• by Erik Sass , November 9, 2006

Ad pages were slightly down and revenue slightly up for consumer magazines in October--essentially flat, according to the latest figures from the Publishers Information Bureau (PIB). Rate-card revenue rose 1.9% compared to the same month last year to just over $2.39 billion, while ad pages were down 1.2% to 24,313.

The numbers aren't much different from previous months, but there's one interesting development: Fashion Week, September's blowout including shows and festivities in New York City, seems to have drawn down total fashion ad dollars for magazines in October, as big publishers front-loaded fashion ads to coincide with the events. Particularly important in this shift was Conde Nast's 180-page "Fashion Rocks" magazine "insert," of which 95 pages were ads. It was delivered free to all Conde Nast subscribers, and also sold at newsstands.

Overall, magazines are holding their own despite long-term declines in certain categories--especially automotive advertising, which continued to plummet. In October, auto ad pages were down 20.3% compared to 2005, ending at 1,659, while revenue fell 17.3% to $171.5 million. For the year to date, auto ad pages are down 13.6% to 18,263, and revenue is down 10.9% to about $1.65 billion.

There's no sign of a long-term decline in fashion advertising, as measured by the PIB's "retail" and "apparel and accessories" categories. But the high profile of one of the industry's main events, September's Fashion Week, is having an impact on monthly pages and revenues, in large part because of Conde Nast's "Fashion Rocks" insert, according to magazine analysts at Merrill Lynch. The effects were most evident in the PIB's "apparel and accessories" category. "Retail" seems to be unaffected.

PIB numbers show a rise in revenue for the apparel and accessories category in September on a year-over-year basis, as ad pages declined--suggesting that fashion ads commanded a premium. For apparel and accessories, September revenue rose 6.5% to about $312 million, while pages dipped 1.3% to 3,446. In October, the same category was basically flat in revenue, while ad pages fell 7.9% to 2,208.

Retail did not reflect the same trends. Like apparel and accessories, revenue was up and pages down in September: revenue rose 9.9% to about $264 million, despite a 1.2% dip in ad pages to 2,757. But October has been very robust by both measures--with revenue jumping 36% to over $219 million, while pages climbed 26.3% to 2,238.