From the NY Post
Key financial data have begun to surface on Seventeen magazine, which is being raffled off by Primedia CEO Tom Rogers and Primedia's majority owner, Henry Kravis of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Sources say the so-called "black books" of data are actually pink.

The magazine itself had actual revenue of $81.3 million in 2002, according to the pink books, and had what is labeled a "contribution margin" of $16.1 million.

However, sources said that the $16.1 million profit figure does not include any overhead or general and accounting costs. Depending on who buys it, those "G&A" costs could be as little as $1 million or as high as $6 million.

One source said that when overhead expenses are factored in, the real profit figure would likely be closer to $10 million to $12 million. Primedia insiders, however, insist the real earnings are closer to $15 million.

Also being sold is the magazine's money-losing Web site, which the company said grossed $1.9 million in ad revenue and lost $100,000 before overhead costs.

Primedia is also bundling in its Cover Concepts business, which sends schools millions of free book covers with advertisements on the back.

Last year, Cover Concepts had revenue of $8.7 million, down from $11.4 million a year earlier and $16.6 million in 2000. It was said to have a "contribution margin" of $1.4 million - about half of what it racked up two years earlier.

The magazine's profits peaked at around $33 million in 1999, sources tell Media Ink, and S.I. Newhouse, the head of Conde Nast and Fairchild, was very interested in buying it then. At the time, Seventeen could have commanded a $500 million price tag, said one source.

Now Newhouse is again said to be one of the leading suitors, along with Hearst, Hachette Filipacchi, Gruner + Jahr, AOL Time Warner and American Media, among others.

Some are wondering if Newhouse will handle the deal in much the same way he handled his bid for Architectural Digest and Bon Appetit a decade ago.

In that auction, he simply put in a bid of "$10 million higher than the next highest bidder," and won the auction for around $170 million. Sources are expecting the current auction for Seventeen to end up north of $200 million.

Retailing sources say the current auction was triggered when online retailer Alloy approached the company about a possible joint venture to link Seventeen with the teen-oriented Web site.

Unlike other Web retailers, Alloy actually posted a profit of $13.6 million in the first nine months of its current fiscal year, on revenues of $195.6 million. The stock, however, has been trading near a 52-week low; it closed yesterday at $5.17.

Alloy is still interested in a deal with the mag.

February 12, 2003 -- Negotiations between Us Weekly editor-in-chief Bonnie "Long Neck" Fuller and Wenner Media chairman Jann Wenner are going down to the wire.
Fuller is pushing for a new three-year, multimillion-dollar deal.

She started on March 4, 2002, with a one-year deal - which means the current contract expires in just over two weeks.

Despite the last-minute nature of the negotiations, talks between Kent Brownridge, Wenner's numbers guy, and Fuller's Beverly Hills-based entertainment lawyer, Ken Hertz - who also handles Christina Aguilera, actor Will Smith and the bands Boyz II Men and Destiny's Child - have been relatively amicable, sources said.

"There have only been a few shouting matches," said one source.

To all appearances, Fuller appears to be in a strong position. Us Weekly's newsstand sales - the key barometer by which editors are judged - have been zooming.

In the second half of 2002, Us Weekly reported its newsstand circulation was up 55.2 percent to 505,000. Total paid circulation was up 18.8 percent to 1,104,119.

Insiders say the perennially money-losing magazine has actually made somewhere between $1 million and $2 million last year - split between Wenner Media and its joint venture partner, Walt Disney.

Now Bonnie apparently wants to add some of that cash to flow to her own bottom line.

Asked about her contract recently, Fuller said, "That's between me and my employer."

A Wenner spokesman says only, "We're still negotiating."

It is expected that the deal - which will have a base salary and newsstand incentive clause - will easily top the $1 million mark. That would make her the best-paid editor in Wenner's history, and put her on a par with some of the folks she left behind at Conde Nast, where she was editor at Glamour.

"On the surface, it should be a no-brainer," said one insider. "But if any two people can screw it up, it's Bonnie and Jann."