Magazines' hurt
goes unabated

Pages are down versus last May and year to date

By Jeff Bercovici


     Ad pages for the magazine industry were down yet again in May, marking the 18th month in a row of year-on-year page losses.
     Relief has yet to arrive for the categories that need it most: business and finance magazines, technology titles, travel and airline books.
    For the industry as a whole, ad pages were down 6.3 percent in May, totaling 20,268, according to new figures from the Publishers Information Bureau.
    One possible cause for optimism is ad revenue, which was up 2.4 percent to $1.51 billion in the month of May, the first year-to-year increase for any month since Jan. 2001.
    But the prolonged downturn has inspired such heavy discounting that revenue figures are considered even more unreliable than usual as an indicator of actual spending.
    Year-to-date, revenue is down 3.3 percent to $6.33 billion, and pages are off 11.6 percent to 87,217.
    Among the lucky few magazines to be coming out of the advertising recession virtually unscathed are Country Living and Country Home, which focus on the bucolic pleasures to be found outside the burgs and ‘burbs.
    Both titles are up year-to-date in both ad pages and revenue.
    Country Home is up almost 10 percent in pages, with 303.1 in the first five months of the year. The 1 million-circulation title saw ad revenue growth of 26.7 percent through May for a total of $32.8 million.
    Country Living is up a more modest 2.7 percent in year-to-date pages, with 407.8. Revenue growth of 14.5 percent resulted in the 1.6 million-circulation title taking in $40.4 million in the first five months of 2002.
    Having "Country" in your title is no guarantee of strong sales, however.
    Ad pages in 400,000-circulation Country Weekly are off 16.1 percent year-to-date, totaling 290.4, while ad revenue is down 14.1 percent to $3.8 million.
    Likewise, Town & Country's pages fell 15.9 percent through May to 506.2, and revenue slipped 8.6 percent to $26.6 million.

Airline


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s
million

2001 $s
million

 chnge

AMERICAN WAY

438.53

685.01

-35.98

10,006,572

14,728,946

-32.06

HEMISPHERES

225.07

452.95

-50.31

9,994,960

18,719,070

-46.61

SKY MAGAZINE

251.95

399.31

-36.90

11,077,620

16,217,000

-31.69

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES SPIRIT

371.10

415.60

-10.71

7,533,169

7,511,913

0.28

US AIRWAYS ATTACHE

205.66

332.45

-38.14

6,551,662

10,087,064

-35.05

Totals

1492.31

2285.32

-34.70

45163983

67263993

-32.86

Source: PIB



Automotive


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

AUTOMBLE MAGAZINE

286.44

291.46

-1.72

21,108,324

20,478,174

3.08

AUTOWEEK

462.72

579.03

-20.09

8,214,303

9,803,143

-16.21

CAR AND DRIVER

389.81

408.64

-4.61

41,460,549

40,613,976

2.08

HOT ROD

250.93

390.73

-35.78

11,369,928

13,518,063

-15.89

MOTOR TREND

324.87

322.60

0.70

37,969,499

31,395,562

20.94

ROAD & TRACK

421.76

434.38

-2.90

25,359,038

24,565,151

3.23

Totals

2136.53

2426.84

-11.96

145481641

140,374,069

3.64

Source: PIB



Entertainment/
Celebrity


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

BIOGRAPHY

116.53

176.80

-34.09

5,918,424

7,128,898

-16.98

ENTRTNMNT WEEKLY

722.13

710.35

1.66

83,802,021

77,126,950

8.65

MOVIELINE

91.83

136.83

-32.89

2,281,998

3,072,440

-25.73

PEOPLE 

1,438.02

1,506.68

-4.56

276,963,426

271,191,968

2.13

PREMIERE

133.55

173.37

-22.97

6,800,318

8,689,762

-21.74

US 

391.00

364.66

7.22

24,123,340

21,257,668

13.48

VANITY 
FAIR

656.74

728.46

-9.85

47,323,396

52,846,449

-10.45

Totals

3549.80

3797.15

-6.51

447,212,923

441,314,135

1.34

Source: PIB



Music


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

ROLLING STONE

521.45

509.23

2.40

54,967,598

51,759,010

6.20

SOURCE

432.33

566.59

-23.70

11,331,901

12,907,031

-12.20

SPIN

303.72

365.16

-16.83

13,625,351

15,191,105

-10.31

VIBE

420.46

430.21

-2.27

27,966,425

25,095,986

11.44

Totals

1677.96

1871.19

-10.3

107,891,275

104,953,132

2.8

Source: PIB



Women's health


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

FITNESS

336.56

251.74

33.69

25,300,101

17,382,302

45.55

HEALTH

375.59

365.95

2.63

25,748,555

23,072,079

11.60

SELF

423.00

457.00

-7.44

31,652,164

32,260,042

-1.88

SHAPE 

346.46

364.90

-5.05

30,528,422

30,965,075

-1.41

Totals

1481.61

1439.59

2.9

113229242.00

103679498.00

9.2

Source: PIB



Teen mags


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

COSMOGIRL

200.00

194.08

3.05

13,002,360

9,861,224

31.85

SEVENTEEN

469.46

519.39

-9.61

43,125,477

42,705,506

0.98

TEEN

186.39

197.98

-5.85

9,534,584

15,766,550

-39.53

TEEN PEOPLE

322.85

400.37

-19.36

24,740,047

28,775,118

-14.02

YM

330.13

289.75

13.94

32,671,045

25,211,959

29.59

Totals

1508.83

1601.57

-5.8

123,073,513

122,320,357

0.62

Source: PIB



Women's service/beauty


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

ALLURE

425.56

460.71

-7.63

24,692,384

25,052,234

-1.44

COSMO

684.87

806.44

-15.07

103,225,191

112,251,528

-8.04

GLAMOUR

522.26

622.46

-16.10

53,742,076

59,301,105

-9.37

JANE

302.46

319.83

-5.43

11,917,991

12,066,849

-1.23

MARIE CLAIRE

563.80

630.13

-10.53

38,551,345

38,544,310

0.02

Totals

2,498.95

2,839.57

-12.0

232,128,987

247,216,026

-6.1

Source: PIB



Fashion


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

ELLE

579.22

803.54

-27.92

40,158,223

52,912,048

-24.10

HARPER'S BAZAAR

558.67

731.81

-23.66

38,666,624

45,931,347

-15.82

VOGUE

1,057.44

1,227.98

-13.89

69,960,533

79,074,108

-11.53

W

671.70

837.14

-19.76

44,290,770

50,635,036

-12.53

Totals

2,867.03

3,600.47

-20.4

193,076,150

228,552,539

-15.5

Source: PIB



Travel


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

ARTHUR FROMMER'S BUDGET TRAVEL 272.98 252.60 8.07 6,401,005 4,671,200 37.03

CONDE NAST TRAVELER

498.29

661.91

-24.72

26,808,385

35,810,700

-25.14

TRAVEL HOLIDAY

421.73

394.50

6.90

19,378,971

17,754,636

9.15

TRAVEL+
LEISURE

497.11

691.72

-28.13

32,846,294

45,596,688

-27.96

Totals

1,690.11

2000.73

15.53

85,434,655

103,833,224

-17.72

Source: PIB



Personal finance


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

KIPLINGERS PERSNL FINANCE

237.62

310.92

-23.58

17,459,476

20,199,432

-13.56

MONEY

293.18

431.25

-32.02

44,495,192

56,486,736

-21.23

MUTUAL FUNDS

176.91

257.77

-31.37

13,757,333

16,312,644

-15.66

SMART
MONEY

274.62

385.90

-28.84

16,996,367

22,241,282

-23.58

WORTH

203.12

213.58

-4.90

8,879,094

10,900,018

-18.54

Totals

1,185.45

1,599.42

-25.9

101,587,462

126,140,112

-19.5

Source: PIB



Newsweeklies


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

NEWSWEEK

728.22

729.36

-0.16

144,805,755

133,700,329

8.31

TIME

868.53

931.01

-6.71

211,013,973

217,572,409

-3.01

U S NEWS & WORLD REPORT

508.99

547.64

-7.06

70,086,596

71,380,872

-1.81

ECNMIST

1,032.00

1,246.00

-17.17

25,714,526

29,432,235

-12.63

Totals

3,137.74

3,454.01

-9.2

451,620,850

452,085,845

-0.10

Source: PIB



Women's Service


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

BETTER HOMES & GARDENS

731.72

718.85

1.79

212,943,779

195,373,748

8.99

FAMILY CIRCLE

525.98

527.82

-0.35

101,562,154

105,525,292

-3.76

GOOD HSKPNG

580.30

625.87

-7.28

131,194,809

125,732,294

4.34

LADIES' HOME JOURNAL

478.73

502.01

-4.64

78,170,821

76,763,394

1.83

REDBOOK

431.13

521.53

-17.33

43,912,341

47,511,912

-7.58

ROSIE

383.77

145.55

163.67

53,858,604

18,318,349

194.01

WOMAN'S DAY

594.08

678.69

-12.47

106,582,114

112,516,890

-5.27

Totals

3,725.71

3,720.32

0.1

728,224,622

681,741,879

6.8

Source: PIB



Sports


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

ESPN

518.15

500.90

3.44

60,943,150

47,314,032

28.81

SPORTING NEWS

293.50

283.59

3.50

11,198,179

8,779,433

27.55

SPORTS ILLSTRD

976.03

922.04

5.86

254,913,843

221,957,864

14.85

Totals

1,787.68

1,706.53

4.8

327,055,172

278,051,329

17.6

Source: PIB



Men's


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

DETAILS

275.92

287.28

-3.96

8,774,147

9,995,652

-12.22

ESQUIRE

310.37

378.31

-17.96

22,601,289

23,928,689

-5.55

FHM

292.17

176.18

65.83

19,057,192

8,070,355

136.14

GEAR

153.67

137.50

11.76

6,242,378

4,244,805

47.06

GQ

536.40

635.79

-15.63

33,142,305

38,706,939

-14.38

MAXIM

417.95

437.04

-4.37

60,754,570

55,856,736

8.77

MENS FITNESS

320.98

291.73

10.03

14,843,603

12,410,037

19.61

MENS HEALTH

286.03

279.78

2.23

29,384,681

26,924,943

9.14

MENS JOURNAL

308.77

385.82

-19.97

17,540,821

21,788,315

-19.49

PLAYBOY

233.20

270.27

-13.72

29,067,163

29,868,680

-2.68

STUFF FOR MEN

272.50

228.35

19.33

18,144,074

11,715,700

54.87

Totals

3,407.96

3,508.05

-2.9

259,552,223

243,510,851

6.6

Source: PIB



Sunday mags


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

AMERICAN PROFILE

176.89

156.71

12.88

21,227,600

11,594,788

83.08

LOS ANGELES TIMES

202.25

212.38

-4.77

9,204,320

8,267,094

11.34

NY TIMES MAG

1,208.66

1,387.80

-12.91

77,105,778

82,702,211

-6.77

PARADE

268.64

265.00

1.38

245,109,454

242,999,524

0.87

USA WkEND

262.84

239.03

9.96

152,085,418

124,172,532

22.48

Totals

2,119.28

2,260.92

-6.3

504,732,570

469,736,149

7.5

Source: PIB



Outdoor


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

OUTDOOR LIFE

119.81

132.05

-9.27

5,536,719

7,813,275

-29.14

OUTSIDE MAGAZINE

340.48

384.44

-11.43

21,381,422

22,339,527

-4.29

FIELD & STREAM

201.47

197.11

2.21

17,568,173

17,502,632

0.37

SPORTS AFIELD

128.08

100.24

27.77

3,310,310

2,716,392

21.86

Totals

789.84

813.84

-2.9

47,796,624

50,371,826

-5.11

Source: PIB



Golf


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

2001 $s

 chnge

GOLF DIGEST

580.74

562.55

3.23

39,409,345

64,235,325

-38.65

GOLF FOR WOMEN

178.26

108.67

64.03

4,055,904

4,288,726

-5.43

GOLF MAGAZINE.

576.94

602.30

-4.21

62,579,591

52,429,839

19.36

GOLF WORLD

669.87

548.96

22.02

12,115,968

12,584,260

-3.72

T&L 
GOLF

231.05

268.21

-13.85

11,181,512

10,951,542

2.10

Totals

2236.86

2090.69

7.0

129,342,320

144,489,692

-10.48

Source: PIB



Business/Finance


Title

2002 pages

2001 pages

 chnge

2002 $s

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