In 2014, print circulation and ad revenues were falling by 3 percent a year; by 2016, that rate had increased to 9 percent. For the first nine months of 2017, print ad revenue plunged by 19 percent and circulation revenues by 13 percent over the same period the previous year.
But the downward spiral in print revenues caused Time Inc.’s stock price to drop, too, and prompted wave after wave of layoffs, depleting the ranks and gutting morale. Some veteran writers and editors left voluntarily.
In the end, Time Inc., whose internet strategy was erratic but finally focused on advertising, couldn’t survive as either a unit of Time Warner or as an independent company.