U.S. consumer magazines' Q4 ad pages, revenue show respective year-over-year gains of 3.5% and 4.2%, marking third straight quarter of gains; results mark industry's first full-year revenue increase since 2007: PIB

Sandy Yang

NEW YORK , January 10, 2011 (press release) – The consumer magazine media industry capped a strong 2010 by generating an increase of 3.1% in rate-card-reported revenue for the year, according to Publishers Information Bureau (PIB). It was the first time the industry had a full-year revenue increase since 2007.

In the fourth quarter of 2010, consumer magazines recorded a 4.2% revenue increase and a 3.5% page gain compared to 2009’s fourth quarter. It was the third quarter in a row that consumer magazines posted gains in both pages and revenue.

PIB revenue closed the year totaling $20,083,795,460, generating a 3.1% increase against the same January-to-December period in 2009. PIB recorded 169,633.57 ad pages in 2010, a loss of only 0.1% compared to the same period in 2009.

"The growth in magazine advertising over the past year reflects a strengthening economy and the confidence that advertisers and marketers have in magazine brands to influence purchase behavior and effectively reach consumers,” said Andrew Jung, MPA’s Chief Marketing Officer.

PIB ad revenue and pages totals grew in seven of 12 major advertising categories in full year 2010. (Twelve categories are the most significant contributors to PIB revenue, comprising roughly 88% of total advertising spending. In 2010, noted Jung, the 12 categories garnered 141,865 pages of advertising, a 0.7% increase compared to 2009 when those categories drew 140,030 pages of advertising.)

The Automotive category generated the biggest percentage increases in revenue (21.9%) and pages (16.9%) vs. 2009. General Motors Corp. led all automotive advertising in magazines, spending $385,380,000 in 2010, up 56% compared to 2009’s magazine ad spend of $246,456,000.

“The significant increase in automotive advertising mirrors the general uptick in the economy that is benefiting magazine media,” said Jung. “Automotive manufacturers are continuing to invest in magazines because magazines and the Internet are considered the most influential sources of information for brands especially in the final stages of purchase decisions.”

Double-digit PIB increases were also recorded by the Financial, Insurance & Real Estate category (revenue +13.2%; pages +9.3%) and the Toiletries & Cosmetics category (revenue +12.8%; pages +11.6%), which was the industry’s leader in overall pages and revenue for the year, and benefitted from the introduction of new products from consumer packaged goods manufacturers.

Other ad categories that posted PIB revenue and page gains in 2010 include:

* Technology (revenue: +6.0%; pages +2.4%), which includes telecommunications, computers and software.
* Retail (revenue: +4.8%; pages +1.5%), which includes department stores, discount department/variety stories, and shopping centers.
* Home Furnishings & Supplies (revenue: +2.7%; pages: +0.7%), which includes household furniture and home improvement supplies.

In 2010, 128 magazines posted increases in ad pages, compared to 22 magazines in 2009. One hundred and forty-seven magazine titles registered PIB revenue gains in 2010, versus 26 titles in 2009.

Expanded PIB information is available at www.magazine.org/PIB.

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