• by Ross Fadner , November 15, 2005

In stark contrast to the rest of the industry, celebrity magazines are flying off the racks at newsstands. Print Impressions, a new study from Mediaedge:cia, says that newsstand circulation has jumped 8.9 percent for celebrity magazines this year, while industry-wide, newsstand circulation fell 3.4 percent.

Celebrity weeklies like People, US,and In Touch are dominating magazine sales at newsstands, and are continuing to gain momentum. In Touch Weekly and US Weekly are the year's top gainers in terms of newsstand circulation--surging 49 and 33 percent, respectively, according to the study--while People Weekly, the original celebrity journal, also showed gains of 2.5 percent.

People is still the undisputed top seller, with an average newsstand circulation of 1.5 million, followed by In Touch, at 1.1 million, and US, at 1.0 million.

According to the study, retailers--feeling the pinch from lower margins--are significantly less interested in providing a broad array of titles than putting out those that are guaranteed to sell. Celebrity titles, because they are guaranteed sellers, have escaped retailer's growing resistance to magazines.

This is further reflected in the newsstand performance of the top titles versus the industry overall. The study shows that the top 10 magazines with the largest average newspaper circulation had an average increase of 4 percent in sales this year, while the magazine industry overall saw newsstand circulation declines of 3.4 percent. In fact, the top celebrity magazines--People, Star, The National Enquirer, US Weekly, and In Touch--accounted for nearly a third of all newsstand revenue, or $783 million in 2004.

In addition to In Touch and US, other titles gaining significant newsstand presence this year were O (Oprah's magazine), Weight Watchers, Cosmo Girl, Real Simple, and Woman's World--all titles that are geared toward women.

However, the study notes that most magazines are generating less and less revenue from newsstands--partly because retailers have greater say over title selection and display decisions, which places greater pressure on publishers and distributors. In turn, the study recommends that publishers work harder to develop relationships with retailers and consumers.

The overall trend in newsstand circulation has been downward for several years now. Since June 2001, magazine industry newsstand circulation has fallen 11 percent, according to the study. As consumers increasingly look to the Internet to provide them with the same content they receive from print media, industry circulation rates for both magazines and newspapers continue to slide. The Audit Bureau of Circulations recently reported that newspaper circulation fell 2.6 percent in the last six months.