• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, September 15, 2011

After enjoying several years of stability, the total audience for 70 major American consumer magazines dipped from 2010-2011, according to a MediaPost analysis of data from GfK MRI. Although there have been audience fluctuations in the past, this large year-over-year decrease is ominous, coming as it does alongside falling newsstand sales and stagnant ad pages.

(70 magazines in various genres were included. Some of the titles in this analysis were: Architectural Digest, Automobile, Better Homes & Gardens, Bon Appetit, Consumer Reports, Cooking Light, Cosmopolitan, New York, Shape, Smart Money, Travel & Leisure and Vanity Fair, Vogue and Woman's Day.

As noted, the total audience for the 70 magazines remained relatively static -- around 690 million from spring 2005-spring 2010, according to GfK MRI, with a total audience of 690.3 million in 2005, 687 million in 2006 (a 0.5% decrease), 684.2 million in 2007 (-0.5%), 713 million in 2008 (+4.2%), 691.3 million in 2009 (-3%), and 693 million in 2010 (+0.3%). However, in spring 2011 the total audience dipped to 674.3 million, for a 2.7% loss.

While this loss is relatively small, it is the first time the collective audience for this group of magazines has dipped below 680 million -- and some individual titles have experienced much bigger declines.

From spring 2005-spring 2011, Reader's Digest was the biggest loser, plunging 36.6% from 41 million to 26 million. Newsweek was next, with total audience tumbling from 20.3 million to 13.3 million, for a 34.5% decrease. Other titles experienced smaller drops. Family Circle slipped from 22.1 million to 18.9 million, for a 14.5% decline. House Beautiful was down from 7.1 million to 5.8 million, a 19% decline. Hot Rod slid from 7.4 million to 6.4 million, for a 13.4% drop. Ladies' Home Journal slumped from 14.8 million to 12.2 million, decreasing 17%. Maxim fell 13.8% from 13.1 million to 11.3 million. And Time fell 16.4% from 22.6 million to 18.9 million.

There were some bright spots in the GfK MRI data, however. The biggest gainer was In Touch Weekly, which rocketed 153% from three million to 7.6 million. Cosmopolitan increased 7% from 17 million to 18.2 million; Elle jumped 20.4% from 4.9 million to 5.9 million; Food & Wine grew 18% from 6.3 million to 7.4 million; In Style soared 23% from 8.3 million to 10.3 million; Men's Fitness increased 25% from 6.1 million to 7.7 million; Men's Health rose 36.4% from 9.5 million to 12 million; Men's Journal increased 40% from 2.7 million to 3.8 million; and People jumped 13.5% from 39.5 million to 44.9 million.