133 Magazines Launched, Outpacing Closures

by Erik Sass @eriksass1, July 13, 2012

Domino-Quick-FixesLouisiana-Kitchen New magazine launches outpaced magazine closures by a substantial margin in the first half of 2012, according to MediaFinder.com, an online database of U.S. and Canadian publications owned by Oxbridge Communications.

The first six months of 2012 saw 133 magazines launch, while just 48 closed, with the largest number of new launches coming in the “regional interest” and “food” categories -- continuing a trend that was evident in previous MediaFinder.com surveys.

New launches in the first half of 2012 include Voice of San Diego Monthly and Louisiana Kitchen, as well as a print edition of AllRecipes.com currently being tested by Meredith. The Domino brand also returned to print with Domino Quick Fixes, although it’s not clear whether Domino itself, shuttered by Conde Nast in 2009, will ever be revived.

M, Best Life and Elle Accessories also returned to print this year.

Among the 48 titles closed in the first half of 2012 were Reality Weekly, Soap Opera Weekly and NFL Magazine. On the positive side, the number of closures was down sharply from 2011, when 74 titles closed in the first half of the year.

The new launches come despite a difficult magazine advertising environment.

Earlier this week, the Publishers Information Bureau announced that total consumer magazine ad pages declined 8.5% from 44,795 in the second quarter of 2011 to 40,969 in the second quarter of 2012. Total advertising revenues, based on official rate cards, slipped 3.2% to $5.5 billion.

advertising, magazines, trends

2 comments about "133 Magazines Launched, Outpacing Closures".

Check to receive email when comments are posted.

Scott Olson from Mediaspace Solutions, July 16, 2012 at 7:25 a.m.
It's interesting that among the new titles many of them focus on their local markets. Do you see that as a trend as advertisers and publishers look to connect with audiences in their immediate vicinity? It seems like print as a vehicle has immense potential to effectively reach the local audience and this uptick in new local publications appears to support that.
Reply

Sal Lima from My Taste LLC, July 16, 2012 at 2:54 p.m.

133 New Magazines Lauches in 2012, I wonder where this information comes from? As there are other Magazines that are lauched but not Accounted for!