Where Growth Is

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Jan 1, 2004 by Jeff Bercovici

Byline: JEFF BERCOVICI

Forget Vogue . The hottest trends in the magazine world are leashes, shoulder pads and long white dresses. Translation: Dogs, football and bridal have been the fastest-growing categories over the past decade, according to Oxbridge Communications, which publishes the National Directory of Magazines. The latest edition lists 17,670 U.S. and Canadian titles, including journals, b-to-b publications, online magazines and more than 14,000 print titles. That total represents a 9.1 percent drop from 2000. Attrition in categories such as business and sports has been dramatic. Labor magazines took the biggest hit: That category was down 87 percent, which perhaps reflects unions' declining fortunes. General-interest magazines also disappeared at a rapid rate, as did company house organs. In-house titles fell from 685 a decade ago to 145 in 2003 - a 79 percent drop. And many companies now publish their employee news on the Web or not at all, says Oxbridge CEO Lou Hagood. "There's been a lot of cost-cutting and a lot of paranoia," he says. On the plus side, genres like golf, interior design and college/alumni had major gains. With 1,013 titles in 2003, college/alumni is the largest magazine category, followed by medicine (937) and religion/theology (711). - Jeff Bercovici

RISE OF MAGAZINES BY CATEGORY

FALL OF MAGAZINES BY CATEGORY