Half of Wired’s ad revenue coming from digital

Nat Ives of Advertising Age writes that half of Wired’s advertising revenue in the last three months of 2012 came from digital.

Ives writes, “Digital revenue for most magazines still runs at a significantly lower level.

“Digital advertising contributed to about 10% of Wired ad revenue in 2006, when parent company Condé Nast bought Wired.com and reunited it with the magazine, according to Howard Mittman, VP-publisher at Wired.

“‘We spent a lot of time debating whether we were the best magazine with a website or the best website with a magazine,’ Mr. Mittman said. ‘And at the end of the day, I don’t think we care. Hitting 50% is proof that there is a successful template inside of this industry that can be followed by others and that having a magazine doesn’t necessarily need to be an analog anchor around your technological neck.’

“Wired ad pages declined 5.7% in 2012, according to the Media Industry Newsletter, but Mr. Mittman said digital’s rise did not depend on a drop in print. ‘Real-world print dollars were flat year over year,’ he said.”

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