Perched above Jessica Biel's sun-drenched cheekbones, this month's cover of Vogue features the magazine's title in big Valentine-red letters. The timing is both apt, and unfortunate: The fashionable monthly and its peers across the industry are dealing with a lot of red ink these days.
Vogue is just one title to see dramatic declines in newsstand sales in the last half of 2009, according to figures released yesterday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Newsstand sales fell 9.1 per cent in the U.S. and 4.34 per cent in Canada in the last half of 2009, compared to the same period a year before. That followed an even worse period of decline in the first half of the year, when newsstand sales were down more than 12 per cent in the U.S. and almost 9 per cent in Canada. Circulation was down as well: 3.78 per cent in the U.S. in the last half of the year, and just over 2 per cent in Canada.
Every six months, 57 Canadian magazines and 472 American magazines report their numbers to the ABC, and the latest show continuing difficulties for the industry. In October, publisher Condé Nast shuttered its nearly 70-year-old foodie bible, Gourmet, along with parenting magazine Cookie and two bridal titles. Even Meredith Corp., which has done comparatively well, had to cease publication at one of its magazines, Country Home, last spring.
But the ABC numbers cannot simply be linked to magazines that have gone under.
"Magazines have reduced distribution for cost reasons," which cuts into circulation, said Edward Atorino, an analyst with Benchmark Co. in New York. "And part of the decline is due to higher prices."
Overall circulation numbers did not decline as sharply as newsstand sales; which bodes well for higher-end magazines that depend more heavily on their subscription base. Penny-pinching consumers who opt out at the newsstand are bad news for titles that are more discretionary purchases.
Adding to the problem at the newsstand is the disparity between the price of a single copy - which has been on the rise at many titles - and the cost of subscriptions. Not only are home subscriptions usually dramatically cheaper than buying magazines at the store, but companies looking to hold on to circulation regularly offer promotional discounts on subscriptions.
Sales are only one part of the picture: Like many print publications, magazines also depend heavily on advertising. Magazine ad revenue fell 18 per cent in the U.S. in 2009 compared to 2008, and ad pages dropped 25 per cent, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. Canadian data from earlier in the year suggested the industry here fared slightly better, but still saw 21-per-cent declines in ad pages in the first nine months of the year, according to Nielsen LNA.
By the numbers |
Here's a look at a few familiar titles and how they fared.
Newsweek
- Newsstand sales down 41.3%
- Total circulation down 27%
- Magazines with content that can easily be found on the Internet will continue to struggle with sales, particularly news weeklies.
Better Homes and Gardens
- Newsstand down 14.4%*
- Circulation down 0.5%
- Magazines published by Meredith Corp. do not rely on last-minute buys in the grocery store for the health of their bottom line, said Edward Atorino, an analyst with Benchmark Co.
Condé Nast Traveler
- Newsstand down 17.9%
- Circulation down 1.1%
- Recession-weary consumers who may not have been planning big vacations in the past year were probably reluctant to buy travel magazines, Mr. Atorino said.
Playboy
- Newsstand down 5.3%
- Circulation down 22.7%
- Sales haven't exactly been hopping for the bunny. Last fall, the men's magazine cut its rate base - the minimum circulation numbers a publication guarantees to advertisers - by 42 per cent, meaning management had little confidence things would improve.
*All numbers reflect the last six months of 2009, compared to the same period in 2008.
Susan Krashinsky
Susan Krashinsky Robertson