• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, October 12, 2010

The economy may be fickle, but hope springs eternal, judging by the raft of new magazines launched this year. Overall, 176 new magazines have debuted in the first nine months of 2010, according to MediaFinder, an online database of U.S. and Canadian publications maintained by Oxbridge Communications.

That's down 32% from 259 new launches in the first nine months of 2009, but an impressive number nonetheless, considering the extremely challenging print advertising environment.

The new launches in 2010 have been led by food magazines, with 24 new titles including Northeast Flavor, and regional interest, with 14 new titles including Bel-Air, according to MediaFinder. This year also saw the birth of 29 new business-to-business titles, like Sustainable Engineering.

Turning to magazine closings, just 127 magazines ceased publication in the first three quarters of 2010, down 67% from 383 in 2009 when print ad revenues were collapsing at the nadir of the economic downturn. (Or 433, if you include 64 titles that ceased print publication to go online-only.)  The worst category in terms of magazine closures this year has been shelter, with 12 magazines shuttered, reflecting the continuing woes of the residential real estate market. Sports enthusiast titles also took some hits, with 11 titles closing in 2010. Meantime, 44 business-to-business titles folded.

There's no question 2010 has seen a moderation of negative trends from 2009. Among the high-profile magazines to close in 2009 were Country Home, Teen, Wondertime, Domino (January), Hallmark (February), Best Life and Blender (March), Portfolio (April), Nickelodeon and Vibe (June), Southern Accents (August), Gourmet, Cookie, Modern Bride, and Elegant Bride (October), Fortune Small Business, Metropolitan Home (November) and National Geographic Adventure (December).

By contrast, relatively few high-profile magazines have closed this year, although there have been more casualties in the B2B arena, where big publishers like Reed Elsevier axed dozens of trade titles.