Home > International Directory of Company Histories > The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. - Introduction

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Introduction

Reader's Digest Road
Pleasantville, New York 10570
U.S.A.
Telephone: (914) 238-1000
Fax: (914) 238-4559
Web site: http://www.rd.com

Public Company
Incorporated: 1922
Employees: 5,000
Sales: $2.38 billion (2004)
Stock Exchanges: New York
Ticker Symbol: RDA
NAIC: 511130 Book Publishers; 454113 Mail-Order Houses; 511120 Periodical Publishers; 511140 Database and Directory Publishers

The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a worldwide publisher and distributor of magazines, books, recorded music, and home video packages, which are sold through a variety of distribution channels, including direct mail, display marketing, direct response television, catalogs, retail, and the Internet. Its major publication is the monthly general-interest magazine Reader's Digest, which is the world's most widely read magazine with a global readership of more than 100 million, and is available in 48 editions and 19 languages. The company also publishes numerous special-interest magazines and books that include do-it-yourself, cooking, health, gardening, and children's titles. To market its many products, the Reader's Digest Association uses an extensive consumer database that is considered to be one of the largest in the world.

1. Introduction
2. The Early Years
3. The Mid-1900s: A Growing Enterprise
4. The 1970s and 1980s: The Changing Face of the Association
5. Company Perspectives:
6. The 1990s and Beyond
7. Key Dates:
8. Downsizing and Restructuring at Century's End
9. Principal Subsidiaries
10. Principal Competitors
11. Further Reading
12. Copyright Page
13. About Page