• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, April 11, 2004

Magazine Advertising Gains Pages and Dollars in March

According to the recent release from the Magazine Publishers of America, total magazine advertising reported rate card revenue for the month of March 2004 increased 6.7%, compared to March of last year. Year-to-date, rate card revenue closed at an increase of 7%, with ad pages showing a 2.3% decline at 48,191.71 versus last year.

Ellen Oppenheim, Executive Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer, MPA, said "We're seeing a shift in trends from the last couple of years. For example, the Financial, Insurance & Real Estate category, which has been greatly impacted by the struggling economy, registered an uptick in March and first quarter overall. Conversely, a different spending pattern appears to be emerging in 2004 for Automotive, which includes launches scheduled towards the latter part the year."

March 2004 vs. 2003 Seven of the 12 major advertising categories recorded both page and dollar gains in March.

	2004 Dollars	% Chg	2004 Pages	% Chg
Apparel & Accessories	202,195,698	10.6	2,887.22	2.5
Automotive	190,805,281	4.1	1,917.78	-7.9
Toiletries & Cosmetics	149,376,185	20.6	1,438.62	10.9
Drugs & Remedies	141,549,432	-15.6	1,288.62	-16.3
Food & Food Products	137,412,716	12.6	977.23	2.7
Retail	128,801,838	14.9	1,750.43	6.7
Home Furnishings & Supplies	119,171,519	3.4	1,317.36	1.1
Direct Response Companies	110,715,726	4.0	1,583.96	-7.7
Financial, Insurance & Real Estate	101,327,024	25.6	1,108.44	13.5
Media & Advertising	97,698,724	13.0	926.90	1.7
Public Transportation, Hotels & Resorts	92,951,133	15.1	1,405.70	-6.0
Technology	92,655,909	0.6	1,046.86	-4.0

January - March 2004 vs. 2003 Year-to-date, six of the 12 major advertising categories experienced an increase in both pages and revenues over March 2003.

	2004 Dollars	%Chg	2004 Pages	%Chg
Automotive	439,816,206	3.0	4,262.88	-9.8
Drugs & Remedies	380,401,146	-3.1	3,328.04	-8.4
Apparel & Accessories	354,400,187	13.1	5,193.90	1.6
Toiletries & Cosmetics	347,756,211	16.1	3,243.57	7.9
Food & Food Products	335,120,169	7.2	2,328.57	0.1
Direct Response Companies	308,319,296	5.1	4,328.49	-5.1
Home Furnishings & Supplies	294,890,630	5.1	3,153.26	-0.1
Media & Advertising	265,061,497	10.2	2,448.81	-2.7
Technology	226,172,159	-0.3	2,742.64	-6.2
Retail	218,270,364	11.7	2,980.63	1.4
Public Transportation, Hotels & Resorts	208,590,147	20.5	3,208.25	1.7
Financial, Insurance & Real Estate	204,094,506	11.7	2,344.80	1.8

You can find out more here.