Clearing up Misperceptions

about Magazine Closings

The attention paid to magazine closings has sometimes led to the incorrect conclusion that:
• Magazine closings are primarily consumer driven
• The much-publicized spate of closings over the past year is unprecedented.

Magazine closings are part of a normal lifecycle more closely aligned to the economy
and advertiser demand than consumer demand. Furthermore, facts show that 2008
was actually a light year for magazine closings.

Two independent sources demonstrate that consumer magazine closings align with the
economy. According to Ulrich’s Periodical Directory (ProQuest), an increase in magazine closings occurs
during economic downturns:
• The biggest year-to-year percent increases in consumer magazine closings occurred around the recession
of the early 1990s. In 1992 and 1993 approximately 80% more closings occurred compared to the prior year
• 2000 and 2001, both recession years, represented consecutive years with the largest number of closings
• Given that the current recession is continuing, it is too soon to assess its full impact on closings. However,
the 54 consumer magazine closings in 2008 represented a nearly 17% decrease over the prior year. This
contradicts the misperception that the number of magazine closings in 2008 was unprecedented.

The National Directory of Magazines does not track closings, but they have reported on the total number
of North American consumer magazines each year since 1997. These data confirm the trend from Ulrich’s
Periodical Directory:
• The largest drop in the number of magazines (-1,802) and year-to-year percentage decrease (-22.1%)
occurred in the recession between 2000 and 2001
• 2008 actually showed an increase in the number of consumer magazines (+8.4%) compared to 2007,
i.e., more magazines launched than closed.

Consumer Magazine Closures 1988 – 2008 Total Number of Magazines 1997 – 2008
Percent Change vs. Previous Year (# of closings) Percent Change vs. Previous Year (# of magazines)
1988 base year ( 5 ) 1988 Not Available ( N/A )
1989 40.0% ( 7 ) 1989 N/A
1990 28.6% ( 9 ) 1990 N/A
1991* - 33.3% ( 12 ) 1991* N/A
1992* 83.3% ( 22 ) 1992* N/A
1993 86.4% ( 41 ) 1993 N/A
1994 22.0% ( 50 ) 1994 N/A
1995 80.0% ( 90 ) 1995 N/A
1996 -14.4% ( 77 ) 1996 N/A
1997 -7.8% ( 71 ) 1997 base year ( 7,712 )
1998 40.8% ( 100 ) 1998 2.0% ( 7,864 )
1999 -20.0% ( 80 ) 1999 18.4% ( 9,311 )
2000* 56.3% ( 125 ) 2000* -12.6% ( 8,138)
2001* - 32.8% ( 166 ) 2001* -22.1% ( 6,336 )
2002 - 45.8% ( 90 ) 2002 -15.7% ( 5,340 )
2003 7.8% ( 97 ) 2003 - 16.7% ( 6,234 )
2004 -26.8% ( 71 ) 2004 15.3% ( 7,188 )
2005 33.8% ( 95 ) 2005 -12.0% ( 6,325 )
2006 9.5% ( 104 ) 2006 6.5% ( 6,734 )
2007 -37.5% ( 65 ) 2007 1.1% ( 6,809 )
2008* -16.9% ( 54 ) 2008* 8.4% ( 7,383 )
* Indicates recession year * Indicates recession year
Source: Ulrich’s Periodical Directory (ProQuest) Source: National Directory of Magazines, 2009, Oxbride Communications
Advertising is the biggest single factor in magazine closings. Circulation plays a
far less important role. A twenty year trend shows that:
• Advertising revenue declines only occurred during recessions (1991– 1992, 2000– 2001 and 2008)
• The only period of multi-year circulation drops also coincided with a recession
• Circulation declines were far lower than advertising revenue declines, illustrating that advertising is the
dominant factor in magazine closings.

PIB Advertising Revenue 1988 –2008 ABC Average Circulation of All Magazines 1990 –2008
Percent Change vs. Previous Year Percent Change vs. Previous Year
1988 base year 1988 Not Available ( N/A )
1989 11.8% 1989 N/A
1990 1.7% 1990 base year
1991* -3.2% 1991* -0.4
1992* 9.2% 1992* -0.7%
1993 6.8% 1993 0.6%
1994 11.5% 1994 -0.2%
1995 18.9% 1995 0.4%
1996 10.5% 1996 0.2%
1997 14.1% 1997 0.5%
1998 8.3% 1998 -0.1%
1999 12.3% 1999 1.4%
2000* 13.9% 2000* 1.8%
2001* -8.2% 2001* -4.6%
2002 6.4% 2002 -0.8%
2003 11.4% 2003 -1.6%
2004 10.9% 2004 3.0%
2005 8.2% 2005 -0.2%
2006 4.0% 2006 2.0%
2007 6.3% 2007 0.0%
2008* -7.3% 2008* -0.4%
* Indicates recession year * Indicates recession year
Source: Publishers Information Bureau (data as of January 2009) Source: Averages calculated by MPA from each year’s
ABC Publishers Statements

Putting Closings in Perspective

Magazines, of course, are not the only medium to feel economic effects or to face cancellations in properties.
Business pressures affect all media, as recent earnings reports demonstrate. Changing consumer tastes and
other factors impact usage across media. Using television as an example, according to Media Dynamics, Inc.,
less than a third of the primetime network programs launched in the fall since 1960 returned the following
September. What’s more, the mortality rate of new primetime programs making their debut in the fall has risen
across this four-decade interval.

For more information, please contact Stephen Frost, Director of Research, Magazine Publishers of America,
at sfrost@magazine.org or, visit magazine.org/advertising.

© Copyright, Magazine Publishers of America, August, 2009