• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, February 27, 2009

As feared, the first quarter of 2009 delivered a body blow to monthly consumer magazines--with total ad pages falling 21.6% compared to the same period in 2008, according to MIN Online. Worse, the declines appeared to accelerate over the course of the first quarter, holding out little hope for a turnaround in subsequent months. Magazines have been hit by the worst economic downturn in decades, coupled with competition from the Internet for readership and advertising.

Total monthly magazine revenues declined 17% in January, 19.3% in February, and 26% in March. These followed drops of 12.4% in October, 14.1% in November, and 17.8% in December of last year.

Most of the big monthly titles, across all the different categories, were hit hard.

Among women's beauty and lifestyle titles, ad pages fell 34% at Allure, 25% at Elle, 22% at Glamour, 21% at Harper's Bazaar, 29% at In Style, 35% at Lucky and 28% at Vogue. Shelter and domestic titles targeting women continued their downward spiral, with ad pages tumbling 47% at Architectural Digest, 37% at Dwell, 37% at Martha Stewart Living, 34% at Real Simple, 29% at Southern Living, 23% at This Old House and 36% at Town & Country. Cooking and epicurean titles were not spared either, as ad pages fell 25% at Bon Appetit, 18% at Cooking Light, 30% at Food & Wine and 42% at Gourmet.

Automobile titles--which mostly targeted men--suffered along with the meltdown in the U.S. auto industry, with ad pages crashing 38% at Automobile, 23% at Car and Driver, 31% at Motor Trend and 33% at Road and Track. Men's lifestyle and health titles also plunged, with ad pages down 36% at Best Life, 32% at Details, 25% at Esquire, 33% at GQ, 33% at Maxim, 24% at Men's Health and 34% at Men's Journal.

Music titles were hit particularly hard, with ad pages plummeting 60% at Blender, 37% at Spin, 42% at Vibe, and 28.4% at biweekly Rolling Stone (through February only). Last but not least, the big losers among business titles include Portfolio, down 60%, Inc., down 47%, Money, down 30%, and Fast Company, down 29%.