• by Ken Liebeskind , June 27, 2001

Many More People Watch TV Than Read Magazines, Right? Wrong.

FCB New York's fourth annual comparison of the top 25 TV shows and magazines shows that magazines delivered more gross rating points than TV shows. For instance, the GRPs for adults 18 to 23 are 241 for magazines compared with 210 for TV, meaning there are 241 million magazine impressions compared with 210 million for TV. The magazine GRP for almost every age group increased since last year, while the TV GRP dropped for many age groups.

In terms of specific magazines and TV shows, Readers Digest scored a 21.4 for adults 18 plus, meaning 21.4 percent of them read it. This compares with a 12.1 score for Survivor II, the TV show. Similarly, People, Sports Illustrated, Better Homes and Gardens and Ebony scored higher than shows like Millionaire, E.R. and My Wife & Kids.

The data comes from MRI, a magazine syndication service and Nielsen Media Research, which gathers TV viewing numbers.

"We always assumed that most popular TV show do much better than magazines, but it's not the case," says Rob Frydlewicz, the director of media resource for FCB New York. "TV is so high profile, you get a sense that even with audience erosion it reaches more than magazines."

FCB will share the data with its clients, who will use it to plan media buys. "They want to use magazines, but need more ammunition," Frydlewicz says. "This is something that helps them."

Magazine publishers will also use the data, which bolsters their cause. Copies of the study have been sent to Conde Nast, Hearst and the Magazine Publishers Association, Frydlewicz says. Magazines benefit because they don't have access to Nielsen data.

Other advertising agencies will also be interested in the report as they plan their own media buys.