Cautiously Optimistic: Mag Ad Pages Stable In 2010

Magazines-A

2010 did not represent recovery so much as stability for the consumer magazine business -- but stability is better than the steep losses seen in previous years. Total ad pages were basically flat last year, with a 0.1% decline compared to 2009, to 169,634, according to the latest figures from the Publishers Information Bureau.

Official rate card revenues increased 3.1% to just under $20.1 billion; however, rate card figures aren't necessarily accurate. They can hide discounts granted by publishers behind closed doors.

Both PIB ad pages and revenue figures got a boost in the fourth quarter, when ad pages increased 3.5% and revenues increased 4.2% -- making it the third quarter in a row to see the business growing by both measures.

The stabilization was led by the return of automotive advertising, a key category that suffered as carmakers struggled during the economic downturn. Total automotive ad pages jumped 16.9%, while rate card revenues increased 21.9% compared to 2009.

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The single biggest automotive advertiser was General Motors, with official rate card spending soaring 56% from $246,456,000 in 2009 to $385,380,000 in 2010.

PIB also reported ad page growth in categories including financial, insurance and real estate, up 9.3%; toiletries and cosmetics, up 11.6%; technology, up 2.4%; retail, up 1.5%; and home furnishings and supplies, up 0.7%.

The gains were limited to about half the consumer magazine business, with 128 of 241 titles tracked by PIB -- 53% of the total, to be precise -- enjoying ad page growth in 2010. However, that proportion compares favorably with 2009, when just 22 of 256 titles (8.6%) showed increases. About a dozen titles closed in 2009-2010, which accounts for the disparity in these totals.

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