The combined newsstand sales of 68 major American magazines declined by nearly half from 2001-2011, a MediaPost analysis of Audit Bureau of Circulations data revealed. According to ABC FAS-FAX circulation reports, this group of leading weekly and monthly magazines saw total average newsstand sales plunge from 22,019,953 in the six-month period ending June 2001 to 11,562,028 in the six-month period ending June 2011 -- a 47.5% decline over the course of the decade. Newsstand sales have declined steadily, dropping every single year from 2001-2011. After slowly declining from 22 million in 2001 to just over 17 million in 2007, shedding 23% over the course of seven years, the rate of loss increased from 2008 to 2011 -- shedding another 32% in just four years.
In one of the more ominous developments, women seem to be losing interest in many newsstand titles traditionally aimed at them, which are responsible for a large share of total newsstand sales.
Although magazine publishers are looking to sell both digital single copies and subscription intended for consumption with tablet computers, e-readers and online, digital newsstand sales remain fairly low. In August Time Inc. revealed that it had sold a total of about 600,000 digital copies of People, Time, Sports Illustrated and Fortune across all platforms, and Conde Nast said it had sold a total of about 106,000 digital editions of its various magazines through Apple's iTunes store in the preceding six weeks, per Adweek.
Read more here
