Magazines continue to struggle with sales of subscriptions and newsstand copies in the first half of 2013, but they have made inroads in selling digital editions, according to data released Tuesday.
Total paid and verified subscriptions declined by 1 percent in the first half of 2013, and newsstand sales, which are often an indicator of a magazine’s appeal, dropped by 10 percent. Both declines were similar to the overall trend in the same period a year ago.
But the numbers, released by the Alliance for Audited Media, also showed that a solid base of loyal magazine readers were simply turning to the digital versions of magazines. Digital replica editions — which replicate the format of the print editions — now make up 3.3 percent of total magazine circulation, with 10.2 million digital replica editions sold in the first half of 2013. During the same time period in 2012, magazines sold 5.4 million digital editions, which made up 1.7 percent of circulation.
“They’re relatively small to the mix,” said Steven Cohn, editor of the Media Industry Newsletter, referring to digital subscriptions. “I would expect these numbers to grow rather steadily. It’s like everything else. You have to walk before you run. Things will accelerate.”
Celebrity weeklies had some of the biggest losses in newsstand sales, including People (11.8 percent decline), Us Weekly (16.7 percent) and Life Style Weekly (20.9 percent). But Mr. Cohn noted that these titles declined in part because they didn’t have a big event — like the birth of the royal baby — to help stimulate sales.
“The royal birth came in July,’’ he said. “They needed a stimulant like that and they didn’t have it.
“If it’s a normal news routine, at least with celebrities, they won’t do as well.”
But Mr. Cohn noted that celebrity titles already have benefited in the second half of the year because of birth of Prince George. Larry Hackett, the managing editor of People, said last week that the Aug. 5 “Royal Baby Joy” cover had already sold 1.2 million copies and he expected that to rise 1.4 million issues. “Already at 1.2 it’s the best-selling cover of the year,” Mr. Hackett said.
Mr. Cohn said he was more concerned about women’s magazines, which were hit hard by losses on the newsstand. Cosmopolitan showed a 23.9 percent decline in newsstand sales. Glamour dropped by 28.8 percent and O, The Oprah Magazine, fell by 22.7 percent. “I’m not sure whatever they can do can make a difference,” Mr. Cohn said. “It’s very newsstand-dependent.”
But Hearst magazines, which owns Cosmpolitan and O, The Oprah Magazine, noted the progress both magazines had made in digital subscriptions. Cosmopolitan grew by 33 percent, to 246,815 digital subscribers, and O grew 22 percent, to 99,412 digital subscribers.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/business/media/magazine-newsstand-sales-plummet-but-digital-editions-thrive.html?partner=rss&emc=rss