It's a massacre out there on the newsstand. The Audit Bureau of Circulations released its semi-annual report yesterday, and, man, are there a lot of major titles showing double-digit declines in the single-copy (or newsstand) column. To name just a few: Good Housekeeping (down 20.7 percent), Playboy (down 35.8 percent), Vanity Fair (down 12.8 percent), Vibe (down 18.8 percent), Marie Claire (down 14.3 percent), Traditional Home (down 15.6 percent).

And that's not even including the titles like Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek, Money and Southern Living that were also down double digits, but whose newsstand sales comprise less than 10 percent of total circulation.

What an ugly picture. The New York Times attributes all the minus signs in the report partly to a round of cover-price increases, but to me it looks like a simple acceleration of a trend that's been years -- no, decades -- in the making.

For a couple of good charts that put the carnage in context, check out this Folio story.

Jeff Bercovici

About this author:
Become a Contributor Submit an Article

This article has 1 comment:

  • Mar 20 04:44 PM
    What one finds in the article is not surprising...people are choosing internet websites to find their information (including magazine articles, celebrity stories, etc.); in addition, postal mailing rates for publishers will be going up on a regular basis in the future. Even mailing rates are becoming a problem for these publishers.
  • Long Ideas

  • Short Ideas

  • Cramer's Picks

SA Partners

Hedge Fund Jobs

Job Seekers:

  • Search jobs by category
  • Get job alerts by email or live feed
  • Apply online
See full list of jobs »

Employers

  • See all recruitment options
  • Get applications online or by email
Post a job »

Trading Center