Biz magazines post bad second quarter in advertising

Many business magazines posted a decline in ad revenue and ad pages during the second quarter, according to data from the Publishers Information Bureau.

Some publications bucked the trend. The Economist reported a 21 percent gain in ad revenue to $34.4 million and a 2.2 percent increase in ad pages to 648.5 for the quarter. Fast Company saw a 39.3 percent increase in ad revenue to $12.1 million and a 32.9 percent jump in ad pages to 161.1

The sharpest decline occurred at PC Magazine, where ad revenue for the quarter fell 55.6 percent to $9.9 million.

Among the bigger business glossies, BusinessWeek reported a 7.2 percent decline in ad revenue to $62.7 million for the quarter and a 10.5 percent decline in ad pages to 505. Forbes reported a 6.7 percent decline in ad revenue to $97.4 million and a 12.3 percent decline in ad pages to 802.4.

Fortune, however, reported a 5.6 percent increase in ad revenue to $81.9 million for the quarter and a 2.7 percent increase in ad pages to 706.5.

Also reporting gains were Barron’s and Entrepreneur, while Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Smart Money and Wired reported declines.

See the data for all of the magazines here.