MediaBuyerPlanner: Sales of some of the largest-circulation magazines held relatively steady in the first half of 2007 compared to the same period in 2006, in contrast to the decline of newspaper sales, writes The New York Times. Time magazine was a big exception, however, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Time’s circulation plummeted from 4.1 million to 3.4 million, a 17 percent decline. The steep drop-off was a result of a deliberate effort to change the reader mix and reduce its rate base, according to John Squires , executive vp of Time Inc. That effort included a reduction in expensive promotional campaigns that generally do not pull in many long-term subscribers and a reduction on sales to places like doctors’ offices and barbershops, which are less appealing to advertisers.
Time underwent a series of changes last year including a redesign, a newsstand price increase, a change in on-sale date, and a new managing editor, Richard Stengel. The magazine fell out of the top 10 in terms of total circulation, writes MediaPost.
Competitors Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report’s circulation held mostly steady.
Celebrity oriented magazines saw big increases as the category that chronicles the lives and times of TomKat and Britney heats up. OK! bumped up 54 percent, to more than 809,000 copies, while US Weekly, In Touch and Life & Style all rose 5 to 10 percent.
Single copy sales of People dipped 5.6 percent while overall circulation dropped 2.2 percent to 3.7 million.
Related stories:
- ‘Time’ Changes Not Significant to Buyers, Yet
- Stengel: Marketers Need to Shift Thinking
- ‘Life & Style’ Partners with 1010 Wins for Style Content
- People.com to Launch Celebrity Database
- ‘Us Weekly’ Exec. Editor Heads up UsMagazine.com
- Us Weekly, Veoh to Launch Celebrity Channel
- ‘Time’ Arrives Earlier, Delivered on Saturdays
- Stengel Named Time Managing Editor
