Though it agreed to buy the majority of the Industry Standard's assets, International Data Group does not plan to restart the magazine in the United States, according to an IDG e-mail obtained yesterday by iMarketing News.
In part, the e-mail said, “The controlled subscriber file of the publication, and the e-mail subscriber file of the electronic newsletters, was purchased by IDG for $900,000. Since these files were developed through extensive use of the proprietary databases from other IDG publications, it was not in the best interest of our publications to have this subscriber database outside the company. In addition, numerous IDG business units outside the U.S. continue to use the Industry Standard brand. IDG has no plans to restart the publication in the U.S. market.”
IDG was once the majority owner of Standard Media International, the parent of the Standard. IDG officials could not be reached for comment.
The e-mail also confirmed that AOL Time Warner agreed to buy the Standard's paid subscriber list for $500,000, including the assumption of subscription liabilities of $2.2 million to $2.5 million, as was reported Monday on the Standard's Web site.
Calls to AOL Time Warner for comment were not immediately returned, and it is unclear how it intends to use the file.
The assets were sold Monday at auction in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco.
The Standard ceased publication Aug. 16 after ad revenue plunged and IDG refused to provide additional funding. Last year, it posted revenue of $140 million through conferences and a year 2000 industry record of 7,558 advertising pages. Revenue this year was expected to reach $40 million, more than a 70 percent plunge.
