Health of Popular Magazines

Many public libraries subscribe to popular magazines as part of their core strategies. These magazines are arguably not as useful for deep research purposes but it should be worthy of review by library decision makers if people are voting with their dollars at the newsstand.

Some sample data bites:

Overall Newsstand Sales: -9.1%
Biggest Newsstand Loser: W Magazine, -41.7%
Overall Circulation: -2.2%
Biggest Overall Circulation Loser: TV Guide, -26%
Biggest Overall Circulation Winner: Women’s Health, +21.5%
W: newsstand sales are down 41.7% to about 25,000 for an average issue.
Newsweek: down 41.3% to about 62,000
SmartMoney: down 37% to about 26,000
Time: down 34.9% to about 90,000
Good Housekeeping: down 30.7% to 395,000
Redbook: down 30.1% to 126,000

Magazines’ Newsstand Sales Fall 9.1 Percent (NYT Feb.

Print Continues to Die (Gawker Feb.

Magazine Stand Sales Plummet By 9 Percent (Business Insider Feb.

CHART OF THE DAY: Nobody Wants To Buy Magazines Anymore (Silicon Valley Insider Feb.

These could be short term indications of the depth of the recession and a purchase that can be forgone. Perhaps people are taking advantage of some of the deeply discounted subscriptions. Maybe this is a temporary situation or a permanent market shift. Either way, some libraries have similar service strategy program to newsstands.

Stephen