Traditional British newsstand leaders slumping

Doubtless a sunny summer Friday is not the time to print gloomy news about magazines, but perhaps there is light at the end of the Canadian tunnel in this story from the Independent in Britain. It points out that most categories of magazines took a significant hit with the publication this week of the Audit Bureau of Circulation figures. In Britain, some 90% of magazines sell on newsstands or through news agents, whereas in Canada most consumer magazines are sold by subscription.

In Britain, Ian Reeves points out, the 100 best-selling, paid-for magazines sold 31 million copies 12 months ago and now sell 24 million, a decline of 22.5%.

Does that mean it's all over for the magazine industry? Are we all too busy poking each other on Facebook to have time to nip to the newsagents?

Well, not quite. The Periodical Publishers Association reckons that expenditure on magazines is actually on the rise. It estimates a figure of £1.58bn for annual cover price revenue, based on this set of circulation figures -a number very slightly up on last year. So even though we're buying fewer magazines, we're spending slightly more on them because of price increases.

There may be many contributing factors, such as the growth of free magazines -- for instance the forthcoming launch of launch of AlphaOne, backed by some big industry names including former IPC editorial director Mike Soutar, aiming to give away 500,000 copies on the streets of large cities -- data or analysis errors, the impact of digital publications and so on. It may be a momentary glitch. Or it may be a trend that will see paid newsstand sales continue to slide.