Advertising pages for consumer magazines totaled 37,196.43 in the first quarter of 2009, a decline of nearly 26% over the same period last year that was caused primarily by the faltering economy, according to the Publishers Information Bureau (PIB), writes MediaBuyerPlanner.
PIB also reported that total magazine rate-card-reported advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2009 closed at $4,183,426,592, posting a 20.2% decline against the same period in 2008.
Q109 vs. 2008 details:
PIB revealed that big publishers suffered significant losses: neither Hachette Filipacchi Media nor Hearst Magazines had a single title that posted gains in ad pages, while Time Inc. had just one – Sports Illustrated Kids, which rose 30%.
Conde Nast’s single title seeing gains in ad pages was Golf World, up 0.2%.
US News & World Report was down nearly 69%, Conde Nast’s Wired fell 57.2%, and a number of enthusiast titles, including Boating and Sporting News, fell about 50%.
Though magazines overall saw PIB revenue and page decline, Some sectors within the larger ad categories saw an uptick in spending, including:
- Personal hygiene and health products in Toiletries & Cosmetics
- Clothing accessories in Apparel & Accessories
- Shopping centers and discount department and variety stores in Retail
- Household cleaning supplies in Home furnishings & Supplies
- Eyeglasses, medical equipment and supplies in Drugs & Remedies
“Advertising page declines were seen in the ad categories most affected by the slowdown: automotive, finance and retail,” said Ellen Oppenheim, EVP & CMO, Magazine Publishers of America.
Overall, magazine advertising is expected to slip 11% this year, according to ZenithOptimedia’s latest predictions. eMarketer is predicting even steeper declines for magazines, saying print ad spending will drop 16.2% in 2009.
“The latest PIB data reflect the advertising paralysis triggered by the late 2008 economic meltdown,” Oppenheim added. ” Marketers froze ad budgets, which affected placement in first quarter magazines.”
About the research: TNS Media Intelligence collects and monitors the data and supplies it to PIB.
