J201
Introduction to mass communication
Media: Magazines
magazine experiment
• count the number of full-page advertisements
• compare to the total number of pages in magazine
• what percent of magazine is full-page ads?
magazines as consumer media
• “audience as consumer” vs. “audience as product”
• lower cover price
• increase circulation
• inflate advertising price
• average magazine today: 50% ads, 50% editorial
• “wall between editorial and advertising”
key changes in the 19th century
• 1830s: successful example of
“penny press”
• 1870s: similar low postal rates
to newspapers
• titles jumped tenfold:
685 in 1850; 6,000 in 1905
• ads jumped tenfold:
7 pp. in 1880; 90 pp. in 1900
key themes in magazine evolution
• sites for longer fiction and nonfiction content
• showcase for visual arts and photojournalism
• shift from general interest to special interest
shift from general to special interest
• 1945: Ebony
• 1953: Playboy
• 1955: National Review
• 1965: Cosmopolitan
• 1967: Rolling Stone
• 1972: Life folds
(6 million readers!)
the fate of general news magazines today
what are the top five
magazines today?
(how should we decide?)
Magazine Publishers of America
* ABC = “Audit Bureau of Circulations” (publishers’ association)
Magazine Publishers of America
AdAge.com
new attention to market segments
• “demographic editions” target individual
occupations, high-income zip codes, or colleges
• the “seven sisters” of women’s magazines
• popular culture far outweighs news in both
readership and advertising dollars
“consumer” magazines rule the industry
economics of the magazine industry
• 20,000 - 30,000 titles
• over $35 billion in revenue (sales and ads) in top 300 alone
• 50% of cover price back to publisher
• roughly 75% of revenue from advertising
• ad agencies make 15% on all advertisements placed
• established authors make average of $1/word
• “paid circulation” vs. “controlled circulation”
Magazine Publishers of America
concentration in the magazine industry
• remember: 20,000 - 30,000 titles
• only 3,000 distributed through retail outlets
• only 500 account for 75% of all ad revenue
• only 200 circulate in the world market
• only 80 have circulation over 1 million
• 14% of all magazine ads are for auto industry
(e.g. GM spends $500 million/year on mag ads)
http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.com/2007/
blurring the boundaries of magazines
• ‘zines - from the Xerox machine to Borders
• magalogues - Abercrombie & Fitch
• advertorials - health news and pharmaceuticals
• online magazines - Salon, Slate
• are weblogs following a magazine model?
what about news
magazines?
* Newsweek owned by Washington Post
http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.com/2007/
http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.com/2007/
http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.com/2007/