Magazine Publishers Industry Profile

Companies in this industry produce and distribute magazines and other periodicals in print or electronic form, such as gathering, writing, and editing articles, and selling and preparing advertisements. Major US companies include Advance Magazine Publishers (doing business as Condé Nast), Meredith, and the magazine divisions of diversified media companies such as Hearst, News Corporation, and Time Warner.

The US magazine publishing industry includes about 6,000 companies with combined annual revenue of about $40 billion and is forecast to grow at a low rate in the next two years. Competition from free-access online content such as The Huffington Post and Slate is a key challenge for the industry.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand for magazines is driven largely by growth in consumer income. The profitability of individual companies depends highly on marketing expertise. Small companies can compete by specializing in niche topics and markets, while larger companies benefit from a wide selection of magazine titles to offer advertisers. Large companies also have economies of scale in production and distribution. The industry is concentrated: the 50 largest companies generate about 60 percent of revenue.

While the total number of consumer magazines published in the US is greater than 7,000, less than 350 have circulation of more than 100,000 copies. Magazines compete with a variety of print, online, and broadcast media for consumer attention.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Products include weekly and monthly general interest magazines, industry trade publications, and various nonprint information ...