Sharp reduction in print closures this year
The first three quarters of 2010 saw a dramatic reduction in press title closures in the UK.
Compared with the same period last year, a third fewer titles were shut down between January and September 2010, according to MediaTel’s own figures.
The PPA agrees, recording 38% fewer closures in the period until August 2010 compared with the same time last year.
However, this reduction in closures has not gone hand in hand with an increase in launches, with the PPA and MediaTel recording fewer launches in 2010 than last year.
ZenithOptimedia believes the overall UK press market is in “rude health”, with the total market up 6% for the first eight months of 2010. However there is a dark cloud on the horizon with the COI’s expenditure falling by 40% and signs that supermarket spending is stagnating, which has led to a forecast of less than 1% growth for magazines in the each of the next two years.
Zenith believes that one ray of light is the “long tail” of advertisers in consumer magazines, representing 50% of all ad revenues, and that these advertisers were yet to return to growth. “If they were to do so, then this would offset most of the shortfall caused by the supermarkets and COI,” it stated.
Looking to the US, the magazine market has experienced a two-thirds reduction in magazine closures in Q3, according to ZenithOptimedia and mrmagazine.com.
However, in a change to the UK trend, the US market has seen an increase in magazine launches, as publishers invest heavily in new titles – for example, in July alone 68 new magazines were launched, according to ZenithOptimedia.
Of the US launches, many have been special issues, with the rise of the book-azine being particularly noteworthy – Q3 saw 45 new book-azines launched per month. These ‘keeper’ items have changed the focus of magazine producers, offering a higher quality paper stock and are positioned as an offshoot of the magazine to capitalise on the brand equity.
ZenithOptimedia also states that the trend for converting to online only formats has slowed down in the US, with only 26 print magazines converting, compared to 64 in 2009.