WWD: New York's Latest Fashion Victim

The Paper Trail:

Fairchild Publications announced yesterday that the relaunch of Women's Wear Daily's Web site has been put on hold indefinitely, the New York Post reports. To the surprise of absolutely no one, the publisher cited the "current unfavorable business climate," a euphemism that has about as much mileage on it as "black is the new black." The subscription-based WWD.com -- which was to cost a wig-flipping $895 per year -- was due to be launched Sept. 10. Fairchild Publications President and Chief Executive Mary Berner's announcement yesterday caught staffers -- including site director Rochelle Udell -- completely off guard. In fact, just yesterday, Fairchild included a giant subscription card in the print version of WWD, hyping the new site as "the ultimate business tool."


Business Week is making a foray into television, hiring financial news vet Bill Tucker to helm a Sunday business show slated to debut Oct. 7. According to the New York Daily News , the 30-minute syndicated program, which will air in the Big Apple on WABC Sundays at 10 a.m., looks to slake the public's thirst for personal finance-related information. Business Week is only one of a string of business magazines and newspapers to cross over from print to the small screen; Forbes, Fortune and the Wall Street Journal have all tried their hand at TV. Tucker, a biz TV vet, spent 18 years at CNN, first as behind-the-scenes developer and more recently as an on-air reporter and anchor.


Although the ad market is in ruins and magazines are failing as miserably as the New York City public school system, Hachette Filipacchi is going ahead with its launch of the Elle spinoff ELLEgirl. As the Wall Street Journal reports, ELLEgirl will have a guaranteed circulation of 300,000, all from newsstand sales. Hachette Filipacchi says circulation eventually could reach a million. But is there room at the slumber party for another girl? Other spinoffs hogging the popcorn are Teen Vogue, CosmoGIRL! and Teen People -- and the rivalry between these pubs is about as fierce as that between Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. ELLEgirl will launch with 75 advertising pages; by comparison, Teen Vogue's Fall 2000 issue boasted 91 ad pages.


Market researchers who quizzed viewers following screenings of the Warner Bros. summer flick Swordfish discovered that the No. 1 reason people cited for purchasing the film is Halle Berry's topless scene. According to Inside.com , the multiple choice option "Berry took top off/naked," was the top vote-getter when consumers were asked their favorite scene, outdistancing "helicopter has bus in air," "female hostage blown up," and "ball bearings flying everywhere Matrix-style when woman exploding." (Our favorite Swordfish moments: "credits roll," "exiting theater," "overall doughiness/unsettling facial hair of John Travolta, and to some extent, "the knowledge that death and/or senescence will eventually wipe memory of film away for all eternity.") Based on the research, Warner Bros. Concluded that they will take the film directly to sell-through on video and DVD -- both priced at $23 -- rather than first trying to make a mint via the more traditional rental route. Analysts predict the one-minute scene that appealed to so many of Swordfish's male viewers will be played over and over in a near infinite loop, like Kevin Costner reviewing the Zapruder film in Oliver Stone's JFK.


Extreme sports -- skateboarding, BMX freestyling, street luge -- are all the rage among the nation's young, partly because of the unique mix of speed and adrenaline such pursuits offer, and partly because the nation's young are kind of ridiculous. (They think Tom Green's a hoot, and break their necks emulating stunts they see on Jackass. We'll brook no argument here.) Anyway, as the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, coverage of "extreme" events like the X Games on ESPN is driving ratings ... and perhaps retail purchases. Although kids still vibrating from the contact high of watching Tony Hawk rip up a halfpipe aren't exactly lining up to buy boards, pads and helmets, retailers believe they will soon. (The Inky calls this phenomenon a "delayed dividend.") Independently-owned skate and bike shops have seen a bit of a surge since the ESPN X Games telecast, but most store owners believe the big rush for X-related gear will come during the Christmas season.