Founded | 1974 | (as Fancy Publications)
---|---|
Founder | Norman Ridker |
Defunct | February 2020 |
Country of origin | United States |
Headquarters location | Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States |
Publication types | Magazines, books |
Nonfiction topics | Pets, lifestyles, and hobbies |
Official website | luminamedia |
Lumina Media was an American publisher of magazines, books, and associated websites. Throughout all its incarnations, the business has focused on the pet-keeping and -breeding market, though also with some other topical lifestyle and hobby publications. The original company was founded in 1974 as Fancy Publications (later renamed BowTie Inc.) by Norman Ridker, absorbing Kennel Club Books in 2004, which made BowTie a main competitor to TFH Publications in the pet-book market. In 2002, Bob Garfield of On the Media called Fancy Publications "the Time Warner of the pet magazine business". [1] After some financial difficulties, BowTie was restructured as I-5 Publishing in 2013 under the new ownership of David Fry and Mark Harris, and took on its present name in 2016.
Over the years, the company has launched, acquired, divested, or consolidated many pet-related paper and digital publications, including a number that have been dominant in their niches among North American speciality magazines and sites during various periods, including Bird Talk , Cat Fancy (merged into the Catster website and magazine), Dog Fancy (merged to Dogster ), Dog World (purchased from Primedia Inc., and originally dating to 1916), Ferrets Magazine (merged to the Small Animal Channel website), and Reptiles . Lumina has also dominated the American market for magazine-format newsstand specials about pets (usually annually issued). In 2016, Lumina sold its book division – responsible for more than 400 paper books and e-books, mostly about specific breeds – to Fox Chapel Publishing, forming the new imprint CompanionHouse Press. Some other noteworthy Lumina publications have included Motorcycle Consumer News , Veterinary Practice News (later published by Kenilworth Media), and the first magazine devoted to animal rescue, Rescue Me (later Rescue Proud). As of February 2020, Lumina Media was dissolved and had ceased their business operations. A letter was sent to subscribers without explanation as to why.
Fancy Publications was started by Norman Ridker in 1974. [2] Ridker subsequently renamed the company to BowTie Inc. (publishing books as BowTie Press) to show his love of bow ties. [2] By 2013, BowTie had experienced months of financial difficulties caused in part by significant decreases in readership and in advertisement proceeds. [2] In 2013, I-5 Publishing LLC, a new company founded by David Fry and Mark Harris, bought BowTie's businesses for an eight-figure sum. [2] I-5 started to decrease their "breeder-centric" publications in favor of rescue-focused content, and launched a topically unique magazine titled Rescue Me, [3] later followed up by Rescue Proud. The company was renamed to Lumina Media in 2016. [4]
Magazines published by I-5 Publishing (monthly, unless otherwise noted) include or formerly included: [24] [25]
I-5 Publishing has operated several websites (with domain names corresponding to their titles, e.g. SmallAnimalChannel.com for Small Animal Channel) including: [25]
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Cat Fancy was the name of a popular North American monthly magazine dedicated to cats, owners of cats, and breeders of cats published by I-5 Publishing.
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Dogster is a bimonthly magazine and website for dog lovers. Its sister publication is Catster, a bimonthly magazine and website for cat lovers. Dogster magazine has been continuously published since 1970 and will be celebrating 50 years in 2020.
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Bird Talk was a bi-monthly magazine for bird owners and enthusiasts published by Parrot Publications, Inc. Each issue had articles which were generally focused around a specific topic, as well as several regular features. The topics varied from bird care, training, behavior, and health to discussion of new products and bird food recipes or raising a colony of mealworms.
Foster & Smith, Inc. was an American mail order and e-commerce pet supply corporation based in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The company funds PetEducation.com, a "resource for any pet owner who is seeking information."
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