U.S. consumer mags slide 2.27% in total circ in first half of 2010

The latest FAS-FAX from the Audit Bureau of Circulations shows that total paid and verified circulation of the magazines it tracks slipped 2.27% in the first six months of the year; total paid subscriptions fell 1.96% and newsstand sales fell 5.63%. Comparative figures were based on 440 titles that reported in June in both 2009 and 2010. According to a story in Folio:, 

Of the top 25 consumer titles by total paid and verified circ, Game Informer magazine (4,364,170 total paid and verified) saw the biggest increase of 21.19 percent. Reader’s Digest, which previously announced a circulation reduction, reported a decline of 25.08 percent (6,112,811).

The largest-reporting title, AARP (23,721,626) saw its total paid and verified slip 3.39 percent during the six-month period. Better Homes and Gardens grew 0.13 percent to 7,644,011 while National Geographic declined 4.67 percent to 4,493,110.

And of any magazine with a total paid and verified circulation above 100,000, the biggest gainer during the period was Food & Family, which reported a 649.71 percent increase to 1,084,503. Next up was right-leaning Newsmax, which grew total paid and verified circ by 92.63 percent to 181,985.

Other titles that raised their total circ were Organic Gardening (up 25.81 percent to 351,713), Bon Appetit (19.17 percent to 1,611,930), Science News (18.99 percent to 136,363) and People Stylewatch (17.72 percent to 882,683).