• by Sara Guaglione , June 8, 2017

The key areas of focus are sponsored content, new events, increased video content and expanded presence on new platforms, per MPA - The Association of Magazine Media.

The study is the first Financial Benchmarking Study for MPA’s members in IMAG, a community of independent and enthusiast publishers, including both single and multi-brand companies.

Roughly 25% of the IMAG community participated in the study, though MPA would not name specific publishers. IMAG represents publishers such as Active Interest Media, AFAR, Domino, Harper’s Magazine Foundation and TEN: The Enthusiast Network.

The majority of the report is kept private for the participants, but a few key findings were made public.

According to MPA, the report found the “general financial performance of enthusiast titles is steady.” Three-quarters of revenue for IMAG members’ magazine brands comes from print products. The rest is split evenly between digital and other sources.

The results were presented as an overall, aggregated report, as well as one based on publishers’ revenue tier.

Companies with revenue over $100 million rely the least on print, according to the report. They have more diversified businesses, investing heavily in digital, events and ecommerce.

The report also found the majority of participants do not plan on raising subscription rates or newsstand prices in the coming year. Participants do plan to increase advertising pages in magazine issues, as well as continue to recruit digital staff. Their brand Web sites make up more than three-quarters of their digital revenue.

The survey was conducted in the last quarter of 2016 by Mazars USA, a global accounting firm.