Consumer magazine print ad pages declined by 4.9% year-over-year in the first half (H1) of 2013, according to data released by the Association of Magazine Media, although rate-card ad revenues inched up by 0.4%. It was a different story for the 58 titles that measure both print and iPad advertising, for whom combined ad pages and units grew by 7%. That growth was fully attributable to a 24.5% increase in iPad ad units, which now account for almost 37% of combined ad pages and units among those 58 titles.
For those 58 titles, print ad page declines were limited to 1%.
Despite a recently-issued negative outlook (-1.3% compound annual growth rate from 2013 through 2017) from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), consumer magazines remain the 4th-largest mass medium in the US, as of last year.
The MPA also cited data indicating that print audiences are up 2% this Spring over last year, while tablet audiences have grown by 73%, suggesting that advertisers are following consumer consumption patterns. 37% more titles posted Publishers Information Bureau (PIB) revenue and page gains in H1 2013 than in H1 2012. Top-performing categories included toiletries and cosmetics and technology.
