• by Steve Smith  @popeyesm, June 17, 2013

As magazines search for new mobile monetization models from devices, two legendary monthly titles are experimenting with weekly digital-only versions. Earlier this month Esquire launched a weekly issue that combines exclusive blog, Q&A material with repurposed material from both Esquire.com and its ebook projects. And on Friday, The Atlantic began its own mini-magazine strategy with a weekly issue for smartphones and tablets also combining ‘best of’ material from its Web sites and print archive.

The content and business models are similar for both titles. Each has about five or six pieces in each weekly issue that draw from the range of digital and traditional content the brands now create across platforms. The Atlantic brand has expanded substantially online in recent years, with special sections and sites that embrace urban policy topics, business and images. All of these are represented in the weekly Atlantic, which is available each Friday afternoon in time for a weekend read. Similarly, Esquire pulls from an enlarged Web site that includes a well-read political blog and lifestyle content.

The two titles are sold separately from the main digital and print products. The Esquire Weekly is a value add for digital subscribers. The Atlantic is available as a separate digital subscription. Esquire Weekly is published within the existing Esquire magazine app in the Apple App Store Newsstand section. Atlantic Weekly will be a separate app.

Both weeklies appear to address gaps that have developed among many magazines as they try to adjust to a device-driven environment. The arrival of digital editions of magazines helped create an awkward disconnect between the content providers’ Web and tablet strategies. Monthly issues leave the brands relatively dormant within the app environment for much of the month even though it is quite active online. And the existing tablet magazine apps tend to be mere shells to hold digital issues rather than portals onto the richer daily content these publishers are putting online. This in-between approach gives magazine brands a way to stay more current within the app ecosystem while also maintaining their traditional role in providing more contemplative and longer-form article content.

Magazines are testing a variety of new packaging for existing content. Many titles, including Esquire, have been collecting similarly themed archival content into ebooks, for instance. Some other magazines have been developing digital-only special issues and sponsored custom publishing projects.