Magazine Ad Pages Down Last Month, But Revenues Slightly Up
Eight of 12 major ad categories ahead of 2004 pace through August.
from Publishers Information Bureau statistics

Total magazine rate-card-reported advertising revenue for the month of August increased one percent compared to August of 2004, according to the New York-based Publishers Information Bureau (PIB). However, actual advertising pages were down 2.2 percent from August 2004. This marked the seventh straight month that PIB revenue has posted gains. Year-to-date, PIB revenue closed at $13,788,358,364, an increase of 8.5 percent from the same period last year, with ad pages totaling 145,823, a 1.9 percent gain.

August 2005 vs. 2004
Six of the 12 major advertising categories increased their PIB revenue and pages over last year, led by Media & Advertising. Technology broke out of its long slump, posting positive gains in both pages and revenues.

CLASS NAME
Aug 05
DOLLARS
2004
DOLLARS
%
CHG
Aug 05
PAGES
2004
PAGES
%
CHG
MEDIA & ADVERTISING
105,563,665
85,346,138
23.7
948.76
834.19
13.7
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, HOTELS & RESORTS
45,206,754
37,290,124
21.2
624.65
557.21
12.1
TOILETRIES & COSMETICS
171,482,742
146,256,837
17.2
1,484.01
1,362.58
8.9
DRUGS & REMEDIES
157,540,523
135,662,723
16.1
1,284.20
1,187.89
8.1
TECHNOLOGY
71,319,811
66,823,291
6.7
767.36
737.55
4.0
DIRECT RESPONSE COMPANIES
119,626,812
106,422,210
12.4
1,222.85
1,197.97
2.1
FOOD & FOOD PRODUCTS
111,007,193
106,130,244
4.6
788.19
796.19
-1.0
APPAREL & ACCESSORIES
112,789,380
116,449,094
-3.1
1,442.00
1,502.23
-4.0
FINL, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE
70,373,776
82,908,711
-15.1
755.49
800.38
-5.6
RETAIL
73,821,886
82,774,157
-10.8
864.64
956.27
-9.6
AUTOMOTIVE
166,945,661
185,973,821
-10.2
1,552.53
1,798.33
-13.7
HOME FURNISHINGS & SUPPLIES
86,621,140
106,164,997
-18.4
755.52
958.74
-21.2

Source: PIB

Year to Date

Year-to-date, eight of the 12 major advertising categories generated increases in PIB revenue and pages as the Financial/Insurance/Real Estate category continued to lead the pack in 2005 with a 13.3 percent uptick in ad pages over the first eight months of 2004. Despite a strong showing in August, the Technology category continues to lag far behind its 2004 spending commitment to print magazines.

CLASS NAME
All 2005
DOLLARS
All 2004 DOLLARS
%
CHG
2005
PAGES
2004
PAGES
%
CHG
FINL, INSURANCE, REAL ESTATE
737,186,395
647,971,138
13.8
8,167.64
7,211.08
13.3
FOOD & FOOD PRODUCTS
1,182,998,705
1,014,049,095
16.7
8,470.88
7,565.70
12.0
MEDIA & ADVERTISING
896,989,169
778,400,829
15.2
8,347.88
7,735.77
7.9
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, HOTELS & RESORTS
657,748,633
572,188,533
15.0
8,690.13
8,265.64
5.1
TOILETRIES & COSMETICS
1,313,859,495
1,149,440,385
14.3
11,470.59
10,929.66
4.9
RETAIL
704,652,559
653,486,764
7.8
8,488.19
8,188.51
3.7
DIRECT RESPONSE COMPANIES
1,076,667,309
879,646,914
22.4
11,582.51
11,310.91
2.4
APPAREL & ACCESSORIES
1,025,812,728
939,192,875
9.2
13,537.12
13,387.13
1.1
AUTOMOTIVE
1,458,871,593
1,419,767,822
2.8
14,307.46
14,327.91
-0.1
DRUGS & REMEDIES
1,247,777,217
1,214,041,396
2.8
10,328.19
10,652.94
-3.0
HOME FURNISHINGS & SUPPLIES
958,427,393
975,631,831
-1.8
9,285.21
9,778.35
-5.0
TECHNOLOGY
611,070,645
680,912,052
-10.3
6,841.87
7,906.02
-13.5

Source: PIB