New York Times, March 8, 1988
Owen Lipstein and T. George Harris, the founders and owners
of American Health magazine, said yesterday that they had agreed to acquire 90
percent of Psychology Today from the American Psychological Association.
For Mr. Harris, the magazine held a special attraction. He
had become its editor at the end of its first year, serving in that position
from 1968 to 1976, and he has remained close to the editors since leaving.
Mr. Lipstein is determined not to divulge the price of the
21-year-old magazine, but he acknowledged that it would be $5 million to $10
million. Woody Katsoff will continue as publisher.
The psychological association has been losing money on the
publication — up to $1.5 million last year, according to rumors. But the two
buyers say that its circulation is strong and that advertising is the area that
needs strengthening.
•
Mr. Lipstein, 36 years old, says one of his strengths is an
ability to attract advertisers. He has gained a reputation, he says, for
"being good at telling marketers why magazines are important to
them." He and Mr. Harris, 63, are also co-owners of American Health, but
Mr. Lipstein is the sole owner of Mother Earth News.
The two men are convinced that all three publications
attract the same kind of "baby boomer" readership, so they plan to
develop a "Boomer Network," which would give advertisers a discount
for inclusion in all three magazines and in their Wall Media, which is poster
advertising displayed at 1200 health clubs.
The Boomer Network will be offering an audience of 15
million. These are people "in their 30's, affluent and educated, who want
to learn how to be competent," Mr. Harris said. He fore-sees a trend
toward "self-enhancement."
Seventy-five percent of Psychology Today's readers, like
American Health's, are women.
Psychology Today was bought by Ziff-Davis in 1973 and
acquired by the psychology association three years ago. In 1977, the magazine
reached its peak in advertising, with 650 or more ad pages, and in circulation,
with 1.2 million readers, Mr. Harris said.
In June 1982, Ziff-Davis cut the circulation rate base to
850,000. That is its current level, Mr. Lipstein said, but the magazine is
actually delivering 960,000.
As for advertising pages, the Publishers Information Bureau
estimated that the magazine carried 337 last year, with estimated revenues of
$6.8 million, virtually unchanged from 1986.
"We're not going to make it what it was," Mr.
Lipstein said. "It will have to be different. The world has changed."
•
Always the editor,
Mr. Harris has a number of plans for the magazine, including some new
departments.
And Mr. Lipstein has some thoughts as well. "Say
psychology," he said, "and eyes glass over. Yet everything psychology
deals with is where everybody lives. We can make the magazine hipper and more
fun."
American Health carried 703 ad pages last year, up from 612
in 1986, while revenues were estimated by the publishers' bureau at $11.1
million, up 23 percent from $9 million the previous year.
The report from Mother Earth News is that for the first two
months of 1988 it had 160 ad pages, up from 119 in the period a year ago.
The American Psychological Association announced last month
that it hoped to sell the magazine. The other bidders are understood to have
been Family Media and Michael Markowitz, a Chicago psychologist.
