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Why Time Inc. (and Everyone) Wants Out of the Magazine Business

Yesterday Jeffrey L. Bewkes, chairman and chief executive of Time Warner, announced that the company was spinning off its magazine division.

“After a thorough review of options, we believe that a separation will better position both Time Warner and Time Inc.,” Mr. Bewkes told the New York Times’ Amy Chozick. “Time Inc. will also benefit from the flexibility and focus of being a stand-alone company.”

Why Does Time Want Out of the Magazine Business?

Every year the Association of Magazine Media (MPA) releases data on the state of the industry — number of overall ad pages sold, the top 50 magazine advertisers, overall revenue figures broken down by consumer category, etc. The 2012 numbers were released last month, showing that billions are still spent on magazine ads. However, overall revenue slipped off the cliff in 2007 and is still in free-fall. (Economists refer the the 2010 plateau as a “dead cat bounce.”)

Magazine Revenue 2002-2012
Magazine Rate Card Revenue 2002-2012 adjusted for inflation (data from MPA – The Association of Magazine Media)

To put the last decade’s decline in perspective, this is what the previous 50 years looked like.

Magazine Revenue 1960-2010
Magazine Rate Card Revenue 1960-2010 adjusted for inflation (data from MPA – The Association of Magazine Media)

According to the MPA, number of ad pages sold and number of magazines in the marketplace are also falling.

For reference, here are the raw numbers:

MPA Magazine Industry Data 1960-2012
MPA Magazine Industry Data 1960-2012

via Magazine.org and The New York Times

Filed Under: Digital Journalism

Charlie Rogers Charlie Rogers

Chief content officer, editor-in-chief, managing editor, launch manager, and product strategist on dozens of digital ventures, for companies including NBC, Conde Nast, Time Warner, Martha Stewart and Random House.
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