Mag Bag: Digital Circ Remains Low, Print Newsstand Drops

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Digital Circ Remains Low, Print Newsstand Drops

While magazine publishers are aggressively expanding their digital content and hawking digital subscriptions, digital circulation remains a small proportion of total circulation, according to the Alliance for Audited Media.
 
In the six-month period ending December 2012, the 289 American magazines tracked by AAM had a total digital circulation (defined as digital replica editions) of 7.9 million, equal to around 2.4% of the overall combined print and digital circulation of 329.2 million. The digital circ proportion is up from 1.7% in the first half of 2012, indicating that digital circ is growing rapidly, albeit on a small base.
 
According to AAM, the magazine boasting the biggest digital circulation is Game Informer, with 2,305,816 digital replica editions. Next up is Maxim, with digital circ of 259,529, followed by Cosmopolitan, with digital circ of 254,751. National Geographic came in fourth with digital circ of 160,077, while fifth place went to Poder Hispanic, with 149,838. Reader’s Digest had a digital circ of 147,149, and Taste of Home 103,961.
 
On the print side, the latest AAM figures did not offer much to celebrate, with newsstand sales continuing to decline at many magazines, with big women’s interest titles especially hard hit. Single-copy sales fell 23.3% at OK! Weekly, 21.5% at Marie Claire, 19.8% at Ladies’ Home Journal, 19.1% at Life & Style Weekly, 18.5% at Cosmopolitan, 17.4% at Good Housekeeping, 16.1% at Martha Stewart Living, and 14.6% at US Weekly.
 
New York’s The Cut Blows Up Fashion Week - In a Good Way
 
New York is expanding its online coverage for Fashion Week with a number of new features at The Cut, its fashion and lifestyle Web site. The expanded coverage includes guides and editors’ pics and slide shows, as well as a number of special contributors. Fifteen to 21 fashion shows will be added daily, with full-screen slide shows, full-screen detail shots, a zoom tool, and back views of looks from the top shows. Other special features include live streaming video from 10 of the biggest shows.The Cut is also partnering with Carine Roitfeld’s CR Fashion Book for an insider’s look into fashion events by following notable personalities.
 
I-5 Publishing Buys Cat Fancy, Other BowTie Titles
 
A new company, I-5 publishing, has acquired BowTie's portfolio of animal enthusiast titles, including Cat Fancy, Dog Fancy and Horse Illustrated, among others. According to Folio:, I-5 Publishing is a joint venture formed by Mark Harris, co-owned of National Publisher Services, and David Fry, chairman of NPI ventures and CTO of Fry Communications. Although exact terms of the deal were not released, Folio: reports that it is worth roughly $10 million, according to Harris and Fry.
 
Schwarzbaum Leaves Entertainment Weekly
 
Lisa Schwarzbaum, a veteran movie and TV columnist who has become a fixture at Entertainment Weekly, is leaving the magazine after 22 years, including 17 spent writing about Hollywood’s good, bad, and ugly. Schwarzbaum accepted a buyout offer from the magazine in order to “expand the kind of writing (and kind of living) that I do,” possibly including a book and an online venture of some sort.
 
Hansen Stepping Down From Wired.com
 
Evan Hansen is stepping down as the editor of Wired.com, and will be replaced by Mark McClusky, who formerly served as editorial development director. No word as to why Hansen is leaving. Publisher Condé Nast also announced that Hayley Nelson has been appointed director of product for Wired.com. She previously served as a senior product manager at The New York Times.

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1 comment on "Mag Bag: Digital Circ Remains Low, Print Newsstand Drops".

1. Henry Blaufox from Dragonsearch Marketing
   

   commented on: February 8, 2013 at 9:08 a.m.
   I think the trend to watch for in magazine digital circulation is tablet editions, rather than digital replica editions all lumped together. It is via tablets that magazines are trying to provide the most compelling experience for readers. I use "compelling" to encompass entertaining, informative, innovative, interactive and social experiences, depending on the publication and target audiences. Each of the properties is experimenting with this in different ways, at different rates of speed and adoption. Due to the fluid nature of digital design and development, no one approach will remain set for long periods. There will be a lot of tinkering for awhile. We in the industry need to see how this works over time.

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