Magazine Market Growth In 1993 – Survey

According to a survey by Wessenden Marketing, magazine advertising revenue showed signs of recovery throughout 1993; The retail value of the magazine business rose by 10.4% between 1992 and 1993. This is the strongest performance since the boom year of 1990.

The underlying volume growth increased 1.9% year on year, with a 3.7% growth rate for average issue circulations. Cover price inflation increased quite heavily; 7.3% in comparison to the general retail price inflation over the same period of 1.6%

The growth in the number of new magazines was 6.5% year on year, although this is a slow-down in growth. Subscriptions now account for 4.2% of the total volume of copies sold and 8.8% of average issue volumes.

However, in export markets, publishers rely much more heavily on subscriptions with 24.2% of average issue volumes being sold via this route. Export markets have grown slightly slower than the UK; 3% growth in average issue volumes in comparison to 3.7% for the UK.

IPC is still the largest publisher of consumer magazines, although EMAP is gaining the share that IPC is losing. Publishers’ above the line ad spend is down by 1.6% for 1993; however their advertising revenue is up 5.9%.

Full report is available from Wessenden Marketing Jim Bilton 0483 421690.