TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
The 16 business magazines currently tracked by Publishers Information Bureau lost less in ad revenue and ad pages than the overall industry, according to data released Tuesday that was analyzed by Talking Biz News.
The business publications reported a 2.8 percent decrease in ad revenue in 2008, down to $1.7 billion, and a 7.3 percent decline in ad pages, down to 18,677.59.
That compares to a 7.8 percent drop in ad revenue and an 11.7 percent decline in ad pages for the overall magazine industry.
Among the business magazines that performed the best were Fast Company and the Economist.
Fast Company posted a 29.9 percent increase in ad revenue to $46 million and a 23.9 percent increase in ad pages to 616.24. The Economist reported a 25.5 percent increase in ad revenue to $131.5 million and a 4.4 percent increase in ad pages to 2,468.28.
The only other business magazines to report gains in both categories were Fortune, Harvard Business Review and Conde Nast Portfolio. However, Portfolio was not published for an entire year in 2007.
Forbes retained its No. 1 spot in ad revenue and ad pages among the business titles. Its ad revenue fell 8.6 percent to $338 million, and its ad pages fell 14.3 percent to 2,775.34.
The three Time Inc. business magazines — Fortune, Fortune Small Business and Money — posted strong performances given the economy.
Fortune posted a 2.5 percent increase in ad revenue to $276.5 million, and a 0.1 percent increase in ad pages to 2,382.71. Fortune Small Business posted a 2.9 percent increase in ad revenue to $52.7 million and a 0.6 percent drop in ad pages to 474.48, while Money recorded a 0.8 percent drop in ad revenue to $151.1 million and a 1.7 percent decline in ad pages to 793.62.
The other major business title — BusinessWeek — reported a 12.7 percent drop in ad revenue to $236.1 million and a 16.1 percent decline in ad pages to 1882.38.
Inc. was the only other business title to record a gain in ad revenue.
See all of the data here.
