PI 400 -- Publications - Ad or Subtract

Long lead times—for advertising contracts, new title launches and some production schedules—mean the publication industry may not feel the full financial impact of recent events until after the first of the new year. Unfortunately, the news was already pretty bad before the terrorist attacks.

According to Publishers Information Bureau (PIB) numbers for September, year-to-date consumer magazine advertising revenues had been running 2.5 percent lower and ad pages were down 9.2 percent compared to 2000. The PIB numbers for October, the first results that could reflect any impact of the attacks, showed ad revenues for this one month alone were down 9.6 percent compared to last year.