, useful and accessible service pieces on health and personal finance, and delightful humor columns make Reader’s Digest not only a good companion but also a great escape. This is the magazine’s first win in the General Excellence category."