Magazines in 2013: It coulda been worse

Not as many launched in the first nine months this year compared to 2012, but not as many folded either.

BY MATTHEW FLAMM

 http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article

For magazines in 2013, the year has been a case of glass half-full, glass half-empty: only 40 print titles folded during the first nine months, compared to 55 during the same period a year ago. But only 114 titles launched, compared to 155 during the first three quarters last year, according to Mediafinder.com, the database of U.S. and Canadian periodicals, which will release its latest survey of the magazine landscape on Tuesday.

In other words, both launches and closures were down in the same double digit range-between about 36% and 38%.

"There are fewer launches, but people are still launching," noted Mediafinder President Trish Hagood. "There's life in print yet."

There was one sign of a new trend: the emergence of Kickstarter as a publishing patron. Brooklyn-based quarterly magazine Popular Noise put out its first issue after raising $20,000 on the crowdfunding site.

Other launches included Rodale's Conrad Magazine, a custom publishing venture with Conrad Hotels & Resorts, and Bonnier Corp.'s Imaging Edge, published in partnership with Sony.

"'Magalogs' have come back with a vengeance," Ms. Hagood said. "But people have to make money."

Overall, the top categories for new titles were the same as they are virtually every quarter: food-Cooking, Good Cents-and regional interest (Edible Long Island, Our Wisconsin).

 Among the titles that folded were the usual contingent of tech and business-to-business magazines, like Game Developer and AM News, which had been published by the American Medical Association for more than half a century. PC World went digital-only.

There have been slightly more digital-only magazine launches this year. MediaFinder counted 28 in the first nine months, compared to 26 in the year ago period; five digital-only titles folded, compared to six last year.

Magazines becoming replaced by high-priced 'bookazines'

By Keith J. Kelly

http://nypost.com/2013/10/05/magazines-becoming-replaced-by-high-priced-bookazines/

The number of magazine launches is dropping, but the market for bookazines - high-priced one-shot special issues costing $10 or more - is on the rise.

That's the observation of Samir Husni, a journalism professor at the University of Mississippi who has emerged as the dean of tracking new magazine launches and even given himself the trademarked nickname Mr. Magazine.

"I've never seen so many bookazines launched," said Husni. "They are definitely replacing regularly published magazines."

Through the first three quarters ended Sept. 30, there were a total of 591 new magazines, down slightly from the 614 in the first nine months of 2012.

But Husni noted that one-off special issues, often with cover prices in the $10 range, actually rose about 2.4 percent, to 457, compared with 446 in 2012.

The specials range from a Saturday Evening Post 50th-anniversary commemoration of the death of President John F. Kennedy to a Life special on the Beatles.

Fifteen to 20 years ago, he noted, sex magazines could be expected to dominate as the most populated launch category, and in some banner years the total number of launches would top 1,000.

But porn has largely migrated to the Web. Today the biggest categories are more niche-oriented and mostly upscale: Food is No. 1, followed by crafts and sports/leisure magazines.

For the fourth quarter, and early next year, he notices big publishers getting active again.

Bauer is launching a celebrity lifestyle weekly in November called Closer, Cond� Nast recently partnered up to revive Domino, and Hearst plans to introduce the Dr. Oz Magazine.

But Husni doesn't think the arrival of big publishers means more launches overall. He predicts the full year will be flat-to-down, compared with 2012.

2013 Consumer Magazine Launches-It's the Year of the 'Book-A-Zine': Mr. Magazine's ™ Year-to-Date Recap

2013 IS the year of book-a-zines and special issues when it comes to the new magazine launches and the newsstands. In the first three quarters of 2013 new magazine launches witnessed a decline of 24 titles, from a total of 614 in 2012 to a total of 591 in the same period of 2013. The charts below show the increase of 11 book-a-zines in 2013, compared to 2012, and a decrease of 34 magazines with a regular frequency. However, launching a new magazine is still best in the worst of times... enjoy the numbers.

Editor's Note: Learn more about "Magazines becoming replaced by high-priced 'bookazines'" in NY Post media columnist Keith Kelly's discussion with Samir Husni.