Business magazines outperform the industry in third quarter

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

Business-related titles performed better than the overall magazine industry in the third quarter, according to data released Tuesday by Publishers Information Bureau.

The magazine industry saw a decline of 8.8 percent in advertising revenue and a 12.9 percent decline in ad pages for the quarter. However, a majority — nine — of the 15 business publications tracked by Publishers Information Bureau reported an increase in ad revenue, and seven reported an increase in ad pages.

Leading the way were the three Time Inc. publications. Fortune Small Business reported a 46.8 percent jump in ad revenue for the quarter to $12.6 million and a 42.7 percent rise in ad pages to 113.92.

Fortune posted a 29.7 percent increase in ad revenue to $70.6 million and a 27.1 percent increase in ad pages to 610.55, while sister publication Money reported a 10.3 percent increase in ad revenue to $38.9 million and a 7.3 percent rise in ad pages to 203.98.

The two Mansueto Ventures titles — Inc. and Fast Company — also reported strong gains. Fast Company posted a 36.1 percent increase in ad revenue to $9.6 million and a 30.5 percent rise in ad pages to 128.89, while Inc. posted a 21.3 percent increase in ad revenue to $24.7 million and a 13.5 percent increase in ad pages to 232.55.

Also posting strong gains for the quarter was The Economist, which had a 33.9 percent increase in ad revenue to $27.8 million and an 11.5 percent rise in ad pages to 523.66.

Among the decliners, Smart Money fell 29.9 percent in ad revenue to $9.8 million and dropped 32.6 percent in ad pages to 116.75, while Forbes declined 21.7 percent in ad revenue to $54.6 million and fell 26.2 percent in ad pages to 449.74.

See all of the data here.