Leading commercial insurance industry publication
Business Insurance was officially declared discontinued Tuesday by parent company Crain Communications.
The publication’s final issue was released Aug. 1.
Business Insurance’s website and events business were also discontinued Tuesday.
Business Insurance, established in 1967, has been the industry’s premier source of news related to the commercial insurance market.
In a release on its website, Crain Communications said that it shuttered
Business Insurance due to “continued structural changes and consolidation” in the insurance industry since 2008. The publication “struggled to diversify its revenue from a dependence on a declining base of print advertising.”
Business Insurance even invested in a new team, but soon realized that the changes to the market were not going to be reversed.
“As part of our ongoing revenue transformation efforts we have been actively investing in brands that provide the best revenue mix of print, digital, events and content marketing in markets with proven growth potential,” said Crain Communications executive vice president and director of Operations KC Crain in a statement.
“The company is continually reviewing its portfolio against this strategy, and it became clear that
Business Insurance did not fit these criteria.”
Gavin Souter, an editor for
Business Insurance, sent an email from his personal address to the various media and communications companies the publication had previously collaborated with, informing them of the closure.
In his email, Souter asserted that it was editorial consolidation that led to the publication’s termination.
“It’s been a tough time for many publications over the past few years and for BI it has been particularly difficult due to the consolidation in the insurance industry,” Souter wrote in his email. “On the editorial side of the house, it’s given us plenty of stories to write, but it has also meant that many of our advertisers have been absorbed by other companies.”
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