PMB results have held steady and healthy over past five years

The recent Print Measurement Bureau spring data reporting (from which last week we extracted the top magazines in terms of total readership and readers-per-copy) contains additional and particularly interesting historical results:

1. The average readership of over 100 titles measured in the nine, biannual studies since 2009 showed a steady average readership of around a million. For instance, comparing spring rounds:
• 2009 spring 1.02 million
• 2010 spring 1.03
• 2011 spring 0.98
• 2012 spring 0.98
• 2013 spring 1.04
2. Over the same five years, for those same magazines in terms of readers-per-copy, the numbers are higher than ever, with 2013 spring 10% higher than five years before. Here, again, is a comparison of the spring rounds:
• 2009 spring 4.9
• 2010 spring 4.8
• 2011 spring 4.9
• 2012 spring 4.9
• 2013 spring 5.4
3. In terms of engagement with magazines -- the data shows readers are spending as much time (in minutes per issue) with magazines as they did five years ago:
• 2009 spring 40
• 2010 spring 42
• 2011 spring 42
• 2012 spring 41
• 2013 spring 41

PMB chair Kirby Miller, who is also senior vice president and general manager at House & Home Media, said of these results:

"In a media world that's often looking for the next great panacea, it comes as no real surprise when we see the rock solid new PMB results. The metrics of average readership, readers-per-copy and engagement time with the medium are all looking very healthy."