Top-Circulation Consumer Titles And Their Web Site Traffic

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, April 1, 2000

(Measured in unique visitors in January 2000)

Really, really big print-circulation titles don't always convert to major Web traffic, as the figures below indicate. Many of the titles hold their own, but it is cyberstuff (PC World and Wired, for example) and sex (Playboy) that are really pulling in the visitors. That's because certain people go on the Web and certain people don't. And ultimately, what people look for on the Web is different from what they look for in print magazines.

                                                                   PRINT
WEB SITE (MAGAZINE TITLE)                    UNIQUE VISITORS CIRCULATION
Pathfinder.com [*]                                 4,563,000         n/a
Pcworld.com (PC World)                             1,642,000   1,225,746
Tvguide.com (TV Guide)                             1,350,000  11,807,043
Slate.com [*]                                      1,330,000         n/a
Playboy.com (Playboy)                              1,157,000   3,252,661
Wired.com (Wired)                                  1,065,000     527,488
BHG.COM (Better Homes and Gardens)                   906,000   7,600,667
Nationalgeographic.com (National Geographic)         557,000   8,618,632
Readersdigest.com (Reader's Digest)                  468,000  13,368,327
Prevention.com (Prevention)                          449,000   3,101,583
AARP.org (Modem Maturity)                            270,000  20,369,590
React.com (React)                                    258,000   3,010,705
Familycircle.com (Family Circle)                         ***   5,002,255
Goodhousekeeping.com (Good Housekeeping)                 ***   4,626,346
Ladieshomejournal.com (Ladies' Home Journal)             ***   4,500,404
Mccalls.com (McCall's)                                   ***   4,202,995
Time.com (Time)                                          ***   4,083,387
People.com (People Weekly)                               ***   3,659,151
Sportsillustrated.com (Sports Illustrated)               ***   3,281,395
Newsweek.com (Newsweek)                                  ***   3,178,207
Cosmopolitan.com (Cosmopolitan)                          ***   2,879,076
Redbook.com (Redhook)                                    ***   2,801,385
Southernliving.com (Southern Living)                     ***   2,526,799
Seventeen.com (Seventeen)                                ***   2,384,166
                                             PRINT
WEB SITE (MAGAZINE TITLE)                     RANK
Pathtinder.com [*]                             n/a
Pcworld.com (PC World)                          62
Tvguide.com (TV Guide)                           3
Slate.com [*]                                  n/a
Playboy.com (Playboy)                           15
Wired.com (Wired)                              167
BHG.COM (Be fter Homes and Gardens)              5
Nationalgeographic.com (National Geographic)     4
Readersdigest.com (Reader's Digest)              2
Prevention.com (Prevention)                     18
AARP.org (Modem Maturity)                        1
React.com (React)                               19
Familycircle.com (Family Circle)                 6
Goodhousekeeping.com (Good Housekeeping)         7
Ladieshomejournal.com (Ladies' Home Journal)     8
Mccalls.com (McCall's)                           9
Time.com (Time)                                 11
People.com (People Weekly)                      12
Sportsillustrated.com (Sports Illustrated)      14
Newsweek.com (Newsweek)                         17
Cosmopolitan.com (Cosmopolitan)                 21
Redbook.com (Redhook)                           22
Southernliving.com (Southern Living)            24
Seventeen.com (Seventeen)                       25

"UNIQUE VISITORS" (DIFFERENT VISITORS) RECORDED BY MEDIA METRIX FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY 2000.

"MODERN MATURITY" RANKS VISITORS TO ENTIRE AARP SITE, NOT JUST THOSE WHO CLICKED THROUGH TO THE MAGAZINE PAGE (AARP.ORG/MMATURITY).

(*.)"PATHFINDER" AND "SLATE" NAVE NO COMPARABLE PRINT COUNTERPARTS.

(***.)NOT TRACKED--THE TRAFFIC IS WHAT MEDIA METRIX CALLS INSUFFICIENT, GENERALLY BELOW 270,000 UNIQUE VISITORS PER MONTH. SOURCES: MEDIA METRIX AND ABC, JUNE 1999