Magazine Advertising Trends
2008’s Huge 1st Quarter Losses Cost Industry Millions of Dollars
Were the losses due to the softening of the American economy or were they brought on by permanent switches to online and digital advertising media?
Advertising in America’s major consumer and business magazines dropped from 54,126 ad pages in the first quarter of 2007 to 50,695 pages in the first three months of 2008, a loss of 3,365 pages, according to the Publishers Information Bureau (PIB). That decreased the total ad revenue of the 245 magazines to $5.2 billion, or about $63.8 million.
The decrease in the number of ad pages was 6.4% and the drop in ad income was 1.2%. Those do not seem like severe losses until compared with traditional increases in previous quarterly reports.
Did the losses mirror what President Bush called a "slowdown" in the economy, or did they reflect strategic movements of ad dollars from magazines to online and digital media? The answer could help determine whether the magazine industry might recover when the economy improves, or whether advertisers are permanently switching millions of their dollars away from the print media.
The answer probably varies from one industry sector to another and was complicated by reports of significant ad growth in more than a score of magazines. Guidepost ad pages, for instance, increased 36.6%. Yankee Magazine was up 21.2% and so were numerous new publications.
PIB Report Revealed Trouble in Recreational Business Magazines
But whatever the reason, PIB’s first quarter magazine ad report showed many more trouble spots than encouraging ones in the first three months of the year.
Trouble in the recreational business, for instance, was signaled by sharp drops in first quarter ad pages in such magazines as Golf for Women, down 34.9%; Ride BMX 31.4%; Motorboating 30.5%; Yachting 28.2%; Boating 24.1%; Cycle World 23.9%; Salt Water Sportsman 22.9% and Power & MotorYacht 19.4%.
The music magazine field was also hit hard, as evidenced by ad page declines at Rolling Stone 32.6%; Vibe 22.1%; and Blender 19.5%. Spin beat the downward trend with a 21.9% increase in ad pages.
Smart Money, Kiplinger and Business Week Income Tumbled
Several business magazines suffered badly. Smart Money went down 21.4%; Kiplinger’s Personal Finance 20%; Business Week 19.4%; Fortune Small Business 18.6% and Forbes 13.2%.
Autoweek Magazine paced a less severe drop in the auto field. It’s ad pages declined 20.8%. Automobile Magazine fell 13.5% and Motor Trend declined 13.1%. Car and Driver showed a 3.5% increase in ad pages.
Even two of America’s top magazines for kids experienced severe losses. National Geographic for Kids dropped from 22 pages in the first quarter of 2007 to just 11 pages in January, February and March of 2008, a 49.2% plunge. Sports Illustrated for Kids went from 39.5 ad pages in 2007 to 22.6 in the first quarter of 2008, nearly a 43% decline.
At the other end of the age field, AARP Magazine showed a 23.8 % drop in ad pages and an 18.3% decrease in ad revenue, falling from nearly $58 million to $47.3 million.
U.S. News, Readers Digest and TIME Suffered Big Losses
General news magazines experienced ad page losses also. U.S. News & World Report was down 37.5%; Readers Digest 19.4%; TIME 17.8% and Newsweek 13.9%.
Other hard hit magazines included:
- Scientific American with a 41.7% decline in ad revenue. Its ad pages fell from 130 in the first quarter of 2007 to 79 in the first three months of 2008.
- Coastal Living with a 41% drop in ad pages (239 to 141) and a 35.3% fall in ad revenue, from $12 million to $7.8 million.
PIB’s second quarter report in July will be watched closely to see if the ad losses are the start of a long-term trend or simply a bump in the overall economy.
