A look at magazine revenues: FY 2010

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Consumer magazines, one of the hardest-hit media in the recession, has closed 2010 with 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 FY revenue increase since 2007—and may have been inevitable, given the dismal 2009 comps. 


Specifically, 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. Q4 consumer magazines recorded a 4.2% revenue increase and a 3.5% page gain compared to 2009’s Q4.  It was the third quarter in a row that consumer magazines posted gains in both pages and revenues. 

PIB ad revenue and pages totals grew in seven of 12 major ad categories in FY 2010. As with most media, Automotive generated the biggest percentage increases in revenue (21.9%) and pages (16.9%) vs. 2009. GM 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. 

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 package 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. 147 magazine titles registered PIB revenue gains in 2010, versus 26 titles in 2009.