As consumers cut back on shopping, single-copy magazine sales declined 8% to 244 million in the third quarter of 2008, compared to 2007, per MagNet. For the first nine months of 2008, unit sales
declined 9%.
Magazines' dollar sales fared better. At $1.2 billion, they were down 2% over the previous year, mainly because several celebrity weeklies raised their cover prices in
2008.
Final figures aren't in for the fourth quarter, but newsstand sales are trending worse, even with a sales bump from commemorative election editions, says Gil Brechtel, CEO of
MagNet. He attributes the slide to higher gas prices, fewer visits to retailers and the economy in general.
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