Commentary

Magazine Advertising A Slow Month

by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, November 8, 2001

Magazine Advertising A Slow Month

The latest release from the Publishers Information Bureau (PIB) shows total magazine advertising revenue for the month of October closed at $1,629,475,871, a 9.6% decrease from last year. Advertising pages for October were 23,237, down 16.8% from last year. Year-to-date, advertising revenue decreased 3.4%, closing at $13,349,187,089, and ad pages were 197,251, down 10.1% over last year.

Summary of Details (Twelve categories are the most significant contributors to PIB revenue, comprising more than 85% of total advertising spending.)

October 2001 vs October 2000

  +-------------------+---------+--------+---------+--------+  |                   |    2001 |   %CHG | 2001PGs |  % CHG |  |
| (mil.$) |        |         |        |  +-------------------+---------+--------+---------+--------+  | Automotive        |  $168.4 |   3.0% |   1,929 |  -6.8% |  | Toiletries &      |  $145.8 |
6.4% |   1,830 |  -1.4% |  | Cosmetics         |         |        |         |        |  | Apparel &         |  $145.7 | -12.3% |   2,622 | -20.8% |  | Accessories       |         |        |         |
|  | Home Furnishings  |  $128.3 |   3.8% |   1,595 |  -3.3% |  | & Supplies        |         |        |         |        |  | Technology        |  $117.2 | -39.9% |   1,576 | -44.2% |  | Food & Food
|  $116.6 |   7.9% |     995 |  -2.7% |  | Products          |         |        |         |        |  | Direct Response   |  $114.3 |  13.4% |   1,904 |   1.4% |  | Companies         |         |
|         |        |  | Financial,        |  $105.7 | -24.6% |   1,372 | -28.8% |  | Insurance & Real  |         |        |         |        |  | Estate            |         |        |         |
|  | Drugs & Remedies  |  $102.5 |  -9.1% |   1,071 | -15.3% |  | Retail            |   $94.8 |  -9.3% |   1,540 | -18.0% |  | Media &           |   $94.0 | -28.5% |   1,156 | -32.0% |  | Advertising
|         |        |         |        |  | Transportation,   |   $66.4 | -22.6% |   1,407 | -16.2% |  | Hotels & Resorts  |         |        |         |        |
+-------------------+---------+--------+---------+--------+

January – October 2001 vs. 2000 (YTD) Gains were noted in seven out of 12 categories for the year-to-date comparison.
Year-to-date

  +-----------------------+-------------+--------+--------+--------+  |                       |        2001 |   %CHG |   2001 |  % CHG |  |
| (million $) |        |    PGs |        |  +-----------------------+-------------+--------+--------+--------+  | Automotive            |    $1,356.7 |  -0.2% | 15,983 |  -8.8% |  | Toiletries &
|    $1,199.2 |  19.0% | 14,272 |   9.7% |  | Cosmetics             |             |        |        |        |  | Apparel & Accessories |    $1,075.5 |   4.4% | 20,847 |  -3.1% |  | Drugs & Remedies
|    $1,042.8 | 10.0 % | 10,824 |   1.3% |  | Technology            |    $1,017.9 | -26.6% | 14,595 | -32.2% |  | Food & Food Products  |      $985.9 |   6.2% |  8,789 |   0.1% |  | Home Furnishings &
|      $945.0 |   0.8% | 12,346 |  -5.0% |  | Supplies              |             |        |        |        |  | Direct Response       |      $911.0 |   5.8% | 16,152 |  -0.8% |  | Companies
|             |        |        |        |  | Financial, Insurance  |      $802.4 | -14.4% | 11,072 | -19.9% |  | & Real Estate         |             |        |        |        |  | Media &
Advertising   |      $799.9 | -13.8% |  9,823 | -21.1% |  | Retail                |      $709.2 | -16.9% | 12,538 | -20.2% |  | Transportation,       |      $643.9 |   4.1% | 12,761 |  -0.5% |  |
Hotels & Resorts      |             |        |        |        |  +-----------------------+-------------+--------+--------+--------+

"Magazines, like all media, are feeling the effects of the economic downturn, as well as the repercussions from September 11th," noted Ellen Oppenheim, Executive Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer, MPA.