Why cutting print editions was right for Investor’s Business

Investor’s Business Daily president Jerry Ferrara spoke with Diego Vasquez of MediaLife Magazine about changes to the newspaper and business journalism.

Here is an excerpt:

Why does cutting back the print edition make sense for a publication like IBD?

Cutting back the print edition while evolving the overall content strategy is what our subscribers have been asking for.

We are in the business of helping investors make more money in the stock market, and focusing more on digital/mobile product development while experimenting with various platform distribution models are key levers for our future growth. Most of our revenues have already come from digital, and we’ve prepared for this transformation for several years.

While IBD has been profitable, unlike many financial and business publishers, making a transition like this helps us increase profit margins as well.

Others are going to follow that lead, it’s clearly the direction the industry is headed in. But how do you know when the right time to make that decision is? Was there any worry it would be premature?

We’ve been modeling this out for years, and it was the right time for us. We know other print publishers are discussing this and building out their own strategy. I don’t think there is a clear-cut answer for the industry or our competitors–it all depends on each publisher’s revenue streams beyond print and how much capacity of change they are willing to undertake.

Read more here.