Why did CMP Media fold BYTE Magazine?
Officially, CMP claimed it didn’t actually fold BYTE. In fact, when CNET reported that BYTE had folded, CMP demanded and got a retraction. CMP originally said it would relaunch the magazine under the BYTE name after changing the editorial focus and hiring a new staff. The most prevalent rumor was that the new BYTE would emphasize software development and would appear in the fall of 1998. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Instead, CMP relaunched BYTE in 1999 as a web-only publication. The webzine, BYTE.com, is now available at http://www.byte.com/. Back to frequently asked questions What was the main problem with BYTE? BYTE was losing money in 1998. Some change was necessary to turn around the magazine’s fortunes. Although circulation and readership remained strong, advertising revenues had been declining, and several turnaround plans were proposed. But everyone was surprised that the first step in CMP’s turnaround plan was to kill the magazine and discard the staff. Evidently CMP’s plan d
