Magazine Ads Down 18 Percent In ’09, PIB Says

NEW YORK—Total magazine rate-card-reported advertising revenue for 2009 closed at $19.45 billion, an 18.1 percent decline against the previous year, reported the Magazine Publishers of America, citing data from the Publishers Information Bureau (PIB).

A total of 169,217.76 advertising pages were generated throughout the year, a drop of 25.6 percent compared to 2008. In the fourth quarter of 2009, PIB revenue generated $5,778,429,251, which was a 12.4 percent decrease compared to 2008's fourth quarter. There were 48,958.92 advertising pages counted for the quarter, a decline of 21.6 percent compared to the same period in 2008.

Food and food products, one of 12 major advertising categories, showed a 21.9 percent PIB revenue and 9.8 percent page increase during the fourth quarter of 2009, along with a 1.4 percent revenue bump for the full year, driven primarily by ads for cooking ingredients, mixes and seasonings.

The fourth quarter saw significant contributions from produce, meats, beverages and snacks. Twelve categories are the most significant contributors to PIB revenue, comprising more than 85 percent of total advertising spending.

Two fourth quarter growth trends were apparent across other ad sectors. A number of subcategories registered PIB revenue and page increases in Q4: household cleansers, pet foods/supplies, drugs, toiletries and fitness products. Second, four major categories, while still down, showed significant improvement in the fourth quarter compared to prior quarters in 2009: finance, insurance and real estate; direct response companies; toiletries and cosmetics; and automotive.

The fourth quarter of 2009 marks the first time automotive declines have been in single digits since the fourth quarter of 2007, with the category showing a more than 80 percent increase in the fourth quarter versus the average quarterly spending earlier in the year.