Dept. Of Getting Totally Spanked: City Paper Suffers Miserable Loss In The Fall Guide Wars
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know that only old ladies and freshmen pay any attention whatsoever to these Fall Guide things, but in the alt-weekly business, this is the stuff of outsize Phils-Mets type rivalries. And if you’re an ad rep at the CP or the PW, how you roll into the fall ad-wise can not only dictate a large part of your client book for the coming season, it can also make or break your career. The Fall Guide is perceived as thee big issue of the year (as opposed to the Summer Guide, which is kind of a last gasp on the way to summer fuckedsville), and pressure on the ad reps runs high. So when the City Paper dropped its Fall Guide (pictured) last week at a limp, mindboggling 88 pages, we know it didn’t bode well for Paul Curci’s sense of well-being. And boy, were we right: Enter the Philadelphia Weekly, which dropped its guide yesterday at 136 pages! Boo-yah, bitches! Wow. PW doesn’t do much right, but on this count, we must give props. Way to fucking spank your frienemies across town. And as for the, you know, content of these Fall Guides? We have no idea. Was that a serious question?
September 18th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Content? You really didn’t read the story where Shaun Brady drank whiskey with Captain freaking Noah and Captain freaking Noah talked all kinds of smack on Sesame Street?
The one where Greg “Big Mess” Giovanni is doing Japanese Noh theater?
Or Deesha’s piece on Stress whose dad was killed in a sulfuric acid explosion?
They had this.
September 18th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
The Philebrity Comments Policy explicitly states no plugging.
You’re on notice, Howard!
September 19th, 2008 at 10:12 am
That’s not a plug. I’m, y’know, helping you keep up with your reading. I know you’re a busy man, Joseph. I thought you’d consider it a service.
September 19th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Joseph, thanks for your concern about our paper, and about me personally. It’s touching, really. I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but there’s this, uh, weak economy thing going on. There are two way to respond to it, as a publisher. One is to focus on profitability, and, you know, keep the powder dry. Another is to give away ads 1/2 price, run a larger, less profitable issue, and hope that that create the perception of market dominance. The people who matter know the difference. And, I suspect deep down, you’re one of them. No worries here, mate.
September 19th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
“Joseph”: Durp, more pages equals gooder
Paulcurci: UR2stoopid [spank]
Peanute gallery: [slow "news" day]