After An '04 Turnaround, Magazine Ad Pages Dip Again In January

In a potentially ominous start to the new year, demand for magazine ad pages dipped in January, after posting a turnaround during 2004. The number of ad pages sold by consumer magazines in January fell 0.4 percent over January 2004, according to estimates released Wednesday by the Publishers Information Bureau.

The fall-off follows a modest turnaround for ad page demand during 2004, which saw total page sales rise 3.8 percent over 2003.

The January 2005 ad page demand compares with January 2004, which rose 1.3 percent over January 2003, and January 2003, which was up 5.8 percent over January 2003.

Despite the relatively tepid overall demand in January, Ellen Oppenheim, executive vice president/chief marketing officer of the Magazine Publishers of America, cited "solid growth" among key magazine ad categories, including automotive, food, media and finance, "whose double-digit gains in pages have offset the relative softness in other major categories."

January Ad Page, Dollar Growth/Decline


Ad Pages Ad Dollars
January 2005 -0.4% +9.7%
January 2004 +1.3% +9.4%
January 2003 +5.8% NA*

Source: Publishers Information Bureau. *A restatement in the way the PIB calculates magazine ad revenue data makes 2003 results incomparable.

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