There was moderately encouraging news for consumer magazine publishers this week with the release of third-quarter ad numbers from the Publishers Information Bureau, which showed the erosion of print ads is slowing while tablet ad units continued their surge.
In the third quarter, print-ad pages dropped only 1.8 percent compared to the year-ago quarter, according to PIB, while tablet ad units in the same period jumped 17.5 percent.
“I think we are coming to a crossroad. There’s much more stability and confidence in the future,” said Mary Berner, CEO of the Association of Magazine Media. “Marketers are shifting dollars in some instances from print to tablet editions, but continue to invest in magazine media.”
Year to date, print ad pages are still down 3.8 percent compared to the nine months a year earlier. The tablet market jumped 22 percent in ad units in the year-to-year comparison.
The big three, Time Inc., Condé Nast and Hearst, were actually positive year-over-year.
“September in particular was a strong month for us and others,’ said Michael Clinton, publishing director and president of advertising at Hearst Magazines, where ad pages are up 1.1 percent year to date. “As we roll into October and the rest of the year, we see things getting progressively better.”
Time Inc.’s numbers were helped because the deal to acquire American Express Publishing closed earlier this month.
Time Inc. was barely positive.