合众媒体–Republic Media

The number of advertising pages in magazines fell nearly 26% in the first quarter, according to numbers released this week by the Publishers Information Bureau, continuing the acceleration of revenue declines that have caused many publishers to close struggling titles.

Many of the worst performers were publications that have either reduced frequency or closed altogether, including Country Home and Blender. The hardest hit titles still in publication included the two-year-old glossy business publication Conde Nast Portfolio, whose ad pages fell nearly 61%, and Conde Nast’s Wired, which posted a 57% decline in ad pages. Portfolio’s decline was magnified by the fact that there were three issues in the first quarter last year vs. two issues this year. Accounting for the extra issue, ad pages declined 46%.

Only 15 of nearly 240 publications tracked by the PIB sold more ad pages in the first quarter than they did in the same period last year. Meredith Corp.’s Fitness magazine sold 28% more ad pages, Northern & Shell’s OK Weekly was up 22% and Dennis Publishing’s The Week sold 19% more pages in the quarter.

The latest figures follow a year in which advertisers fled magazines at a faster clip every quarter. In 2008, ad pages fell 6.4% in the first quarter, 8.2% in the second quarter, 12.9% in the third quarter and 17% in the fourth quarter, according to PIB.

Other large titles that took a hit included W, New York magazine and Business Week, all of which posted 40% declines in ad pages.

《华尔街日报》2009-04-15，作者：RUSSELL ADAMS