Magazines see ad pages fall yet further
Tumble 7.4 percent in the first half of 2008
By Lisa Snedeker
Jul 11, 2008
The first three months of 2008 were rough for consumer magazines, with ad pages falling 6.3 percent, the steepest in years.
By the looks of things, the second quarter was even rougher.
That's according to the latest data from the Publishers Information Bureau. They show ad pages slipped at an even faster pace between April and June.
Pages fell 7.4 percent over the first six months of the year, to 111,798.85 from 120,767.29 for the same period in 2007. That figure includes ad pages for Sunday magazines as well.
But in the second quarter pages slid 8.3 percent, to 50,695.60 from 54,126.39 for the same three months in 2007, suggesting that the ad climate for consumer titles is likely to get worse, even though some media forecasters are anticipating a stronger second half in overall ad spending.
Magazine ad revenues for the six months were reported to be down by 2.8 percent, to $12,492,275,667, but the decline was probably much steeper. That figure was based on rates cards before discounting, and in these hard times discounting is the norm.
A major factor in those page declines was a pullback by pharmaceutical advertisers, a category that had been increasing its spending steadily over recent years, and in the process offsetting cutbacks by other top categories, such as automotive.
In the first half of 2008, drugs and remedies, the top category, saw ad pages fall 13.2 percent, and in the second quarter the pace accelerated to a 20.5 percent decline.
Other major decliners in the first half were automotive, the No. 8 category, down 21.3 percent, and toiletries, the No. 3 category, off 11.1 percent.
Of the 13 categories tracked by PIB, only four saw page gains, food, up 6.9 percent, retail, up 2.3 percent, media and advertising, up 0.8 percent, and public transit and hotels, up 0.5 percent.
Of the 23 categories of magazines tracked by Media Life, all but one saw pages decline for the first half. Only women's fashion titles were up, and by a modest 0.1 percent.
Among the worst-hit categories were the business titles, off 10.2 percent, and newsweeklies, down 15.3 percent.
Automotive
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
AUTOMOBILE MAGAZINE
35,203,520
37,283,895
-5.6
385.19
431.71
-10.8
AUTOWEEK
17,812,180
21,131,907
-15.7
513.91
621.60
-17.3
CAR AND DRIVER
94,927,091
98,566,899
-3.7
477.24
522.34
-8.6
HOT ROD
30,740,191
30,088,418
2.2
309.48
323.62
-4.4
MOTOR TREND
79,669,549
85,521,941
-6.8
513.47
586.78
-12.5
ROAD & TRACK
61,518,120
60,368,782
1.9
530.19
546.06
-2.9
TOTALS
319,870,651
332,961,842
-3.9
2,729.48
3,032.11
-10.0
Source: PIB
Entertainment/Celebrity
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
95,393,109
109,630,312
-13.0
605.39
727.51
-16.8
IN TOUCH WEEKLY
74,053,486
64,941,314
14.0
591.10
516.86
14.4
LIFE & STYLE WEEKLY
19,770,973
21,585,798
-8.4
309.12
321.53
-3.9
OK WEEKLY
29,992,783
20,752,248
44.5
368.16
279.57
31.7
PEOPLE
451,779,759
456,504,133
-1.0
1,723.61
1,812.14
-4.9
STAR
90,421,344
100,647,859
-10.2
626.52
619.34
1.2
TV GUIDE
103,132,873
94,602,475
9.0
504.06
511.22
-1.4
US WEEKLY
157,374,563
156,544,020
0.5
916.23
983.20
-6.8
TOTALS
1,021,918,890
1,025,208,159
-0.3
5,644.19
5,771.37
-2.2
Source: PIB
Teen magazines
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
COSMOGIRL
32,966,570
36,914,151
-10.7
298.23
348.97
-14.5
J-14
3,160,254
3,226,605
-2.1
102.43
111.90
-8.5
SEVENTEEN
45,901,883
45,897,394
0.0
376.84
399.74
-5.7
TEEN VOGUE
51,477,690
44,763,807
15.0
517.81
495.39
4.5
TOTALS
133,506,397
130,801,957
-2.1
1,295.31
1,356.00
-4.5
Source: PIB
Women's service/beauty
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
ALLURE
88,584,869
85,140,805
4.0
741.69
787.75
-5.8
COSMOPOLITAN
186,101,082
208,649,181
-10.8
791.09
931.80
-15.1
GLAMOUR
156,510,629
163,511,666
-4.3
860.20
937.19
-8.2
MARIE CLAIRE
66,455,744
68,202,304
-2.6
597.98
645.13
-7.3
TOTALS
497,652,324
525,503,956
-5.3
2,990.96
3,301.87
-9.4
Source: PIB
Fashion
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
ELLE
144,181,759
129,040,931
11.7
1,170.57
1,100.18
6.4
HARPER'S BAZAAR
95,062,185
82,820,318
14.8
890.22
813.71
9.4
LUCKY
75,774,570
82,179,553
-7.8
722.22
822.34
-12.2
TOWN & COUNTRY
76,786,163
63,000,504
21.9
735.20
772.11
-4.8
VOGUE
180,609,822
172,597,259
4.6
1,328.13
1,322.43
0.4
W
74,018,848
71,205,150
4.0
881.05
893.85
-1.4
TOTALS
646,433,347
600,843,715
7.6
5,727.39
5,724.62
0.1
Source: PIB
Travel
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
ARTHUR FROMMERS BDGT TRVL
17,936,152
16,457,302
9.0
362.67
388.82
-6.7
CONDE NAST TRAVELER
87,961,460
80,393,633
9.4
811.48
781.99
3.8
DEPARTURES
34,574,611
32,267,731
7.1
428.62
438.63
-2.3
ENDLESS VACATION
4,907,074
5,320,431
-7.8
65.42
67.63
-3.3
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRVLR
20,242,031
18,330,860
10.4
284.16
274.86
3.4
TRAVEL+LEISURE
73,986,168
76,228,955
-2.9
718.81
772.96
-7.0
TOTALS
239,607,496
228,998,912
4.6
2,671.16
2,724.89
-2
Source: PIB
General Interest & Lifestyle
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
AARP-THE MAGAZINE
72,946,550
86,684,711
-15.8
129.62
163.07
-20.5
ATLANTIC MONTHLY THE
14,858,525
15,354,890
-3.2
242.59
295.13
-17.8
GUIDEPOSTS
22,092,508
19,473,015
13.5
271.41
246.99
9.9
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
52,286,062
45,315,206
15.4
234.06
210.77
11.0
NEW YORK MAGAZINE
112,631,495
98,441,424
14.4
1,615.21
1,479.52
9.2
NEW YORKER
79,576,222
93,470,799
-14.9
665.15
832.65
-20.1
READER'S DIGEST
130,581,780
169,072,261
-22.8
469.74
552.07
-14.9
SMITHSONIAN
37,091,163
35,112,910
5.6
273.34
267.18
2.3
SOUTHERN LIVING
101,376,107
103,799,588
-2.3
619.96
664.69
-6.7
SUNSET
41,939,884
46,137,364
-9.1
417.41
489.98
-14.8
TEXAS MONTHLY
38,828,011
42,063,992
-7.7
1,017.84
1,116.54
-8.8
VANITY FAIR
120,617,186
125,879,404
-4.2
838.70
919.78
-8.8
TOTALS
824,825,493
880,805,564
-6.4
6,795.03
7,238.37
-6.1
Source: PIB
Parenting
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
AMERICAN BABY
51,601,598
50,032,198
3.1
285.60
297.42
-4.0
BABY TALK
34,131,307
32,271,172
5.8
232.94
229.94
1.3
CHILD
0
28,923,235
-
0.00
404.64
-
COOKIE
25,285,773
11,061,717
128.6
333.79
222.71
49.9
FAMILY FUN
52,195,049
46,099,036
13.2
341.00
318.38
7.1
PARENTING
61,494,531
64,704,398
-5.0
423.02
427.79
-1.1
PARENTS
105,533,795
88,926,950
18.7
674.89
601.25
12.2
WONDERTIME
9,891,118
6,913,991
43.1
223.95
206.38
8.5
TOTALS
340,133,171
328,932,697
3.4
2,515.19
2,708.51
-7.1
Source: PIB
Personal finance
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
BARRONS
33,015,439
32,153,259
2.7
778.40
781.07
-0.3
KIPLINGERS PERSNL FINANCE
16,179,316
18,257,308
-11.4
221.69
261.88
-15.3
MONEY
63,805,637
65,210,485
-2.2
336.06
344.05
-2.3
SMARTMONEY
20,393,594
25,132,636
-18.9
242.23
310.21
-21.9
TOTALS
133,393,986
140,753,688
-5.2
1,578.38
1,697.21
-7.0
Source: PIB
Newsweeklies
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
ECONOMIST
65,674,919
52,993,388
23.9
1,245.47
1,200.98
3.7
NEWSWEEK
157,085,725
223,581,051
-29.7
687.99
887.07
-22.4
THE WEEK
12,606,735
13,005,508
-3.1
247.89
282.18
-12.2
TIME
211,889,130
252,598,738
-16.1
798.42
1,011.69
-21.1
U S NEWS & WORLD REPORT
92,948,379
125,790,743
-26.1
542.88
779.22
-30.3
TOTALS
540,204,888
667,969,428
-19.1
3,522.65
4,161.14
-15.3
Source: PIB
Women's Service
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
BETTER HOMES & GARDENS
375,599,402
402,091,685
-6.6
840.16
962.61
-12.7
FAMILY CIRCLE
175,295,556
191,017,499
-8.2
730.41
853.87
-14.5
FIRST FOR WOMEN
23,496,940
20,949,461
12.2
344.60
326.07
5.7
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
268,415,047
256,529,022
4.6
812.97
818.58
-0.7
LADIES' HOME JOURNAL
149,823,967
165,237,192
-9.3
611.07
713.17
-14.3
MARTHA
STEWART LIVING
93,909,643
89,782,349
4.6
633.29
651.84
-2.8
MORE
57,470,858
65,232,939
-11.9
452.59
590.49
-23.4
REAL SIMPLE
134,216,979
132,270,830
1.5
872.21
904.19
-3.5
REDBOOK
99,765,338
106,109,774
-6.0
704.51
766.04
-8.0
WOMAN'S DAY
201,871,311
196,939,866
2.5
811.68
835.46
-2.8
WOMANS WORLD
15,861,310
14,461,840
9.7
179.62
181.64
-1.1
WOMEN'S HEALTH
40,940,254
20,072,377
104.0
375.15
282.65
32.7
WORKING MOTHER
17,937,194
14,276,700
25.6
270.02
226.47
19.2
TOTALS
1,654,603,799
1,674,971,534
-1.2
7,638.28
8,113.08
-5.9
Source: PIB
Fan Sports
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
ESPN MAGAZINE
122,955,850
134,350,806
-8.5
589.93
692.07
-14.8
SPORTING NEWS
14,249,031
18,948,158
-24.8
225.78
326.78
-30.9
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
314,517,004
324,256,034
-3.0
924.20
992.86
-6.9
TOTALS
451,721,885
477,554,998
-5.4
1,739.91
2,011.71
-13.5
Source: PIB
Personal Sports
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
BICYCLING
21,331,784
20,789,809
2.6
376.47
392.94
-4.2
GOLF DIGEST
91,572,740
93,512,949
-2.1
730.85
782.61
-6.6
GOLF FOR WOMEN
15,972,097
15,060,939
6.0
258.31
279.45
-7.6
GOLF MAGAZINE
100,295,288
98,070,785
2.3
625.47
627.78
-0.4
GOLF WORLD
26,774,008
24,259,539
10.4
788.97
757.53
4.2
RUNNERS WORLD
36,560,250
33,811,839
8.1
353.36
346.16
2.1
SKI
7,419,384
9,013,513
-17.7
125.71
150.88
-16.7
SKIING
4,287,867
4,832,403
-11.3
81.64
90.23
-9.5
TENNIS
12,546,516
15,561,288
-19.4
243.01
284.99
-14.7
TRAVEL + LEISURE GOLF
16,963,401
16,506,871
2.8
214.34
218.10
-1.7
TOTALS
333,723,335
331,419,935
0.7
3,798.13
3,930.67
-3.4
Source: PIB
Weekend magazines
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
AMERICAN PROFILE
118,721,484
105,366,059
12.7
290.89
287.11
1.3
LIFE MAGAZINE
0
37,236,406
-
0.00
98.84
-
LOS ANGELES TIMES MAGAZINE
10,130,848
12,389,882
-18.2
213.82
254.04
-15.8
NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE
181,291,296
189,782,971
-4.5
1,563.85
1,707.34
-8.4
PARADE
322,567,148
311,094,977
3.7
345.71
348.62
-0.8
RELISH
62,343,887
34,472,571
80.9
110.69
85.53
29.4
USA
WEEKEND
242,651,604
241,361,985
0.5
349.76
357.54
-2.2
TOTALS
937,706,267
931,704,851
0.6
2,874.72
3,139.02
-8.4
Source: PIB
Men's
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
DETAILS
32,823,616
31,531,796
4.1
542.84
544.86
-0.4
ESQUIRE
48,393,664
48,395,821
0.0
431.00
456.89
-5.7
FHM
0
9,611,491
-
0.00
90.14
-
GQ
84,864,885
82,775,562
2.5
666.09
702.27
-5.2
MAXIM
91,470,314
85,884,925
6.5
388.19
385.46
0.7
MEN'S FITNESS
34,828,570
35,931,250
-3.1
454.39
452.38
0.4
MEN'S HEALTH
74,079,571
79,618,723
-7.0
459.76
524.71
-12.4
MEN'S JOURNAL
55,800,136
47,472,307
17.5
616.02
550.61
11.9
MEN'S VOGUE
15,281,680
11,421,662
33.8
271.51
248.85
9.1
PLAYBOY
34,072,458
38,879,558
-12.4
215.70
221.19
-2.5
STUFF
0
32,964,281
-
0.00
296.71
-
TOTALS
471,614,894
471,523,095
0.02
4,045.5
4,177.36
-3.2
Source: PIB
Shelter
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST
88,131,407
80,041,380
10.1
816.39
786.10
3.9
COTTAGE LIVING
16,731,585
16,460,031
1.6
239.50
244.14
-1.9
COUNTRY HOME
70,659,467
71,983,654
-1.8
328.06
372.36
-11.9
COUNTRY LIVING
71,416,677
69,367,581
3.0
495.74
514.62
-3.7
DOMINO
25,493,305
18,895,765
34.9
307.31
304.55
0.9
DWELL
21,228,019
20,750,126
2.3
582.37
627.84
-7.2
ELLE DECOR
44,709,432
41,931,994
6.6
577.73
565.89
2.1
HOME
21,493,281
30,881,535
-30.4
206.69
298.95
-30.9
HOUSE & GARDEN
0
47,553,649
-
0.00
433.61
-
HOUSE BEAUTIFUL
47,778,537
42,482,270
12.5
374.45
330.25
13.4
METROPOLITAN HOME
45,750,829
43,868,390
4.3
494.33
475.95
3.9
THIS OLD HOUSE
24,204,033
25,155,759
-3.8
295.09
321.59
-8.2
TRADITIONAL HOME
50,038,651
55,502,305
-9.8
349.78
412.02
-15.1
VERANDA
25,906,520
21,586,937
20.0
477.72
420.17
13.7
TOTALS
553,541,743
586,461,376
-5.6
5,545.16
6,108.04
-9.2
Source: PIB
Bridal
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
BRIDAL GUIDE
42,073,313
48,773,734
-13.7
1,065.38
1,264.71
-15.8
BRIDE'S
112,641,528
105,041,419
7.2
1,508.26
1,476.54
2.1
ELEGANT BRIDE
9,391,785
9,588,796
-2.1
258.71
293.44
-11.8
MODERN BRIDE
81,789,988
80,481,892
1.6
1,091.29
1,137.67
-4.1
TOTALS
245,896,614
243,885,841
0.8
3,923.64
4,172.36
-6.0
Source: PIB
Epicurean
Year to date
Titles
2008
$s
2007 $s
%
chnge
'08
pages
'07
pages
%
chnge
BON APPETIT
52,214,692
51,413,882
1.6
427.54
445.22
-4.0
COOKING LIGHT
63,220,273
68,183,577
-7.3
615.76
719.58
-14.4
EVERY DAY W/ RACHAEL RAY
49,591,000
32,815,325
51.1
375.61
325.41
15.4
EVERYDAY FOOD
14,086,595
15,091,283
-6.7
265.26