• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, September 19, 2007

While their print brethren in the newspaper business are suffering, magazines are enjoying a quiet advertising boom, according to the latest figures from the Magazine Publishers of America and TNS Media Intelligence. The increase in total dollars spent also translates into a larger percentage of total ad dollars--meaning that magazines' ad share has gone up.

The move, however, is largely attributable to the fact that TNS calculates magazine advertising revenues based on published rate card data, which may not necessarily reflect actual sales.

In the first half of 2007, TNS MI reports that total magazine ad revenue rose by 4.6%, compared to the same period in 2006, from $13.9 billion to $14.5 billion. Although business-to-business titles dropped 7.2% to $1.86 billion, growth in consumer magazines more than offset this loss, as the category rose 6.9% to $11.5 billion.

Spanish-language magazines, a hot new category, posted 13.1% growth to just over $100 million. The increase in consumer magazine spending came despite an overall 0.3% drop in ad spend.

With numbers like these, it's no surprise that magazines are also capturing a larger proportion of ad dollars than last year. According to Nina Link, president and CEO of the MPA, its analysis of TNS data shows magazines capturing 17.7% of total spending, compared to 16.7% in the first half of 2006.

This share increase is second only to the Internet juggernaut, which increased its share by 1.1%. Overall, magazines led all "traditional" media--including television radio, newspapers, and outdoor--in terms of share growth.