• Advertising Age, Tuesday, May 26, 2009 9:45 AM

The average age of magazine readers is rising faster than the overall population. The median age of U.S. adults increased 1.3 years to 45.2 since spring 2004, per Mediamark Research. But the median age of adult readers at nearly 200 U.S. publications went up 1.6 years to 44. At many titles, the audience is getting older even faster. The median reader age rose 3.7 years at the Sunday Chicago Tribune since 2004, for example.

For magazines that want to keep their readers young, this article offers a few tips. They include: Go bigger in supermarket checkouts and at newsstands, where younger people pick up more publications. Also, when pushing subscriptions, lean on the Web as much as possible -- including servicing and upselling subscribers through the magazine's web platform.

At least print's not alone in the "aging" challenge. "All traditional media, mainstream media, are struggling to maintain younger consumers," says Brad Adgate, director of research at Horizon Media.

Read the whole story at Advertising Age »