• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 24, 2012

According to The Audit Bureau of Circulations, U.S. newsstand magazine sales fell nearly 10% in the first half of 2012, a sign for publishers that suggests Americans are still being careful about discretionary spending. Overall circulation, including subscriptions, was just about flat from a year earlier. But single-copy sales, which are more closely watched, continued to fall.

The report says that single-copy sales at newsstands and other retailers totaled 26.4 million in the first six months of 2012, down from 29.1 million in the same period last year.

Cosmopolitan was still the top-selling magazine at newsstands, even though its sales fell nearly 16% to 1.4 million. Most of the top 25 best-selling magazines saw their sales decline. Family Circle and Woman’s Day were among the exceptions. Weight Watchers magazine saw the biggest sales decline, nearly 28%, to 325,950 copies in the first six months of the year.

Total circulation, which includes digital sales such as issues sold on the iPad, was just about flat at 297.1 million. Paid subscriptions grew 1% to 260 million from 257.2 million

People are more careful about spending magazine money in the uncertain economy and because of the proliferation of free content on the Web, sometimes from the magazines themselves. The Audit Bureau also released, for the first time, the top 25 best-selling digital replica magazines (digital versions of print magazines that contain the same content and advertising as their paper counterparts). Game Informer Magazine was by far the No. 1 highest-circulation digital replica magazine, with 1.2 million copies. Maxim was No. 2 with 284,824.

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