Time Inc. Races to Go Digital Before Its Print Business Disappears

Time Inc. says its digital ad business is looking up. It had better: The giant magazine publisher says its print ad sales are dropping faster than expected, prompting it to lower its financial goals for the year.

Time has cut its revenue and profit guidance for 2014, citing “weak print advertising booking trends.” It now thinks it will generate $3.27 billion in revenue, instead of $3.3 billion, and will make $510 million in adjusted operating income, down from $535 million.

During an earnings call to discuss the company’s third-quarter results, CEO Joe Ripp said some of the decline in print ads was “economic-driven,” and that other drops came as advertisers moved their spending to digital platforms.

And Time’s own digital story is looking up, he said. Digital ad sales increased 19 percent in Q3, up from a 15 percent increase in Q2. Ripp said he would be able to report another increase in Q4.

Digital sales remain a small part of Time Inc.’s business for now, at 15 percent of the company’s ad revenue. But Ripp said digital now accounts for 25 percent of his subscription business.

Ripp talked at length about the challenges of turning Time into a digital business earlier this fall, at our Code/Media New York event. You can see that interview below:

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Will you join us?

Our biggest supporters are our readers — and we’re so grateful to everyone who has made a contribution during our September campaign. We’re less than 1,000 contributions away from reaching our goal for the month, which in turn will allow us to say yes more often when our incredible journalists come to us with questions they want to answer and projects they want to pursue. Will you make a contribution before the month ends and support our policy coverage through 2024 and beyond?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via