Taking the long view

Masthead magazine does the industry a huge favour each year by calculating total revenue for the top 50 magazines in the country. It is done by multiplying the advertising pages tracked by LNA and the key 1x page rate and the audited circulation numbers published by the magazines. Masthead applies a weighting factor to take account of discounts and special offers and, while publishers grumble about the results, it is generally accepted that these numbers are in the ballpark. And, after all, ad and circulation dollars are how publishers keep score.

Year over year, these numbers don’t tell us much except who’s up and who’s down in the rankings. But if you keep the long view, there are some revealing trends. So, here are a few selected observations, based on the data from 2001 and 2005.

• Chatelaine magazine has claimed and retained its number 1 position by steady, impressive growth. While there has been a lot of criticism in the industry about things like taking 9 months to replace the editor, it is hard to argue with this kind of performance. In five years, it increased its total revenue 25% to more than $50 million.

• Canadian House & Home ranked 15th in revenue in 2000 and today ranks 6th, having increased its revenue from $12 million to $16 million in the past 5 years (33%).

• Maclean’s was Canada’s 1st magazine in 2000; in 2005 it was 4th. Its revenue went from $40 million to $36 million. But it has to be pointed out that, in 2005 it increased its revenue for the first time after four years of decline. Whether this is the talked-about turnaround? We shall see.

• Reader’s Digest retained its number 3 position, but for the first year in five saw a 5.4% decline in revenue. In 2001, the magazine made $38 million. In 2005, $37 million. In dollar terms, taking inflation into account, it is actually losing ground.

• Flare and Fashion and have traditionally jousted for pre-eminence in the fashion category. Over the past five years, Fashion has been closing the gap steadily. Flare retained its ranking lead (number 9 in 2005, up from 10 in 2001). Fashion moved to 14, from 20 in 2001. In dollars, Flare has increased revenue $3.5 million (25%) from $13.9 million to $17.4 million in total revenue; Fashion has increased revenue by $4.4 million (50%) from $8.7 million to $13.1 million.

• TV Guide has declined 39% in revenue from $28.9 million to $17.7 million in the past five years. Starweek declined by 38% ($13.6 to $8.5 million) and tv hebdo by 26% ($10.5 to $8 million)

• Canadian Living and its French language counterpart, Coup de Pouce together increased revenue 20% over five years ($46.2 million to $55.5 million). Compare this with Chatelaine and its French language counterpart Châtelaine which together increased revenue 31% over the same five years ($50.7 million to $66.3 million).