The 14 business magazines underperformed the rest of the magazine industry in the first quarter, according to data from Publishers Information Bureau.
Combined, the business titles reported a 2.95 decrease in advertising revenue to $245.4 million and a 5.9 percent drop in advertising pages to 2,289.43. That compares to a 1.6 percent decrease in ad revenue and a 4 percent decrease in ad pages for the overall industry.
The performance continues a trend of the business titles underperforming the industry. The 14 business magazines reported ad revenue of $1.33 billion in 2013, down 4.8 percent from 2012, according to data from the Publishers Information Bureau. In comparison, the consumer magazine industry reported a 1.1 percent increase in 2013.
The best performing business magazine for the first three months of 2014 was Inc., which reported a 25.9 percent increase in advertising revenue to $8.7 million and a 24.1 percent increase in ad pages to 101.32.
Behind it was Entrepreneur, which reported a 14.3 percent rise in advertising revenue to $23.2 million and a 14.9 percent increase in ad pages to 267.39.
Barron’s also reported a strong quarter, with advertising revenue rising 6.7 percent to $16.8 million and ad pages rising 3.1 percent rising to 305.87.
Among the big three business magazines, Forbes posted the best results, but all saw a decline in advertising revenue and advertising pages.
Forbes posted a 4.1 percent drop in ad revenue to $40.4 million and an 8.7 percent decline in ad pages to 242.98 for the quarter. Bloomberg Businessweek had a 6.6 decline in ad revenue to $33 million and a 10.6 percent drop in ad pages to 204.41, while Fortune had a 7.4 percent decline in ad pages to $38.5 million and a 10.8 percent decline in ad pages to 243.47.
The worst-performing business magazine was Black Enterprise, which had a 44.9 percent drop in ad revenue to $2.1 million and a 46 percent decline in ad pages to 44.61 in the quarter.
To review all of the data, go here.
