• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, April 15, 2008

Magazines felt the chill of a slowing economy in the first quarter of 2008, with ad pages falling 6.3% compared to the same period in 2007, according to figures released by the Publishers Information Bureau and TNS Media Intelligence. Including newspaper magazines, total ad pages fell from 54,126 in 2007 to 50,696 this year.

Total revenues remained basically flat with a slight 0.4% decline--although the decline may have been steeper, as the TNS figures are based on magazine rate cards. Many magazines offer discounts to advertisers on these rates that aren't publicly disclosed.

The decline in ad pages was led by the top six consumer magazine publishers, with Conde Nast down 2.6%, Time Inc. 5.3%, Hearst 3.2%, Bonnier 11.5%, Hachette Filipacchi 7% and Meredith 12.2%. However this only translated into a rate-card revenue decline at Time Inc., down 1.3%, and Meredith, down 4%.

Reflecting weakness in the U.S. economy, magazine ad pages were hit hardest in categories like automotive (down 21.3%), finance, insurance and real estate (5.6%), home furnishings and supplies (15.5%) and technology (16.3%). The direct-response category also took a wallop, down 14.1%. Only one category--food and food products--xperienced double-digit growth, with ad pages up 19.4%.