Sponsor (Jan-Apr 1957)
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\\ In should magazines feai i\ ? I here are two majoi i easons :
• I i It's hard f"i magazines t" < om
pete foi ad dollai b w ith .1 mass ■
(liiini like i\ mi the lone basis "I raw circulation numbers. \ magazine needs more than a million subscribers i" wave before an advertisei who maj reach three times thai man) homes w ith a i\ show ,
1 2 1 Vele\ ision has changed the entertainment values .mil habits ■•! the Vmerican public, foday, foi example, there i 1 • t obabl) more fi< tion being \ iewed than read.
In amplif) ing point 1 1 < regarding mass circulation numbers competition, Television Bureau of Advertising has presented this comparison 01 the two media based on Neil-en and NKI)>:
\l 10:15 a.m. (EST), 3.1 million
homo are tuned to t\ which equals the combined circulations "I Time and Sewsweek. \t II a.m.. t\ equals the
circulation of l.ooh at 1.1 million. \t
noon. Ladies Home Journal slips be
hind, and t\ is ahead ol all hut tWO
national magazines, the first of which
Life is passed at 1 : l> p.m. \t
7: to p.m.. t\ passes Readers' Digest
1 1 1 million to 111. 1 million 1. \t Id p.m. I\ is watched in more than II! million homes. In this comparison,
neither \ iewer--pet ->et nor reader-per
cop) were counted.
This 1>\ no means implies that magazine circulations have fallen o|T since i\. Actually, the reverse is true. Since the end of World War II. the circulation ot 30 top genera] consumer magazines increased 30^5 while the number
of people in the COUntr) rose l'1', . \n Alfred Politz Research, Inc. stud) foi Life -how a higher percentage of thai
periodical nets into t\ households than
into non-t\ households. Another surve) b) the same research organization
sponsored In Look and tilled. "The Audience of Nine Magazines" shows the same to he true for ever) one of the nine major publication studied (including (he late Collier's and // Oman s Home Companion < .
It has been the elTort to build such mass circulations that is part of publisting's trouble. The expense of getting and holding subscribers with special oilers and renewals is tremendous. Paper and production costs have soared. The average profit in the publishing industry, after taxes, is onl) about 2'L>',. Several years ago, Cosmopolitan not off a ver) shak) financial limb In deliberately cutting back
I
ARTICLE IN BRIEF
From a standing start 10 years ago, tv has |umpcd tar ahead of magazines in ad revenue At the same time it has enlarged overall advertising budgets, and thus benefited publishing But tv s impact on audience habits has been so great, magazines may have to change.
it rin ill, il i"ii li "in about 3 million In
I million. The) did this b) eliminating all subset iptions ex< ept full-rates.
I he 1 in illation tb.it u .1 added to ( oh
lier'i ami Woman's Home when theii publishers suspended Imerican l/".*/ zine la-t Jul) found the pair with little lime left to enJ0) it. Now it i a
question how profitable Look will find
tin Subs* 1 iptions it IS taking <>\ ei from Colliei I and // Oman S Home.
When tin latter two suspended, <■<>!tier's bad 1.2 million circulation and
Woman's Home bad 1.1 million. Gal
laghei Btated frankly: "No compan) management wa evei more blind.
During the late III and earl\ '50's
when the era of t\ competition was developing, this management failed to invigorate their magazines. "Crowell management, Gallagher -aid. "overlooked a vital truism oi magazine publishing. Magazines usuallj belong to
.111 er.i W ben It ...in-, the "
zine (ad> 10 survive, magazine*
... ith tin tin. Of fl '"//
an's Home Companion, he lid
"Growth of ts w ith numerous -•■■ pi ograms has gi aduall) redui ed the need (01 women's service magazines. . . . Signs have been apparent foi -i\ years " IK didn t respond.
the top '-11 magazines, 18 an now iting in tin nd. I In ma) 1 moie fatalities soon. I he magazine's problem, a< 1 ording to • lallaghei . is 11 .. .1 drop in cin ulal ion but in readei ship,
I hi leads to point 1 2 1 of the \ iousl) -mentioned reasons win n zines must considei the impact of t\. Re iding 1 -till \ ital, but the r • • . 1 < 1 1 n l.habit have changed and u ha played ,1 p.ni in bringing 1b.1t about. The name "magazine" means "storehouse and this ha always been the format of successful periodicals Bince Daniel Defoe began the first one. I he matei ial "stored" in magazines 1 ' 1 • information, and ' 2 1 entertainment.
\ magazine is read alone, b) one person at a 1 ime. I \ ma) be v iewed b) the famil) group. Entertainment fall neatl) into -roup participation bo it i in this area that h has bad itgreatesl effect. People re, id more to
I Please mm i<> /.//_. 12
Bernard P. Gallagher, agarine and advertising ■■■
the magazine business ha been asleep while television with it and
hungrier men has been alert and nn the prowL Ten many publishers failed to invigorate their maga/ine during Ial tnd early *50's when the era of
i\ -et in. Gallagher publishes ' Report f<>r admen and publu
SPONSOR
2(> .1 \m\ry 1957
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