Time, Newsweek, BusinessWeek, etc., Report Steep Losses

The advertising slowdown that has been devastating the newspaper industry has begun to hit magazines as well. But the trends are mixed, with some titles still doing well, despite a down economy.

Some of the leading news-weekly and business titles had very bad first quarters, according to results just released by the Publishers Information Bureau (PIB).

The U.S. News & World Report nose-dived 37.5 percent in Q-1; Business Week fell 19.4 percent. Time dropped 17.8 percent and Newsweek 13.9 percent. Forbes fell 13.2 percent and Kiplinger's Personal Finance was down 20 percent.

The 246 leading magazines tracked by PIB were off 6.4 percent in ad pages and 1.2 percent in revenue. In the second category of large-circulation Sunday magazines, ad pages were off 4.1 percent but revenue was up by 9.4 percent. This was due to strong performances by Relish (a food and wine book), American Profile, USA Weekend, and Parade, all of which posted 18+ percent growth.

Overall, the 254 magazines reported ad page declines of 6.3 percent and a revenue dip of 0.4 percent. Analysts note that an extended economic downturn would hurt many of the city, food and lifestyle magazines that so far have bucked the overall trend.

I can attest to the effects of a recession on the fate of city magazines from personal experience. Amidst fanfare, we launched 7x7, a San Francisco-based magazine in September 2001, roughly a week before the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

At first, local advertisers flocked to buy pages in our new, flashy magazine, but soon, as tourists stayed home rather than risk flying here, our restaurants and hotels stood virtually empty.

The magazine survived and eventually thrived, but by then, I was long gone. After all, there's no money for an editor in chief if there's no advertising sales. That's why I always say there is no "news business;" it's the "media" (i.e. "advertising") business.