Can magazines stay financially viable in a digital world?

>> just saw this on the cover of the business section of "the new york times," steve rattner. it looks like "time" magazine's getting spun off.

>> yeah. well, we have rick stengel, of course, coming in a little later. instead of doing the cover, we could find out what's going on in "time."

>> i think rick would probably rather read the cover.

>> i'm sure he would. the magazine has been troubled. the shareholder returns kind of guy has been trying to raise the stock price . tried to do a joint venture with meredith where they've combined these magazines with meredith. that fell apart with "time," "fortune," "sported illustrated" that didn't fit in. now they'll try and spin the whole thing off, kind of like what rupert 's doing with his newspaper company.

>> so first of all, what's rupert doing with his newspaper company? is rupert going to sell the "new york post"?

>> no. i think rupert would, you know, sell his prized heirlooms before he sold the "new york post." he loves the "new york post." after the hacking thing and because you have a disparate set of assets in the company, he's taken his newspapers and educational publishing and spinning that off in a separate company this summer and keeping the entertainment stuff back in what will then be fox. and time is essentially now doing the same thing. they're keeping the assets that they're most excited about, the cable channels , film studio and things like that, and they're spinning out the magazine group on its own boat. the problems are, it will be their third or fourth ceo in the last three years. they've had a lot of turnover at the top. and it doesn't really create any value for shareholders. all it does is give them two pieces of paper instead of one. and this company will still have to perform financially for it to be a good deal. it's certainly going to be a lot of change.

>> what do you think, steve, is a good business model going forward for a magazine? take something like " sports illustrated " who's been getting crushed at the newsstand. the newsstand doesn't work anymore. how does a magazine stay relevant? how does it stay successful? how does it stay financially viable?

>> i used to be more optimistic about magazines than newspapers because i thought in this larger format, 3,000, 4,000-word article, people would want to read them physically. i think i was wrong. i think the world is moving digital there the way it is everywhere else. it's not just a newsstand problem. it's also an ad problem. ads at times sports illustrated , fortune, all down even though we're in somewhat of an economic recovery. i think the real hope for all media is to go digital and to provide a product digitally that people are willing to pay for. as these devices get better, it feels more like a magazine anyway. i think that's honestly their best hope.

>> yeah. and it is a challenge. here we go. it's nice and smooth. nice and smooth. anyway, a lot of people talking about that. there's this great article. i'm curious. willie, this is the " usa today ." talking about always working. that our world is changing so dramatically. and it changes by the day. that first of all, all of these mobile devices we carry around are killing pcs. but secondly, killing our lives. our personal lives. the e-mail comes in at 8:00 at night. you've got to respond if it's important. it comes at 5:00, when you're walking with your children on the beach. especially for a younger generation of workers, it is nonstop.

>> i wasn't made it through the pc this morning, but i was thinking about it yesterday. you think, i'm home from work now. i got home. i'm going to be with my kids. but you're never actually home from work because there's an expectation that when you get an e-mail in our work environment, you've got to respond to it. i was out to dinner with my kids last night at 5:30. there i am at the table, my son's trying to tell me a story about smearing paint on the walls at school or whatever he did yesterday. you know, i'm checking my e-mail. it's just an instinct. it's a reflex. it's probably not healthy for your family life because your job is 24 hours a day .

>> but do you carve out -- are there moments in your day, though, where you say no blackberry for maybe this 15 minutes ? this 30 minutes ? i used to do that when i walked to work. the phone would go into the pocket. wouldn't be anywhere near me. wouldn't feel it buzzing or hear it ringing. that would be my moment of solitude.

>> you know, there are times -- and when those times come, i always in the end pay for it.

>> you start to twitch?

>> no, it's not that i don't start to twitch, it's i go back up there. you would think that the world had caught on fire in the 45 minutes. i said i'm going to leave this upstairs and go down and have dinner with my family. and so then you're explaining to these people for the next three hours that you don't hate them and you're not screening it and screening their e-mails. and yes, they're very important to you. and yes, we need to take that meeting next week. and let me -- you know, you know how it goes.

>> in the old world if somebody wrote you a letter, they wouldn't expect an answer for a week or no. if they called you, they might not expect an answer for a day or so. now they expect an answer immediately. i'm with you guys. we had a rule in our family, no blackberrys at the table.

>> right.

>> that was it. so these people who think that they're going to hear from you in the next 12 to get over it.

>> that's what you've got to do is reset expectations. i think as you know, anybody that's e-mailed me know i reset expectations because some days i do put it down when i see especially my kids are being interrupted. i put it down in the afternoon. you know, i'll look at it again right before i go to bed to make sure there's not any explosions. and if there aren't, i'll answer in the morning.

>> joe, i'm e-mailing you now and you're not answering me.

>> he's resetting.

>> come on. important.

>> i'm resetting your expectations of me. what about you, kelly? are you on it all the time?

>> i think there's a sense of guilt. pretty much. although we do try at home, we do try to have the dinnertime or oratorium. if we're checking, we point it out to the other. especially in our jobs, there is an expectation you'll respond quickly. there is a concern about missing something. when i am able to put it down, i do find there is a moment of zen.

>> yeah. it's tough. i get so depressed when i walk -- not depressed, but just troubled when i walk into a restaurant and you'll see a family of four sitting in a booth. and all four of them will be looking down at their blackberrys.

>> sometimes that's my family. when i see that happening in my family, i just say, hey, guys. time out.

>> it's usually one of my 73 children will do it, and then we'll all turn and go stop, stop. all