The Publishers Information Bureau of The Magazine Publishers of America tracks magazine revenue and advertising pages each month. The study covers all major magazines and weekly newspaper inserts.

PIB, as it is called in the industry, takes gross pages and multiplies them by published rates for advertising pages by magazine. So, discounting is not reflected in the numbers. Assuming that the market makes all major magazine discount at about the same rate, the numbers are good from a directional standpoint.

In the period from January to July 2006 compared to the same period in 2005, the larger magazines at Time, Inc. did not do terribly well, and indication that revenue and operating profits at the group may not be strong for the second half of the year. With the costs of postage, ink, and transportation rising, mostly due to higher oil prices, margins will be squeezed unless revenue is rising smartly.

In the seven month period, Sports Illustrated ad revenue was up .9% to $346 million. Ad pages for SI were flat.

Continue reading Time Warner's magazines, no big year here

Time Warner's magazines, no big year here originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Sep 2006 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.