Video Consumption By Mag Audience Increases Popularity, Improves User Experience

Magazine media audiences continue to increase their consumption of video content, defined as unique viewers who watched a video via a player owned or operated by a publisher or clearly branded video channel.

That’s according to the latest Magazine Media 360° Brand Audience Report from The Association of Magazine Media. 

The video audience has increased by 39.4% since April 2016. According to last month's MPA Brand Audience Report, video was up 43.9% year-over-year.

Print and digital audiences (visitors not subscribers) are up 5.5%, compared to the same month a year ago. Digital audiences consume electronic issues of a publication on a magazine distribution service, such as e-reader Texture or the mag’s app version on a table or smartphone.

Web audiences using desktops or laptops have dipped by 12.5%, while mobile audiences, unique visitors that visit a site on a mobile device, are relatively flat.

Total magazine media audiences  — across print, Web, mobile Web and video — is up 1.9%, compared to April 2016.

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The report covers 126 magazine media brands from 30 companies, representing roughly 95% of magazine readership. The top five magazine brands with the most total audience for April 2017 were ESPN The Magazine, People, Forbes, WebMD and Allrecipes, the same lineup as last month’s report.

The top magazine brand with the greatest percentage growth in total audience for April 2017 compared to a year ago was Teen Vogue, with a 78.3% increase in total audience numbers. The Condé Nast-owned teen magazine has been gaining popularity ever since it made headlines in December with a biting op-ed about President Donald Trump.

Teen Vogue was followed by Allure, Vanity Fair, Autoweek and W in MPA's Brand Audience Report for April 2017.

The findings are reflected, in part, in PWC’s “Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2017-2021” report. It suggests the key for magazine — and newspapers — to survive the next five years is to improve user experiences. It also believes diversifying is critical to protecting magazine companies’ revenue, especially with events businesses.

Deborah Bothun, PwC’s global entertainment and media leader, stated: “The next era of differentiation in [entertainment and media] is being defined and propelled by consumers’ increased demand for live, immersive, sharable experiences. Consumers want to get closer, more engaged and better connected with the stories they love – both in the physical and digital worlds."

The report, which forecasts consumer spending and advertising revenues in the entertainment and media (E&M) industry, was not encouraging.

Magazine revenue is expected to rise from $30.2 billion in 2016 to $30.5 billion in 2021. Newspaper revenue is expected to decline even more, from $29.6 billion in 2016 to $23.9 billion in 2021, per PwC.

Consumer magazine advertising revenue will drop about 9.7% from $11.2 billion in 2016 to $6.7 billion in 2021, while digital consumer advertising revenue will rise about 13.1%, growing from $5.4 billion in 2016 to $9.9 billion in 2021, according to PwC.

The report suggests emerging technologies, including augmented reality and virtual reality, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, data analytics, cloud, 3D printing, and cybersecurity have the potential to improve user experience.

This article has been updated.

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