Magazines Lose Ad Pages

NYT reporting:
The number of ad pages in consumer magazines declined 8% in the fourth quarter, according to the Publishers Information Bureau, capping a brutal finish to a year that began with high hopes for a print advertising rebound.
After they opened 2011 by posting year-over-year increases in ad pages in each of the first two quarters, publishers saw those gains wiped out as the faltering economy and economic uncertainty in Europe contributed to accelerating declines in the second half of the year. Total print ad pages declined 3.1% in 2011 compared to the previous year, according to the information bureau.
Among the major magazines posting the steepest declines in the fourth quarter: Felix Dennis's The Week (down 45.1%), Wenner Media's US Weekly (down 32.6%) and Meredith Corp.'s Better Homes and Gardens (down 26.4%).
The biggest gainers among the major titles in the fourth quarter included Reader's Digest Association's Reader's Digest (up 29.7%), Time Inc.'s People StyleWatch (up 26.3%) and Playboy Enterprises Inc.'s Playboy (up 24.6%).
Among the biggest magazine titles, Time Inc.'s People saw its ad pages decline 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Ad pages at New York magazine, published by New York Media, rose 1.4% and Condé Nast's Vogue was up 11.6%. Time Inc. is a unit of Time Warner Inc.
Advertisers in the apparel, cosmetics and financial sectors increased their ad spending in 2011 while cuts among advertisers in the food industry and home furnishing and supplies hurt publishers, according to Nina Link, president and chief executive of the MPA-The Association of Magazine Media, which administers the information bureau.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204257504577153042484530480.html?mod=dist_smartbrief