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and now the numbers to prove it
Biz, news and music categories lead the pack
By Jeff Bercovici
Want proof that the U.S. economy boomed in 1999? Look no further than the ad pages of America's top magazines.
Business publications were the hottest category of magazine last year, gaining 25.3 percent in advertising revenue and 17.6 percent in ad pages over the previous year.
All four business titles tracked by the PIB--Business Week, Fast Company, Forbes and Forture--gained strongly in ad dollars in 1999. Business Week led the way with a net increase of $81.7 million, boosting its ad revenue to $443.3 million.
Percentage-wise, Fast Company was the biggest gainer, jumping 139.4 percent in ad revenue, to $37.6 million.
Fast Company also had the largest percent increase in ad pages (60.9 percent), giving it a total of 1,685 for the year. Business Week added the most pages overall--954.5--leaving it with 5,122 pages on the year.
Forbes and Fortune also experiences 20-plus percent gains in ad revenue in 1999.
Business wasn’t the public’s only interest last year, though. Americans also went in for their tunes in 1999.
The music titles tracked by the PIB, including Rolling Stone, Vibe, Spin, The Source and Blaze, grew revenue substantially across the board.
Thank the hip-hop explosion for propelling the tiny Blaze to a 213 percent revenue increase (to $9.9 million), but rock books Rolling Stone (up 17.8 percent to $159.9 million) and Spin (up 26.6 percent to $46 million) gained on a par with the rap-oriented Vibe (up 23.2 percent to $56.8 million) and The Source (up 26.3 percent to $26.1 million).
Blaze nearly tripled its ad pages (up 176.3 percent to 555), while the other four titles experienced more modest gains.
Teen magazines also seem to have had an outstanding year, growing nearly 24 percent in ad revenue as a category. Look closer, however, and you’ll see that Time Inc.’s Teen People was almost single-handedly responsible for the category’s activity.
Teen People boosted its ad revenue 143.8 percent to $47.6 million, leapfrogging past competitors YM ($47.5 million) and Teen ($42.3 million). Teen People finished the year second to category leader Seventeen in both ad dollars ($96.8 million for Seventeen in 1999) and ad pages (1340 for Seventeen, 932 for Teen People).
Likewise in men’s magazines, it was one hot performer against an otherwise placid backdrop. Dennis Publishing’s Maxim achieved ad revenue growth of 210 percent in 1999, giving it a total of $45.7 million. That’s far behind leader GQ’s $92.4 million total, but nearly even with second place Esquire’s $47.5 million take.
Predictably, the editorially adrift Details was off in both dollars (down 14.7 percent to $32.6 million) and pages (down 21.8 percent to 880).
Women’s fashion and beauty books had a generally solid year. Conde Nast’s Vogue consolidated its frontrunner status, boosting both ad revenue and ad pages by about 20 percent. Vogue’s $181.2 million in ad revenue was $60 million ahead of runner-up Elle’s total.
The much-smaller Marie Claire had a strong year, swelling ad dollars to $64.1 million, a 24.8 percent increase. Fellow Conde Nast title Allure didn’t fare so well, off 11.5 percent in dollars and 16 percent in pages from 1998.
Of the Seven Sisters women’s service titles, all held just about level or grew slightly with the exception of Ladies’ Home Journal, which was down 9.6 percent in revenue to $192.7 million, and 10 percent in pages to 1,340.
In the Sunday magazines category, the New York Times Magazine enjoyed a 19 percent increase in ad dollars, ending with $196.5 million on the year, and a 15 percent jump in pages, for a total of 3,648.
Time magazine led the newsweeklies category, growing ad revenue to $658.3 million (up 17.2 percent) and adding 10.6 percent more ad pages. Competitors Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report each saw single-digit increases in revenue and ad pages.
Newsweeklies |
||||||
| Titles | 1999 pages |
1998 pages |
% change |
1999 dollars (millions) |
1998 dollars (millions) |
% change |
Newsweek |
2599.16 |
2517.06 |
3.3 |
437.9 |
399.9 |
9.5 |
Time |
3130.95 |
2837.09 |
10.6 |
658.3 |
561.6 |
17.2 |
U.S. News |
2058.73 |
1957.52 |
4.6 |
248.8 |
226.8 |
9.7 |
| Totals | 7788.84 |
7311.67 |
6.53% |
1345 |
1188.3 |
13.19% |
| Source:PIB |
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Business/Finance |
||||||
| Titles | 1999 pages |
1998 pages |
% change |
1999 dollars (millions) |
1998 dollars (millions) |
% change |
Business Week |
5121.81 |
4167.3 |
22.9 |
443.3 |
361.6 |
22.6 |
Fast Co. |
1685.35 |
1047.13 |
60.9 |
37.6 |
15.7 |
139.4 |
Forbes |
5063.3 |
4733.7 |
7 |
320.8 |
265.3 |
20.9 |
Fortune |
4406.26 |
3898.59 |
13 |
320.8 |
253.6 |
26.8 |
| Totals | 16276.72 |
13846.72 |
17.55% |
1122.5 |
896.2 |
25.25% |
| Source:PIB
|
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| Men's
|
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| Titles | 1999 pages |
1998 pages |
% change |
1999 dollars (millions) |
1998 dollars (millions) |
% change |
Details |
879.73 |
1125.68 |
-21.8 |
32.6 |
38.2 |
-14.7 |
Esquire |
908.23 |
807.14 |
12.5 |
47.5 |
42.6 |
11.5 |
GQ |
1886.87 |
2035.15 |
-7.3 |
92.4 |
88.6 |
4.3 |
Maxim |
956.34 |
629.26 |
52 |
45.7 |
14.7 |
210.8 |
POV |
525.71 |
603.59 |
-12.9 |
14.3 |
11.2 |
28.1 |
| Totals | 5156.88 |
5200.82 |
-0.84% |
232.5 |
195.3 |
19.05% |
| Source:PIB |
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| Sisters |
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| Titles | 1999 pages |
1998 pages |
% change |
1999 dollars (millions) |
1998 dollars (millions) |
% change |
Family Circle |
137 6.0 |
1390.3 |
-1 |
238.1 |
218.8 |
8.8 |
Good Housekeeping |
1443.5 |
1413.1 |
2.1 |
258.7 |
240.8 |
7.4 |
Ladies Home J. |
1340.2 |
1500.9 |
-10 |
192.7 |
213.3 |
-9.6 |
McCall's |
996.2 |
1040.9 |
-4.3 |
133.8 |
122.1 |
9.5 |
Redbook |
1314.3 |
1288.9 |
4.4 |
118.7 |
121.1 |
-2 |
Woman's Day |
1707.3 |
1702.1 |
0.3 |
247.7 |
229.2 |
8.1 |
| Totals | 10126.5 |
10273.0 |
-1.43% |
1634.2 |
1555.4 |
5.07% |
| Source:PIB |
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Teens |
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| Titles | 1999 pages |
1998 pages |
% change |
1999 dollars (millions) |
1998 dollars (millions) |
% change |
Seventeen |
1340.08 |
1404.17 |
-4.6 |
96.8 |
89.7 |
8 |
Teen |
616.85 |
614.26 |
0.4 |
42.3 |
36.8 |
14.9 |
Teen People |
932.38 |
707.15 |
31.9 |
47.6 |
19.5 |
143.8 |
YM |
606.23 |
663.51 |
-8.6 |
47.5 |
43.4 |
9.4 |
| Totals | 3495.54 |
3389.09 |
3.14% |
234.2 |
189.4 |
23.65% |
| Source:PIB |
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| Music |
||||||
| Title | 1999 pages |
1998 pages |
% |
1999 dollars (millions) |
1998 dollars (millions) |
% |
Blaze |
555.5 |
201 |
176.3 |
9.9 |
3.1 |
212.7 |
Rolling Stone |
20 80.0 |
1994.5 |
4.3 |
159.9 |
135.7 |
17.8 |
Spin |
1180.6 |
1015.7 |
16.2 |
46 |
36.3 |
26.6 |
The Source |
1604.1 |
1409.6 |
13.8 |
26.1 |
20.6 |
26.3 |
Vibe |
1242.0 |
1167.6 |
6.4 |
56.8 |
46.1 |
23.2 |
| Totals | 6662.2 |
5788.3 |
15.1 |
298.7 |
241.8 |
23.53 |
| Source:PIB |
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| Sunday
magazines |
||||||
| Titles | 1999 pages |
1998 pages |
% change |
1999 dollars (millions) |
1998 dollars (millions) |
% change |
L.A. Times |
696.65 |
674.13 |
3.3 |
24.5 |
22.7 |
8.1 |
N.Y. Times |
3648.23 |
3,173.69 |
15 |
196.5 |
165.1 |
19 |
Parade |
622.28 |
636.43 |
-2.2 |
532.9 |
517.1 |
3.1 |
USA Weekend |
623.96 |
613.14 |
1.8 |
293.9 |
274.6 |
7 |
| Totals | 5591.12 |
5097.39 |
9.69% |
1047.8 |
979.5 |
6.97% |
| Source:PIB |
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-Jeff Bercovici is a staff writer for Media Life.