• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, March 22, 2010

Monthly magazines may have hit bottom this winter, but spring isn't bringing a rebound -- at least so far -- according to the Media Industry Newsletter, which found that total ad pages in monthly magazines were basically flat with a 0.04% decline in April compared to the same month in 2009.

With the broader economy apparently stuck in the doldrums, and ad page figures stagnant at best, it seems clear that 2010 will be another tough year for consumer magazines (although not as disastrous as 2009).

Overall, MIN found that total ad pages at 152 monthly titles edged down from 10,464 to 10,460 in April, with the total for the first four months slipping 3.17% -- from 36,465 in 2009 to 35,311 this year. This time around, April's miniscule decline helped offset steeper declines in the first three months of the year.

The April figures actually contained good news for many titles, with double-digit gains not uncommon. As in previous months, the pattern of losses was top-heavy, meaning that the decline was concentrated in a relatively small number of titles that experienced substantial drops. Overall, 26 of the monthly titles (17% of the total) experienced declines of 0.1%-9.9%, 21 (14%) experienced declines of 10%-19.9%, and 18 (12%) experienced declines of 20% or more.

The combined total of 43% of monthly titles experiencing declines is in itself a huge improvement over previous months; in 2009, MIN's monthly figures routinely saw over 80% of the magazines experiencing ad page declines.