On Saturday, IBT Media, publisher of the International
Business Times, agreed to purchase Newsweek magazine from IAC. According to The Daily Beast, IBT isa global news publication founded by Etienne Uzac and
Jonathan Davis in 2006. It produces editions for ten separate countries in
seven different languages. It reaches 13 million people around the world each
month.
The sale marks the next step in the evolution of the weekly
magazine. In May 2010, the Washington Post Company announced it was putting the
title up for sale. Newsweek was ultimately sold to Sidney Harman, the
philanthropist and founder of the Harman Kardon electronics company, for the
symbolic price of $1 in the summer of 2010. In November of that year, Newsweek
announced it would merge with The Daily Beast, bringing the magazine under the
joint ownership of Harman and IAC. Harman died in the spring of 2011, and his
family members decided in the summer of 2012 to cap their investment in the
venture, making IAC the controlling owner.
Under new ownership, Newsweek reversed ad-page sales from a
40-percent decline to a 6-percent increase between 2010 and 2012, and saw a
20-percent increase in renewal rates. But with the economics of publishing
continuing to shift, and the advertising-supported model of weekly news
magazines facing challenges, Newsweek announced it would transition to an
all-digital magazine last fall. The last print edition appeared in December
2012. At the end of April, IAC announced it was putting Newsweek up for sale.
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