Big three biz magazines outperforming industry

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

The three largest business magazine titles — Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes and Fortune — outperformed the overall glossy industry during the first six months of the year, according to data released by the Publisher’s Information Bureau.

Forbes reported as 16.4 percent increase in ad revenue and a 13 percent rise in ad pages for the first six months, while Fortune magazine reported a 10.5 percent increase in ad revenue and a 4 percent rise in ad pages. Bloomberg Businessweek posted a 7.8 percent increase in ad revenue and a 6.4 percent increase in ad pages during the same time period.

In comparison, the overall industry posted a 3.6 percent drop in ad revenue and an 8.8 percent drop in ad pages, according to the data that can be found here.

The best performing business magazine during the first six months of the year was Fast Company, which posted a 24.8 percent increase in ad revenue to $26.5 million and a 19.5 percent increase in ad pages to 294.76.

The worst performing business title during the first half of the year was Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, which recorded a 25.2 percent drop in ad revenue to $8.7 million and a 27.9 percent decline in ad pages to 127.12.

SmartMoney, which Dow Jones & Co. announced last month would be closed, posted a 4.7 percent decline in ad revenue to $16.6 million during the first six months of the year and an 8.6 percent decline in ad pages to 164.03.

In comparison, rival Money magazine posted a 2.1 percent increase in ad revenue to $52 million and a 3.3 percent decline in ad pages to 228.69