Ad Pages Nosedive

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, June 15, 2001

Ad Pages Nosedive
Consumer ad dollar and page gains/losses by category
JANUARY TO MARCH 2001 VS. JANUARY TO MARCH 2000
                                        2001      2000       %   2001
                                      ($000)    ($000)  CHANGE  PAGES
Automotive                          $339,596  $349,750   -2.9%  4,057
Technology                           337,380   324,643    3.9   5,512
Direct Response                      289,170   281,672    2.7   5,075
Drugs & Remedies                     284,213   261,186    8.8   2,961
Food & Food Products                 279,983   238,088   17.6   2,427
Apparel & Accessories                276,364   229,401   20.5   5,841
Toiletries/Cosmetics                 268,913   242,978   10.7   3,149
Home Furnishings & Supplies          236,850   212,661   11.4   3,201
Financial, Insurance & Real Estate   235,125   237,292   -0.9   3,613
Media/Advertising                    228,873   242,835   -5.7   2,865
Transportation, Hotels & Resorts     187,162   175,336    6.7   3,900
Retail                               180,133   230,780  -21.9   3,378
                                     2000       %
                                    PAGES  CHANGE
Automotive                          4,641  -12.6%
Technology                          6,282  -12.3
Direct Response                     5,154   -1.5
Drugs & Remedies                    2,810    5.4
Food & Food Products                2,148   13.0
Apparel & Accessories               5,337    9.4
Toiletries/Cosmetics                3,060    2.9
Home Furnishings & Supplies         3,008    6.4
Financial, Insurance & Real Estate  4,032  -10.4
Media/Advertising                   3,524  -18.7
Transportation, Hotels & Resorts    3,855    1.2
Retail                              4,478  -24.6
Ad pages dropped 6.8 percent compared with the same period in 2000,
while ad revenues were up by a slender 0.9 percent. Big decliners
included retail and media/advertising. "The categories that are down
tend to be the more economically sensitive ones, and are maybe more
stock-market driven than consumer driven," says Ellen Oppenheim,
executive vice president, chief marketing officer for the Magazine
Publishers of America.
Source: Publishers Information Bureau