• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, May 13, 2008

Most big magazine publishers saw total ad pages decline in the first four months of 2008 compared to the same period last year, according to the most recent Group Publisher's Report from TNS Media Intelligence. While some losses can be attributed to the closing of various titles since last year, the broad nature of the declines, cutting across a number of categories, looks ominous for the magazine industry.

(None of the magazines named in this article are necessarily the sources of declines at their respective publishing groups; they are simply some of the leading titles published by those companies.)

Among the "big three" publishers, Time Inc. is definitely faring the worst, with ad pages down 8.2% in the first four months of 2008 to 8,467. Conde Nast and Hearst experienced more modest declines. Conde Nast--which publishes Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour, GQ, Details and Portfolio--saw ad pages fall 2.9% to 11,961. Hearst--publisher of Good Housekeeping, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and Esquire--saw ad pages slip 0.6% to 5,614.

Enthusiast and lifestyle publishers were not spared. Bonnier Magazine Group--which purchased a number of enthusiast titles from Time Inc. in 2007, including Field & Stream, Popular Science and Parenting--saw ad pages fall 9% to 4,759 in the first four months of 2008.

Hachette Filipacchi Magazines (publisher of Elle, Woman's Day, Home, Car and Driver, and American Photo, among others) fell 7% to 4,083. Hachette closed the print version of Premiere, an entertainment news title, in favor of online-only publication in March 2007; the decline in ad pages may reflect this move, at least in part.

Meredith Corporation--publisher of women's interest titles, including Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies' Home Journal and Family Circle, saw ad pages tumble 13.4% to 3,359.

American Express Publishing Corp., which publishes Travel + Leisure and Food & Wine, is down 5% to 1,280 ad pages. Source Interlink, which publishes Motor Trend, Automobile, Hot Rod and Soap Opera Digest, is down 17.1% to 1,828. Finally, Wenner Media, publisher of Rolling Stone, Men's Journal and Us Weekly, is down 9.1% to 1,186.