Newsstand sales are down 50%..but I suspect that total pages, especially ad pages are down lots more. I can remember when an issue of Forbes or Fortune, in the 90's..was about as many pages as t he manhattan phone book.
Lots of women's mags are sold at the supermarket checkout line...the impulse buy..and with food prices going through the roof..no wonder they're not flying off the racks.
There's a huge disconnect between the single issue newsstand price, and the cost of a paid subscription..some subscription rates are obvious money losers..90% off the regular rate, AND a promo prize...it makes no sense whatsoever...
Next time you're at a newsstand, say at an airport, and have some time to kill...if it's quiet, talk to the attendant, ask him how many copies get sent back each month. I've done this..and many times hardly any get sold..This is very expensive for the publishers..