US total average magazine circulation slips nearly 2% in last six months of 2013, as 11% decline in single-copy newsstand sales offset 37% gain in digital editions

Mathew Kearney

NEW YORK , February 6, 2014 (New York Times Online ) – Magazine circulation declined slightly in the last six months of 2013, according to new figures released Thursday by the Alliance for Audited Media, as big declines in single-copy newsstand sales offset gains in digital editions.

Total average circulation was down nearly 2 percent, according to the report, which covered the six-month period that ended Dec. 31. Paid subscriptions were down just over 1 percent, but single-copy sales declined by more than 11 percent.

Digital editions, a growing segment on which many magazines have made heavy bets, were up nearly 37 percent over the same period in 2012. More than 300 magazines reported a total of nearly 11 million digital edition sales.

Condé Nast, which owns high-profile magazines like Vogue and Vanity Fair, said in a memo to employees that while newsstand sales were down across the board, it had “posted overall increases in both digital and print circulation.” Traffic to its websites had also increased, the company said.

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