Printed publications in Canada were dealt another blow this month as two major publishers have decided to cease printed editions, opting to go for an online-only model.
Trader Corporation, formerly owned by Yellow Media Inc., has announced it will no longer produce print editions of three properties starting this month. These publications include Auto Trader, Truck Trader, Bike, Boat & RV Trader, with editions across Canada.
Trader Corp. will continue to print 27 titles across Canada, ranging from Heavy Truck & Equipment Trader to autoHEBDO in Quebec. The Globe and Mail has called the axing of print a “victim of digital shift.” The company was sold by Yellow Media in March 2011 for $745 million to a global private equity firm.
IT World Canada also announced it will be going online only with its trade publications. CDN, Computerworld, CIO Canada, and Direction Informatique. “Print just can’t come up with the kind of solid proof of audience reach that online can provide,” Fawn Annan, President and Group Publisher of ITWC, told the CBC.
The CBC story also attributes part of the decline in print magazines in Canada to the end of the Publication Assistance Program in 2010, which subsidized part of the mailing costs of many Canadian periodicals.
Print this page
