There Are More Magazines Than You Think

BoSacks Speaks Out: I have a hard and fast "rule" not to send out press releases in my newsletter. But every rule needs to be a bit flexible and in this case I am breaking my own rule.

The PR below is filled with interesting data. I cannot at this time substantiate any of it. But I have stated for years that the MPA and its peculiar and narrow set of statistics does not represent the magazine industry as a whole, but rather an elite fraternity with a particular self-serving agenda.

The conclusions of this PR needs to taken with a grain or two of salt, but I bet you dollars to donuts that these and Samir's numbers are closer to reality than anything the MPA has to offer.


"You can use all the quantitative data you can get, but you still have to distrust it and use your own intelligence and judgment."
Alvin Toffler quotes (American Author of Science-fiction, b.1928)



There Are More Magazines Than You Think
http://www.primir.org/

There are more magazines and more new titles appearing each year than most reports indicate, including those emanating from the Magazine Publishers of America and Samir Husni, Mr. Magazine, according to the results of a recently completed study of "Magazine Printing & Publishing in North America" by PRIMIR, the Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization.

MPA focuses only on the "big dogs" and Mr. Magazine does not delve into the business-to-business, custom and educational titles, says William C. Lamparter, President of the PrintCom consulting Group that conducted the study for PRIMIR.The study identified a total of 26,140 titles of all types and frequencies published in North America during 2006. Of this total 16,050 were U.S. consumer magazines and 7,270 were classified as U.S. business magazines. All of these titles were published on a regular frequency for at least a year or in the case of annuals, had published their second edition.

This is the largest and most inclusive number of titles ever specifically identified and demonstrates the breadth, depth, and health of the magazine industry, Lamparter said.During 2006, 1,200 new consumer titles were born in the U.S. including 900 consumer titles identified by Dr. Husni, who was a member of the PRIMIR/PrintCom magazine research study team, as well as 300 titles in the consumer educational, affinity and custom publishing segments. Of the new consumer titles, almost two-thirds are annuals including annual specials, while almost a third are issued four or more times a year.

Fifty-five new business magazine titles were added in the U.S. to bring the 2006 U.S. new title count to 1,255, according to the PRIMIR study. One hundred and ten new consumer titles and five business titles were added in Canada during 2006. These all inclusive new title counts point a more accurate picture of the health of the magazine business than the more limited view of consumer only, opined Lamparter.By 2011, the study forecasts that the number of titles of all types will continue to grow to over 25,000 in the U.S. and 3,000 in Canada for a total number of North American titles of over 28,000.

However, the study forecasts a 10% decline in total pages included in all North American magazines by 2011. The forecast is for titles up - page count down.