Southern Progress Corporation
Encyclopedia
Southern Progress Corporation, based in Birmingham
, Alabama
, is a publisher of lifestyle magazines and books. The company publishes such magazines as Southern Living
, Cooking Light
, and Sunset
. Today, its magazines have a combined readership of over 50 million. The company employs more than 800 people at headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama.
organized the Agricultural Publishing Company, the name of which was later changed to the Progressive Farmer Company. One of the most notable achievements of the Progressive Farmer magazine was its continual crusade and endorsement during the early twentieth century of the land grant college subsidies provided to Agricultural and Mechanical colleges across the United States.
The magazine broadened its reach beyond the Southeast by merging its Raleigh, North Carolina operation with the Southern Farm Gazette newspaper published in Starkville, Mississippi. This was a major innovation in publishing at the time. Merging these two farm publications established the first publication in history to publish regional editorial specific to its circulation areas. This merger of the Progressive Farmer and the Southern Farm Gazette resulted in the need to have a production and printing facility that would be a one day train trip to both of the editorial offices in Starkville, Mississippi and Raleigh, North Carolina for receiving the typewritten feature stories for publication. It was decided in 1911 to establish a central office in Birmingham, Alabama, while Clarence Poe and his partners remained in Raleigh, NC and directed company operations from there.
The Progressive Farmer Company continued to publish across the Southeastern and Mid-south regions soon expanding successfully into Texas and the Southwest. Serving farm information needs, publishing through two world wars, crusading for important rural farm issues such as rural electrification, soil conservation, rural education and modern agricultural technology, the magazine soared to a circulation high of 1.3 million by the 1960s.
In 1966, the management, led by Emory Cunningham and the editors of Progressive Farmer launched Southern Living magazine fashioned after the lifestyle and home life section in the Progressive Farmer. The Progressive Farmer had extended its appeal among suburban housewives, and that segment of its circulation received the new magazine, Southern Living to establish its distribution and advertising rate base. From the pages of Progressive Farmer rose the largest and most successful regional publication in history. Consequently, Progressive Farmer was able to editorially focus more completely on production agriculture and concentrate circulation efforts to the rural farm household. The launch of Southern Living was an outstanding strategic move for the Progressive Farmer Company.
In 1980, the Progressive Farmer Company changed its name to Southern Progress Corporation in an effort to reflect its wider focus. By this time, Southern Living had a subscription rate of two million and was among the top 15 U.S. magazines in monthly advertising revenue
In the late 1980s until the early 1990s, Southern Progress began looking for a new corporate headquarters in the Birmingham area. They decided on a property located down the road from their current headquarters. The new facility is next to Samford University and in front of the HealthSouth Lakeshore Rehabilitation Hospital. Southern Progress currently has an over 400,000 sf corporate campus at Lakeshore. The campus features weekly tours and has been named one the most beautiful corporate campuses in the world. The campus also serves an office for Time parent company, Time Inc.
In 1985, Southern Progress Corporation was purchased by Time,Inc. for $498 million, the most ever paid for a publishing company at the time.
In 2006, the company sold its Progressive Farmer magazine to DTN
, now (Telvent DTN
).
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, is a publisher of lifestyle magazines and books. The company publishes such magazines as Southern Living
Southern Living
Southern Living is a widely read lifestyle magazine aimed at readers in the Southern United States featuring recipes, house plans, and information about Southern culture and travel...
, Cooking Light
Cooking Light (magazine)
Cooking Light is an American food and lifestyle magazine founded in 1987. Each month, the magazine includes approximately 100 original recipes as well as editorial content covering food trends, fitness tips, and other culinary and health-related news....
, and Sunset
Sunset (magazine)
Sunset is a lifestyle magazine in the United States. Sunset focuses on homes, cooking, gardening, and travel, with a focus almost exclusively on the Western United States...
. Today, its magazines have a combined readership of over 50 million. The company employs more than 800 people at headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama.
History
The origins of Southern Progress trace to 1886, with the Progressive Farmer, a weekly newsletter, founded by Civil War veteran Leonidas LaFayette Polk in North Carolina in 1886. The newsletter was intended to bring the latest information on crop and livestock production to the newly united nation's agrarian economy in the Southeast. When Polk died in 1892, Clarence H. Poe from Raleigh, NC took over as editor, and in 1903, he and 3 partners purchased the publication, taking it from a newspaper to a magazine with 36,000 subscribers. Together theyorganized the Agricultural Publishing Company, the name of which was later changed to the Progressive Farmer Company. One of the most notable achievements of the Progressive Farmer magazine was its continual crusade and endorsement during the early twentieth century of the land grant college subsidies provided to Agricultural and Mechanical colleges across the United States.
The magazine broadened its reach beyond the Southeast by merging its Raleigh, North Carolina operation with the Southern Farm Gazette newspaper published in Starkville, Mississippi. This was a major innovation in publishing at the time. Merging these two farm publications established the first publication in history to publish regional editorial specific to its circulation areas. This merger of the Progressive Farmer and the Southern Farm Gazette resulted in the need to have a production and printing facility that would be a one day train trip to both of the editorial offices in Starkville, Mississippi and Raleigh, North Carolina for receiving the typewritten feature stories for publication. It was decided in 1911 to establish a central office in Birmingham, Alabama, while Clarence Poe and his partners remained in Raleigh, NC and directed company operations from there.
The Progressive Farmer Company continued to publish across the Southeastern and Mid-south regions soon expanding successfully into Texas and the Southwest. Serving farm information needs, publishing through two world wars, crusading for important rural farm issues such as rural electrification, soil conservation, rural education and modern agricultural technology, the magazine soared to a circulation high of 1.3 million by the 1960s.
In 1966, the management, led by Emory Cunningham and the editors of Progressive Farmer launched Southern Living magazine fashioned after the lifestyle and home life section in the Progressive Farmer. The Progressive Farmer had extended its appeal among suburban housewives, and that segment of its circulation received the new magazine, Southern Living to establish its distribution and advertising rate base. From the pages of Progressive Farmer rose the largest and most successful regional publication in history. Consequently, Progressive Farmer was able to editorially focus more completely on production agriculture and concentrate circulation efforts to the rural farm household. The launch of Southern Living was an outstanding strategic move for the Progressive Farmer Company.
In 1980, the Progressive Farmer Company changed its name to Southern Progress Corporation in an effort to reflect its wider focus. By this time, Southern Living had a subscription rate of two million and was among the top 15 U.S. magazines in monthly advertising revenue
In the late 1980s until the early 1990s, Southern Progress began looking for a new corporate headquarters in the Birmingham area. They decided on a property located down the road from their current headquarters. The new facility is next to Samford University and in front of the HealthSouth Lakeshore Rehabilitation Hospital. Southern Progress currently has an over 400,000 sf corporate campus at Lakeshore. The campus features weekly tours and has been named one the most beautiful corporate campuses in the world. The campus also serves an office for Time parent company, Time Inc.
In 1985, Southern Progress Corporation was purchased by Time,Inc. for $498 million, the most ever paid for a publishing company at the time.
In 2006, the company sold its Progressive Farmer magazine to DTN
Data Transmission Network
DTN, formerly known as Data Transmission Network, is a subscription-based service for the delivery of real-time weather, agricultural and commodity market information. Telvent DTN is the name of the service that is owned by its parent company Telvent...
, now (Telvent DTN
Telvent
Telvent is an information technology and industrial automation company specializing in SCADA, GIS and related IT systems for pipeline, energy utility, traffic, agriculture and environmental monitoring industries. Their customer base is worldwide, but concentrated in Spain and North America...
).
Current Magazines
- Southern LivingSouthern LivingSouthern Living is a widely read lifestyle magazine aimed at readers in the Southern United States featuring recipes, house plans, and information about Southern culture and travel...
- Cooking LightCooking Light (magazine)Cooking Light is an American food and lifestyle magazine founded in 1987. Each month, the magazine includes approximately 100 original recipes as well as editorial content covering food trends, fitness tips, and other culinary and health-related news....
- Coastal Living
- HealthHealth (magazine)Health is an American magazine focused on women's health. It was purchased by Time Inc. in 1991. The company now operates as a part of Time's Southern Progress Corporation. The magazine's topics range from diet and recipes to fashion tips and dealing with life issues such as stress...
- SunsetSunset (magazine)Sunset is a lifestyle magazine in the United States. Sunset focuses on homes, cooking, gardening, and travel, with a focus almost exclusively on the Western United States...
Former Magazines
- Progressive FarmerProgressive FarmerDTN/The Progressive Farmer is a country life oriented magazine, published twelve times a year by DTN, a division of Telvent. The magazine is based in Birmingham, Alabama.-History:...
- Leisure ArtsLeisure ArtsLeisure Arts is, in the United States, a leading publisher and distributor of “how-to” and lifestyle publications with emphasis on creative crafts, needlework, decorating, and entertaining....
- Southern Accents
- Cottage LivingCottage livingCottage Living is an American lifestyle and decorating magazine published by the The Time Inc. Magazine Company that was discontinued in 2009. The monthly magazine was known for its Best Cottage Communities list in which it ranked living communities according to their cottage lifestyle...