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Top 5 Monthly Mags, Year-End Totals
Friday, November 14, 2008

For this week's top 5, we looked at monthly magazines' year-end totals. Out of the 164 monthlies that we track in min, only 27 actually gained from January through December of 2008. Based on 500 or more ad pages, these are the top five with the highest percent gain. Six-year-old Time Inc. mag Style Watch (People) ended up on top with a 35% increase in ad pages. Fast Company and Wondertime were each up by nearly 24%, while Women's Health and American Media's muscle mag Flex enjoyed increases of 12.5% and 11%, respectively.

Also doing well in 2008 is Cookie (a bimonthly in 2007), which saw an increase of nearly 11% and Conde Nast Portfolio (which did not start tracking their numbers until their monthly launch in September 2007).

We know the primary reason for low ad page numbers: the meltdown on Wall Street caused by the banking/brokerage collapse. The impact spread this fall like a prairie fire, and with many companies at or on the verge of bankruptcy (Circuit City and General Motors are now the most notable), it is no surprise that advertising is crumbling and magazine staffers are getting laid off. Only 2001's -7.54% differential is recently comparable, but that cause--the September 11 attacks--was not American-made. This is...and the economy turned a soft 2008 into a horrific one.

December's -17.83% differential is comparable with December 2001's -17.36%, when the first post-September 11 impact was felt. Here, the biggest impact was Condé Nast Media Group president (since August 2004) and min magazine's 2008 Consumer Executive of the Year Richard Beckman's decision to suspend Movies Rock, which benefited 12 CN magazines last December. (Vogue's MR data were not included.) But the slew of non-CN magazines below -20% in December is frightening, with Real Simple's -38.69% the most symbolic. It was one year old in 2001 and thrived, in part, because Americans yearned for home, family, and simplicity. Business is less "simple," now. Crunching the monthlies' year-end numbers: just 27 finished up in 2008 ad pages; 138 finished down.

Click here for the full chart in this week's issue of min.




Features Archives

COMMENTS
1.
Having just started a new magasine myself, with the first issue still at he printer, I can only say that during my initial research,Summer of 2008) I had a very high volume of the advertiser's interest. However now to collect the advertiser's cheques is an entire different story. Considering that where I live, the busiest months of the business year just around the corner, i expected huge volume of advertising request, Fort Nelson being a tight competition market, I am disapointed at the result. Perhaps things will change, once my magasine become a household name. I want to thank you for these most informative statistic. I enjoy receiving your newsletter where I feel a connection with what you do, a kind of kinship with others in the same field. I read everything from cover to cover. Thank you again for your most informative newsletter. I look forward to each and everyone of your e-mails.
Posted by Helene Sherman on Friday, November 21, 2008 @ 03:10 PM
2.
After reading about the voluntary lay off at Times Inc. I can only explain what I've been doing. My magasine is a free magasine displayed in all public places. My only mean of income is through advertising. All of my column are from my community and are on a voluntary basis. For example I've approached all high school and colleges to recruit talents (you would be surprise how many talented young writer's are out there ) and in exchange for their hard work, I publish the best articles. Who as a young inexperienced job hunter cannot use a great publishing experience on their resume? Who knows? If time magasine considered using only one column based on this experiment, they very well could save enough money to save another's salary...
In hard time one must be creative...
Posted by Helene Sherman on Friday, November 21, 2008 @ 03:43 PM

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