Magazine Ad Pages Fall 7.4 Percent in First Half

Revenues slip 5 percent in second quarter.

By Jason Fell
07/10/2008

Consumer magazine ad pages fell 7.4 percent during the first half, according to figures released today by the Publishers Information Bureau. Revenues were about $11.55 billion, down 3.1 percent from $11.9 billion over the same period last year.

Second quarter advertising revenues slipped 4.7 percent when compared to the same period in 2007. Ad pages, at 58,744, were down 8.2 percent during the quarter.

The magazines that saw the greatest declines in revenue for the second quarter were Ziff Davis Media’s PC magazine at $9.8 million (-55.6 percent), Hachette’s Home at $10.7 million (-46.1 percent), Sporting News at $6.5 million (-36.4 percent) and the Saturday Evening Post at 528,826 (-35.3 percent). Other notable decliners were Newsweek at $82 million (-34.9 percent) and National Geographic Kids at $3.2 million (-34.8 percent).

The biggest gainers for the quarter were Condé Nast’s Cookie at $15.3 million (200.4 percent), Ser Padres at $7.2 million (161.2 percent), Renovation Style at $8 million (106.2 percent) Men’s Vogue at $7.2 million (106.1 percent) and Rodale’s Women’s Health at $25.3 million (89.5 percent). Other notables were OK! Weekly (41 percent), Mansueto Ventures’ Fast Company (39.3 percent), Everyday with Rachael Ray (37.8), and Hearst’s Quick and Simple (57.4 percent) which the publisher shuttered last week.

Nine of the 12 ad categories tracked by PIB saw declines during the first half of 2008 due to sustained economic softness. Just Food & Food Products, Retail, and Public Transportation, Hotels & Resorts saw gains.

Click here for PIB's entire Q2 2008 report.

Click here for PIB's entire second half 2008 report.