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Radio Magazine appears to be fading
The glossy, hip look at the Twin Cities radio industry has apparently lost its signal. Only two issues of the free magazine have been printed, and none since the October edition.
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Radio Magazine, the glossy, hip look at the Twin Cities radio industry, has apparently lost its signal since a short-lived inaugural run last fall.
Only two issues of the free magazine have been printed, and none since the October edition. Copies of that issue remain available in locations such as Holiday Stationstores and other locations.
The magazine's publishers aren't talking, but it's an open secret that the future of Radio Magazine is uncertain.
The magazine, with a circulation of 100,000, is the brainchild of Metropolitan Media Group headed by Kenan Aksoz and Marketing Architects, a Minneapolis company that specializes in response-driven radio advertising.
Aksoz once described the publication as a TV Guide equivalent for area radio listeners. WCCO-TV's Bridgette Bornstein was hired as editor, and a sales staff was assigned to bring in advertising.
Bornstein is still at Metropolitan Media, but some of the sales staff were let go.
The first issue featured KS95's afternoon drive-time team Moon and Staci on the cover and included interviews with singer Carrie Underwood and WCCO sports reporter Mike Max. The second issue placed KDWB's Dave Ryan on the cover and included features on radio legend Ray Christensen and the battle of FM 107's Kevyn Burger with breast cancer.
Media observers wondered whether Radio Magazine had sufficient readership to interest advertisers. Aksoz told bloggers Deborah Caulfield Rybak and Brian Lambert in October that advertising was "a little slower" to develop than anticipated.
"I never understood the kind of editorial logic behind it," Lambert, who was interviewed for the editor's position, said Thursday. "It didn't seem like anything with any appeal. Who wants it?"
Aksoz, whose company publishes 14 lifestyle magazines around the metropolitan area, as well as MinnesotaBusiness and Escape Magazine for Sun Country Airlines, was out of the office and did not return telephone calls seeking comment on the Radio Magazine situation. Chuck Hengel, CEO of Marketing Architects, referred all questions to Aksoz.
David Phelps • 612-673-7269
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