Tech's Still Ech, But 'Discontinueds' Discontinue In September

At a time when many major media are beginning to show signs of traction in the advertising marketplace, ad pages for the technology publications are continuing down their long, slippery slope.

Ad page volume declined nearly 16% in September, about the same rate or erosion that tech books have faced so far this year, thought it is a slight moderation from even higher double-digit rates of decline during the previous couple of years, according to estimates released Thursday by tech publishing leader CMP Media.

While the data reflects more of the same for an industry that many feel may be in a permanent free fall, there was one relatively positive indicator buried in the September data. For the first time in recent memory, the tracking study did not report any "discontinued" page comparisons for the sector, meaning no tech titles folded during the month.

Through the first nine months of 2003, so-called discontinued pages amounted to 308 of 2003's page losses. That compares with 3,269 discontinued pages during the first nine months of 2002.

Tech Ad Pages Continue To Languish


September 9 Months 12 Months
2003 Ad Pages: 6,735 51,881 72,030
2002 Ad Pages: 7,992 61,419 87,076
Difference: -15.7% -15.5% -17.3%

Source: CMP Media's IMS Auditor.

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