Biz mags gain readers while food, travel and women titles lose them

Lucia Moses of MediaWeek writes Monday about how business magazines have been gaining readers while other magazine genres have been losing them.

Moses writes, “The category grew audience by a healthy 8.4 percent in the last year, according to Mediamark Research & Intelligence analysis of its fall audience report. Forbes, Time Inc.’s Money and Dow Jones & Co.-Hearst Magazines’ SmartMoney all posted gains in readership.

“The numbers offer much-needed good news for publishers. Total print audience grew 3.2 percent year over year, with 131 of 216 MRI-measured consumer titles up. Categories besides business gaining audience were shelter (up 4.2 percent) and fashion (up 3.5 percent).

“Those that declined include food (down 1.7 percent), travel (down 1.6 percent) and women’s magazines (down 0.9 percent). Several large women’s books shed readers, among them: Meredith’s Family Circle, Hearst’s Good Housekeeping and O, The Oprah Magazine, and Hachette Filipacchi Media’s Woman’s Day.”

Read more here.