The inexorable
decline of print advertising continued in the fourth quarter of 2013, when total magazine ad pages declined 4.9% compared to the same period in 2012, from 43,492 to 41,342. For the full-year total, ad
pages declined 4.1% from 151,943 in 2012 to 145,713.
Of 202 magazines tracked by the Publishers Information Bureau, 105 titles or 52% saw ad pages decline in the fourth quarter of
2013, with 49 titles (24%) experiencing declines of 10% or more and 19 titles (9%) experiencing declines of 20% or more. On the positive side, 45 titles (22%) saw ad pages increase 10% or more and 26
titles (13%) grew 20% or more.
The list of magazines experiencing significant declines included
Autoweek, down 38% to 192 ad pages;
Ladies’ Home Journal, down
21.7% to 178;
Lucky, down 19% to 222; and
Sports Illustrated, down 18.2% to 334. Smaller losses were seen at
Seventeen, down 17.7% to 162;
Country Living, down
17.6% to 148;
Family Circle, down 15.6% to 268;
Redbook, down 15.4% to 252;
Time, down 11.9% to 370;
ESPN Magazine, down 10.3% to 288; and
People, down 10%
to 806.
Turning to titles where ad pages increased in the fourth quarter, the list of gainers included men’s lifestyle mags
Esquire, up 30.6% to 397 ad pages;
GQ, up 18.8% to 476; and
Details, up 17.1% to 268. Other titles on the upswing were
HGTV Magazine, up 61.1% to 208; Inc., up 46.6% to 217;
In Touch Weekly, up 31.2%
to 203;
Dwell, up 28.8% to 255;
Men’s Health, up 28.7% to 322;
Martha Stewart Living, up 23% to 330;
Life & Style Weekly, up 22.5% to 186;
Bon
Appetit, up 20.3% to 213; and
Women’s Health, up 20.3% to 236.
This marks the eleventh straight quarter of year-over-year declines for magazines tracked by the
PIB. Taking a longer view, the 2013 total of 145,713 ad pages is down 41% from 246,147 in 2006.
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