Although never officially announced, Reed Business Information, U.S.A. (RBI) has begun to quietly deploy its new online strategy by putting three popular electronics brands, Electronics Business, ElectronicNews and EDN under the consolidated EDN.com umbrella.  It is not clear at first glance why RBI went this route.  One response from a well-known RBI electronics editor simply said that "our customers want information delivered that way."  The once industry-leading electronics weekly, Electronic News, went out of print four years ago but continued on line as ElectronicNews.com.  The business oriented Electronic Business publication saw its last print issue in December 2006.  EDN, a technical journal for engineers continues to be available in print, as well as online. 

When navigating to the individual sites of edn.com, electronicnews.com or the eb-mag.com, the user is simply landed on the www.edn.com portal which now has a NEWS Center, DESIGN Centers, and BUSINESS Centers -- containing similar information as the former individual sites.  The editorial staff seems to be intact, although with some modified responsibilities.  The NEWS Center is edited by the former ElectronicNews staff headed by Ed Sperling, editor-in-chief. The BUSINESS Centers has content which was available within the Electronics Business publication and covers semiconductor manufacturing, business strategy, and the electronics supply chain (Debra Bulkeley, executive editor).  The DESIGN Center contains 10 design topics and is spearheaded by Ron Wilson, executive editor.

The EDN.com staff  reports to Alan Robinson who was recently promoted to group publisher of EDN (www.edn.com) which now consolidates Electronic News (electronicnews.com), and Electronic Business (eb-mag.com) -- three electronics media brands owned by RBI. He reports to Tad Smith CEO of Reed Business Information, USA (RBI).

It is worthwhile to note that other EDN country sites (EDN Asia, Japan, China, Europe), In-Stat, Semiconductor International magazine (print and online), and Test and Measurement World (print and online) are under separate managements and reporting structure.

Most recently, Robinson served as national sales director for EDN Worldwide, ElectronicNews and Electronic Business. Prior to joining Reed Business Information, he was director of online advertising for PartMiner. Robinson's career also includes stints as director of international publishing and director of international sales for CMP/United Business Media, director of international sales and marketing for Miller Freeman Publishing, and regional sales manager for M&T International Marketing.

The RBI spin on the whys and wherefores of the changes are explained by NEWS Center editor Ed Sperling in his blog:

"… Before you panic, Electronic News Today still will arrive in your inbox each day. Electronic Business Weekly will still ship each week. And EDN's long list of technology newsletters will continue to ship on their normal schedules…"

The InsideChips spin is that RBI will continue print publications until ad revenues no longer support it according to its internal criteria.  The EDN supersite is now implemented but RBI is continuing to make tweaks and fixes to its site. While the new site explains the new navigational structure and content, it does not touch on the whys and wherefores. It is unusual for a blog to explain these issues!.

Reed Elsevier Business Groups

Part of Reed Elsevier's $10 billion publishing empire, EDN is a piece of its USA-based Reed Business Information (RBI) unit, the largest business-to-business information provider in the world. Prior to Jan. 2002, RBI was called Cahners Business Information.  RBI is a part of the Reed Business group (www.reedbusiness.com) which accounts for about a quarter of Reed Elsevier's total worldwide revenues.

RBI is the world's leading provider of business information. The company's products include more than 135 business-to-business publications, more than 125 web sites, and a range of services including web development, custom publishing, research, business lists and industry events. RBI also produces specialized directories, databases, market research, newsletters, conferences and seminars. More than 7 million subscribers read its publications.

Reed Elsevier is owned equally by Reed International (NYSE:RUK) and Elsevier (NYSE:ENL). The Anglo-Dutch publishing empire has about 1,200 journals under its wing, serving trade and professional markets.  The conglomerate's electronic revenues grew from $1.1 billion in 1999 to about $3.7 billion in 2006.  Online information services vaulted from about $22 million in 1999 to about $400 million in 2006.  Total employment is 37,000 worldwide.