• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, January 10, 2014

The inexorable decline of print advertising continued in the fourth quarter of 2013, when total magazine ad pages declined 4.9% compared to the same period in 2012, from 43,492 to 41,342. For the full-year total, ad pages declined 4.1% from 151,943 in 2012 to 145,713.
 
Of 202 magazines tracked by the Publishers Information Bureau, 105 titles or 52% saw ad pages decline in the fourth quarter of 2013, with 49 titles (24%) experiencing declines of 10% or more and 19 titles (9%) experiencing declines of 20% or more. On the positive side, 45 titles (22%) saw ad pages increase 10% or more and 26 titles (13%) grew 20% or more.
 
The list of magazines experiencing significant declines included Autoweek, down 38% to 192 ad pages; Ladies’ Home Journal, down 21.7% to 178; Lucky, down 19% to 222; and Sports Illustrated, down 18.2% to 334. Smaller losses were seen at Seventeen, down 17.7% to 162; Country Living, down 17.6% to 148; Family Circle, down 15.6% to 268; Redbook, down 15.4% to 252; Time, down 11.9% to 370; ESPN Magazine, down 10.3% to 288; and People, down 10% to 806.
 
Turning to titles where ad pages increased in the fourth quarter, the list of gainers included men’s lifestyle mags Esquire, up 30.6% to 397 ad pages; GQ, up 18.8% to 476; and Details, up 17.1% to 268. Other titles on the upswing were HGTV Magazine, up 61.1% to 208; Inc., up 46.6% to 217; In Touch Weekly, up 31.2% to 203; Dwell, up 28.8% to 255; Men’s Health, up 28.7% to 322; Martha Stewart Living, up 23% to 330; Life & Style Weekly, up 22.5% to 186; Bon Appetit, up 20.3% to 213; and Women’s Health, up 20.3% to 236.
 
This marks the eleventh straight quarter of year-over-year declines for magazines tracked by the PIB. Taking a longer view, the 2013 total of 145,713 ad pages is down 41% from 246,147 in 2006.

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