September (Magazine) Ad-Page Tallies Plunge (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

Advertising Age ^ | July 21, 2009 | Nat Ives

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Is September now the cruelest month? It may very well be for fashion and beauty titles this year. The final tallies for those crucial issues are emerging -- and for almost every one of the titles, results are terrible.

Magazines' big hope, and sustaining belief right now, is that the declines stem almost entirely from the recession, not from any long-term shift in consumer or advertiser demand. At Conde Nast, which has built its identity almost as much as its balance sheets around September issues over the years, the recession had better be the main culprit.

Ad pages in the September issue of W fell 53% from last September, according to the company's report Tuesday morning. Allure saw pages fall 52%, Self gave up 51%, Glamour lost 42%, Vogue arrived down 37%, Details lost 35%, and GQ and Teen Vogue each lost 32% (see graphic).

Those titles were hurt by the absence of the Fashion Rocks supplement this year, so Conde also provided comparisons to last September as if Fashion Rocks never existed. But those comparisons were still pretty grim: By that measure, W fell 47%, for example; Vogue fell 30%, Allure lost 28% and Glamour lost 25%.

The September ad-page picture isn't much better at other publishers. Ad pages in Hachette Filipacchi's September issue of Elle fell 21% short of last September. Harper's Bazaar, part of Hearst, said its September issue will arrive down 23% to 26%. Hearst's Cosmopolitan is estimating 150 ad pages will run in its September issue, down 18% from last year's total if you include a Cosmo Style & Beauty supplement last year that carried 9 ad pages; excluding that supplement, Cosmo's September ad pages fell 14%. Marie Claire, another Hearst title, said its September ad pages fell 20%. Essence, part of Time Inc., will run 16% fewer ad pages in September. The big outlier so far appears to be Time Inc.'s InStyle, which said Tuesday its September issue will actually run 2% more ad pages than last September.

Looking for good news The publishers with declines weren't happy about it but looked for what good news they could. "Six months ago we were optimistic there could be a turnaround," said Bill Wackerman, senior VP-publishing director at Glamour and Conde Nast Bridal Media. "That did not materialize. But business has stabilized. The reality is that it's not as grim as one would have it. Most of the brands that were in September last year are there again. It's just the volume has decreased."

Magazines are also not the only media struggling with a wicked recession, publishers noted. Digital-ad sales have reversed their formerly white-hot growth and are falling. The TV networks' upfront sales effort is at an impasse because buyers want deep discounts, while networks don't want to cut too much if the economy might improve relatively soon.

It looks increasingly likely, unfortunately, that recovery remains far off. Conde Nast warned staffers on Monday that it had hired McKinsey to help it make cuts, citing an economy "now predicted to be painfully slow in recovering."

"This is not about magazines, this is about the recession," said Lou Cona, senior VP at the Conde Nast Media Group, after Conde released its September ad-page counts on Tuesday. "Given the media recession and the overall economic recession, I think we are incredibly proud."

"The reason why you're seeing these negative numbers posted is not because there's a problem with our magazines or any other magazines," Mr. Cona added. "It's because our clients' businesses are impacted at retail. Circulation is up, readership is up, engagement is up."

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Tuesday evening good news.

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ping

[GeronL]

hardy hardy har

[Tarpon]

Locally the stores are bringing magazines over to the library where the library sells current month issues for $0.20.

[sinanju]

I’m guessing it’s more the Recession. The fashion glossies are all about luxury products and we’re all in belt-tightening mode here.

[hinckley buzzard]

Amazing. An entire genre of nine or ten glossies dedicated to dreck. Who ever said we knew the value of a dollar.

[abb]

http://www.observer.com/2009/media/conde-nast-september-monthlies-lose-1680-ad-pages
Conde Nast September Monthlies Lose 1,680 Ad Pages

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07212009/business/cond__201__ition_red_180479.htm
CONDÉ NAST HIRES CONSULTING FIRM

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE56K4ZN20090721
U.S. business magazines face a shakeout

http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/time_on_businessweek.php
The $1 BusinessWeek Story

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Journal-Communications-posts-apf-4150370191.html?x=0&.v=1
Journal Communications posts 2nd-quarter loss

http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2009/07/20/10365/star_tribune_returns_to_red_ink_in_june
Star Tribune returns to red ink in June

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/21/saved_but_at_what_cost/
Saved, but at what cost?

Saved, but at what cost?
Globe union approves big cuts

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2009/07/memo_from_guild.html
Memo from guild president Daniel B. Totten

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2009/07/memo_from_publi.html
Memo from publisher P. Steven Ainsley

[dynachrome]

Shotgun News seems to be doing well.

[guitarplayer1953]

So is Vintage guitar and Premier guitar mags no loss in advertising in those two.

[abb]

http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=138023
Advertising Will Change Forever

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB124809978837365265-lMyQjAxMDI5NDI4MDAyOTA5Wj.html
Gray Lady’s Dilemma

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/business/media/21globe.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=media&adxnnlx=1248218723-zA2kcHuLOiR2FfW/4TusVQ
Boston Globe Workers Agree to Cuts

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/just_how_dominant_is_fox_news_122254.asp
Just How Dominant is Fox News?

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=110160
Nielsen Finds Many Homes Still Without TV, Others Using Bootleg Analog Signals

http://www.wordyard.com/
Where’s Twitter’s past, and what’s it’s future?

http://www.newspaperdeathwatch.com/
Globe Union Faces the Music

http://recoveringjournalist.typepad.com/recovering_journalist/
Dead Magazine Walking

http://www.magazinedeathpool.com/
Readers suggest other magazines marked for death in 2nd half 2009

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http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20090721/FON0101/90721060/1289/FON01/Reporter-offices-will-move-to-new-location
Reporter offices will move to new location

[ConservativeMind]

Conde Nast is the most egregiously vile of the media companies. They drip hatred of conservatives on virtually every page of their title publications.

I really want to see them go under.

[GOPJ]

Locally the stores are bringing magazines over to the library where the library sells current month issues for $0.20.

I doubt advertisers are getting their upscale readers with the twenty cents a copy crowd...

[ConservativeMind]

Oh, that Newsweek article is the best one of the day so far!

Barely selling one copy per sales location across the whole country? That is WONDERFUL!!

I can’t wait to see it go under.

[jocon307]

“Conde Nast is the most egregiously vile of the media companies.”

Their own people hate them too. They are well known as “conde nasty” and for good reason, I’ve been led to believe.

[Tarpon]

Right you are, but how would they know?

[N. Theknow]

It's obvious that these mags need to reduce the content of the publications and raise the subscription prices to make up for the shortfall in revenue.

Is it the NYT or some other rag that is now using that business model?

The printed word has become the victim of a super-dumbed down generation which thinks alphabetic order begins with QWERTY.

[abb]

The printed word still works. It is the delivery format that has changed. The monopoly once held by the State-Run Media has gone away.

[ConservativeMind]

Actually, I think their keyboard of choice begins with “1, 2, 3” and ends with “*, 0, #.”

[GOPJ]

Advertisers can run a "great deal" coupon - and check the response.

If they're not getting any response it could be the ad that's not working or the media.

When they've got an effective ad, they can run it with different phone numbers, web sites and addresses for each different magazine or paper. And that will tell the story.

Some magazines are big fat ego trips - with puffed-up reader numbers.