Men who page through Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue can't travel with those beautiful models to the exotic locations that serve as backdrops in the photographs.

But they can get an idea of what that might be like by watching a documentary that airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. on CNBC. The broadcast date coincides with the day the newest issue hits newsstands.

"Business Model: Inside the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue" examines the birth of this wildly successful publication, the year-round planning involved, which models have benefited most from appearing on its cover and how the formula has been tweaked to engage the Twitter generation.

(Of course there's an iPhone application that allows you to take pictures of the models with you. And www.siswimsuit.com had 22 million hits on the first day of its launch in 2008.)

There's good reporting here and great images. Darren Rovell, a sports business reporter, serves as anchor and accompanies the statuesque Julie Henderson to a location that won't be revealed until the documentary is broadcast.

This particular place, he tells us, was used as a Hollywood backdrop and NASA test site. Filled with sand, mountains, cactus and flamingoes frolicking in water, the remote spot had temperatures ranging from a chilly 15 degrees to a more comfortable 75.

Some of the early footage shows Ms. Henderson, a 5-foot-10-inch Texas woman who wears a bikini with preternatural grace, posing atop a white horse and then bending backward with such ease that you wonder if her next career will be as a contortionist with Cirque du Soleil. In conversations with Mr. Rovell, she's so likable that you can't help but root for her to be the one woman chosen from 18 models to grace the cover.

There are interviews with models Cheryl Tiegs, Carol Alt and Kathy Ireland, who appeared in the issue 13 times. She kept modeling because businesses she started failed; now, her company does $1 billion plus in annual sales.

Viewers also meet M J Day, the senior associate editor who, with the help of an assistant, sorts through a closet filled with 25,000 bathing suits before packing 750 into about a dozen suitcases before leaving on a shoot. Oh, and don't forget the jewelry. A woman needs to accessorize, even on the beach.

"We're the fantasy factory," Ms. Day said.

Sports Illustrated lost money for years, but the swimsuit issue, launched as a five-page supplement in 1964, helped it turn a profit. Managing editor Andre LaGuerre is widely credited with the idea, but it was really the brainchild of Fred Smith, an exacting editor who always knew the best hotels and guides in places like Bora-Bora.

With his help, Julie Campbell arranged the shoots, wielded five cameras and accompanied the models until retiring in 1996. Ms. Campbell always told readers where to buy the suits, a reporting technique she copied from Glamour magazine. The issue draws 22 million female readers who use it as a guide to buying swimwear.

Mr. Rovell notes the National Organization for Women has called the swimsuit issue "a catalog of sexism." He also revisits the controversial 1978 cover, which featured Cheryl Tiegs in a white one-piece fishnet suit. Sales soared, but some readers canceled their subscriptions. To this day, Ms. Tiegs tells him, she still does not understand why the picture had such an impact.

When Ms. Tiegs modeled for the cover, she did her own makeup. The current entourage includes a photographer and three assistants, a makeup artist and a video crew. SI staff members travel to six locations, including spots such as Chile and the Maldives.

Creators of swimsuits and jewelry send their work to the magazine staff in hopes their wares will appear on the models. Ever heard of Bhati beads? They were created by Margaret Maggard, a Milwaukee yoga instructor who sent a dozen of her designs to Ms. Day and was delighted to see them appear in a swimsuit issue.

Lisa Curran, a swimsuit designer, sends 50 to 100 suits to the magazine each year. She appeared one day in Ms. Day's office and began modeling her creations.

SI staffer Diane Smith and other staff members sort through 155,000 images before choosing the cover. Mr. Rovell's documentary will show that moment as well as reaction at newsstands.

Last year, 350 publications, including Gourmet magazine, ceased publication. If nothing else, this look at the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue shows how old media can attract new audiences.

Doug Oster writes a blog, "Growing With Doug," exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.