Print This: Magazine Audiences Up

Elle magazine October 2008Ad pages might be down and circulation is unsteady, but magazine audiences are still growing, according to figures for the first half of the year from Mediamark Research and Intelligence. A comparison of MRI data for 95 leading consumer magazine titles from spring 2008 and spring 2007 revealed that 70 (74%) saw their audience increase, driving a total increase of 4.3%.

Of the remaining 25 titles, six were basically flat and 19 experienced moderate drops. It's worth noting that some of the magazines listed here made increased use of verified circulation over the last year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Titles that increased verified circulation by more than 10% from 2007-2008 are noted with an asterisk (*).

Business magazines typify this odd situation. While their ad pages are tanking, their audience figures are growing by double digits in percentage terms. Forbes jumped 27% to 5.4 million; Entrepreneur 24% to 2.7 million; Inc.* 21% to 1.3 million; Kiplinger's Personal Finance 17% to 2.7 million; and Money 10% to 7.9 million.

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Some newsweeklies are also enjoying audience growth. Newsweek's audience grew 4% to 19.1 million and U.S. News jumped 13% to 10.5 million. A highbrow competitor, The Economist, saw its ad audience soar 40% to 2.5 million. Only Time magazine is down, slipping 3% to 20.9 million.

Among magazines targeting women, some of the biggest growers in percentage terms in the lifestyle category were Marie Claire, up 19% to 3.7 million; Redbook, up 11% to 10 million; Cosmopolitan*, up 7% to about 18.2 million; O, the Oprah Magazine up 6% to 16.6 million; and finally, young women's lifestyle mag Seventeen*, up 14% to 8.9 million.

The women's fashion and beauty category was more mixed. On the positive side, Elle's audience was up 11% to 5.1 million, and Glamour was up 5% to 12.4 million. But Harper's Bazaar* slipped 6% to 2.9 million, while Vogue* and In Style* were even with less than 1% changes.

There were also substantial increases in the shelter and domestic category (actually two categories lumped together). Real Simple's audience grew 16% to 7.7 million; Martha Stewart Living 8% to 12.1 million; This Old House 8% to 5.9 million, Better Homes & Gardens 4% to 39.7 million, Ladies' Home Journal* 5% to 13.9 million, and Metropolitan Home rose 4% to 2.4 million. Elle Décor* was basically flat at 1.5 million, as was House Beautiful at 6.6 million.

In the regional lifestyle category, Coastal Living was up 9% to 3.5 million; Southern Accents* 24% to 2.9 million; Southern Living* 6% to 16.2 million; Town & Country 7% to 4 million; Traditional Home* 6% to 4.4 million; and Veranda* 13% to 1.3 million. On the down side, Good Housekeeping slid 5% to 24.3 million, Architectural Digest dropped 9% to 4.3 million, and Country Living* slipped 4% to 11.3 million.

In men's mags, Men's Health jumped 16% to 12.1 million, while Men's Fitness* grew 12% to 8 million. In the young men's category ("lad mags"), Alpha Media's Maxim* grew 9% to 13.5 million, and music mag Blender* grew 8% to 2 million.

Music mags did well in general, as Rolling Stone* increased 14% to 12.8 million, Spin jumped 18% to 2.2 million, and Country Weekly added 12.5% to reach 3.8 million. Hip-hop mag Vibe was basically flat with a decrease of less than 1%, to 7.7 million. In the sports-enthusiast category, Sports Illustrated* posted modest growth of 4%, to 20.9 million.

The general interest sports and fitness category (which skews toward men but reaches both genders) saw Cycle World's audience climb 18% to 3.3 million, Runner's World* 18% to 2.5 million, Ski 11% to 1.5 million, and Muscle & Fitness* 11% to 7.2 million; Shape*, targeting women, was up 11% to 6.3 million, while Prevention remained even at 11 million.

Finally, automobile magazines are also enjoying audience growth. Motor Trend* is up 13% to 7.3 million, AutoWeek* 10% to 2.9 million, Popular Mechanics 8% to 9.3 million, and Hot Rod 6% to 7.4 million.

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