Beginning next January, American editions of Reader’s Digest will for the first time regularly sell ads on the back cover – which has traditionally been devoted to art.

Are RD‘s Canadian editions likely to follow suit? Larry Thomas, Montreal-based publisher, tells MiC the answer is: not in the foreseeable future. ‘But the possibility is under consideration by the senior Canadian management team, and we are exploring what’s best.’

He added that following the US lead in another aspect is definitely not being considered. Down south, RD plans to reduce its rate base by 2 million, to 8 million, in January. No such plans are being contemplated in Canada, where Thomas says current circulation is 948,000 for the English-language edition, and 250,000 for the French-language version.