Commentary

Magazine Ad Data Shows Growth

According to Publishers Information Bureau (PIB) in the first quarter of 2010, 85 magazines posted an increase in ad pages, compared to 15 magazines during the same period in 2009. One hundred and one magazines registered PIB revenue gains in Q1, versus 28 titles in the same period of last year.

Ellen Oppenheim, Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, Magazine Publishers of America, said "The picture was brighter with an increase in major categories posting ad page and revenue growth, despite softness overall... In addition, almost six times as many titles generated ad page gains in the 1st quarter compared to first quarter of 2009, another sign of industry improvement. The positive trending... suggests that second quarter performance for magazines will be stronger."

Total magazine rate-card-reported advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2010 closed at $4,045,091,620, posting a 3.9% decline against the same period in 2009, Ad pages during the first quarter totaled 34,794.94, at -9.4% compared to January through March, 2009. 

The magazines that saw ad revenue and page growth in three of 12 major advertising categories during the first quarter of 2010 are Automotive; Financial, Insurance & Real Estate; and Toiletries & Cosmetics.  This marks the first time since 2007, that the Auto category has posted an increase in both revenue and pages. The gains were driven primarily by Detroit activity. Cosmetics, personal hygiene and hair products boosted the Toiletries category, while credit cards and banking contributed to the growth in Finance.

Other major categories that saw an ad spending uptick within subsectors in the first quarter:

  • Pharmaceutical companies and fitness/diet programs in Drugs & Remedies
  • Footwear, jewelry and other clothing accessories in Apparel & Accessories
  • Branded clothing shops and discount department stores in Retail
  • Household appliances, supplies and cleansers in Home Furnishings & Supplies
  • Communications companies in Technology

Q1 2010 vs. 2009 Details

Class Name 

2010Dollars

%Chg

2010Pages

%Chg

Drugs & Remedies 

489,872,914

-6.7

3,740.50

-15.6

Toiletries & Cosmetics 

488,569,493

11.5

3,154.59

7.6

Food & Food Products 

422,454,562

-9.3

2,503.11

-9.5

Apparel & Accessories 

317,319,567

-11.6

3,436.67

-15.7

Media & Advertising 

308,990,907

-8.5

2,368.44

-13.0

Retail 

301,388,045

-0.4

2,672.70

-6.2

Direct Response Companies 

280,975,605

-7.1

2,765.59

-8.0

Automotive 

231,589,115

16.3

1,692.94

1.3

Home Furnishings & Supplies 

193,875,120

-0.8

1,447.89

-10.2

Financial, Insurance & Real Estate 

190,354,469

18.3

1,594.39

11.3

Public Transportation, Hotels & Resorts 

179,941,364

-17.6

2,322.36

-13.0

Technology 

140,526,634

-19.7

1,279.91

-14.7

Source: PIB, Data As Of April 7th, 2010

For more details about the categories, please visit here, or for individual magazine totals, go here.

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