Light Reading Inc. is a telecommunications industry information company based in New York City. Its activities include publishing, data analysis, market research, and events management.[1]
History
The company was founded in 2000 by Stephen Saunders and was bought by UBM for $33 million in 2005, becoming part of the UBM subsidiary CMP Media.[2] Saunders remained as CEO and launched Internet Evolution later in 2005.
Light Reading's market research arm, Heavy Reading, bought Pyramid Research in August 2008.[3]
Light Reading also had its India publication, Light Reading India. The site had been covering the Indian telecom ecosystem from 2011 till January 2015. It was shut down when UBI India stopped its operations.[4]
In August 2013, Light Reading migrated to UBM's DeusM community platform.[5] In February 2014, Stephen Saunders reacquired Light Reading from UBM, with UBM retaining a "significant minority stake" in the company.[6] Future plans for the company were said to include "bulking up the staff and changing up its media pricing"[7]—according to Saunders, "with much of the overhead that a larger corporate structure imposes now gone, he will apply that savings to expanding staff and infrastructure as well as adjusting customer pricing downward."[6]
In 2016, Light Reading was acquired by Informa.[8]
Big Telecom Event
In June 2014, Light Reading launched an annual summit for the telecommunications industry, the Big Telecom Event (BTE). The event was held in Chicago, and gathered "important figures in the industry together to discuss progress, problems, and what’s on the horizon as technology continues to develop at a rapid pace."[9] Unusually, for an industry convention, the event included no exhibitors and no show floor; rather, "BTE provided an 'Innovation Zone' where more than 60 companies gave hands-on demos in turnkey booths."[10][11]
Awards
Among awards won by Light Reading are:
- 2014 Ava Digital Awards: gold award, business-to-business website category.[12]
- 2014 Hermes Creative Awards: platinum award for infographic work in the Web Element: Other category, and four gold awards.
- 2014 Apex Awards: three awards of excellence in the Technical & Technology Writing, Best Resdesigns, and Identity and Graphic Standards categories.[13]
References
- ^ "UBM returns to MR with Light Reading acquisition". Research-Live.com. 18 August 2005. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
- ^ "UBM Buys Light Reading". MrWeb.com. 19 August 2005. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
- ^ Reiter, Naomi (27 August 2008). "Light Reading Buys Data Analysis Company". MinOnline.com. Access Intelligence. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
- ^ "UBM India shuts down its tech media publications: Light Reading, Information Week and others". MediaNama. 2015-01-22. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
- ^ Charlotte Woodward, "UBM Tech advances DeusM strategy," BtoB Online Media Business Archived 2013-09-13 at the Wayback Machine, September 10, 2013
- ^ a b "Stephen Saunders - Founder, Light Reading". Folio Mag. 31 March 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
- ^ "Light Reading Co-Founder Stephen Saunders Gets Company Back from UBM". Xconomy. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ "Light Reading Beyond". Light Reading. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
- ^ "Focus on Big Data at Big Telecom Event in Chicago" GoGrid June 27, 2014.
- ^ Rondon, Michael (July 25, 2014). "Why One Event Is Doing Away with Exhibitors". FolioMag.com.
- ^ Browne, Traci (April 2014). "No Exhibit Hall at Light Reading's Big Telecom Event". TSNN.com.
- ^ "Light Reading Wins Gold in the Ava Digital Awards" PR Newswire February 20, 2014
- ^ "Light Reading Wins 3 APEX Awards of Excellence " PR Newswire June 25, 2014
