Magazines

Magazine launches

• Martha Stewart Living (1991)

• O, The Oprah Magazine (2000)

• McCalls becomes Rosie (2001)

»

Early History of Magazines

• “magazine” from French word magasin, meaning storehouse or shop

• Colonial magazines - first in 1741, Philadelphia

• 1776 - about 100 operating

Early History of Magazines– North American Review (1815)– Saturday Evening Post (1821)

Early History of Magazines

• 1850 - nearly 600 magazinesGodey’s Lady’s Book (1850s)

Early History of Magazines

• The Nation (1865)

• 1870s - about 1200 magazines• Postal Act of 1879: postal rates went down

Early History of Magazines

Pictorial Pioneers

Harper’s Weekly/Photos around 1890

Early History of Magazines• 1905 - more than 6000• In 1903, Ladies’ Home Journal reached

circulation of 1 million.

Early History of Magazines

• Magazines help readers to see themselves as part of nation

Social Reform and Muckrakers

Social Reform and Muckrakers

Social Reform and Muckrakers

Social Reform and Muckrakers

Social Reform and Muckrakers

• President Theodore Roosevelt, 1906: reporters willing to crawl through “muck” of society to uncover story.

Social Reform and Muckrakers• 1902, McClure’s Magazine (1893-

1933)– Ida Tarbell’s book The History of the

Standard Oil Company on John D. Rockefeller’s big oil monopoly.

Social Reform and Muckrakers

– Lincoln Steffens’ “Shame of the Cities” on urban problems.

Social Reform and Muckrakers

• 1906, Cosmopolitan (1886- ) purchased by Hearst, series called “The Treason of the Senate”

Social Reform and Muckrakers• Collier’s “The Great American

Fraud” series on patent

medicines. SAMUEL HOPKINS ADAMS

Social Reform and Muckrakers

• Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle and Collier’s and LHJ muckraking reports, led to the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906.

Rise of General Interest Magazines

• Saturday Evening Post- hits 2 million in 1920s.

• Reader’s Digest - by 1946, most popular magazine, hits 9 million circulation.

Rise of General Interest Magazines

• Time (1923 - ) and national newsweeklies

1933

Rise of General Interest Magazines

• Life (1936) - photojournalism

The Fall of General Interest Magazines

• Saturday Evening Post folds, 1969• Look folds, 1971• Life folds, 1972

– All three in top 10– Selling for less than cost of production– Relied on subscriptions, with high mailing rates– Advertisers migrated to TV to reach general

audience

The Fall of General Interest Magazines

• TV Guide (1953) - most newspapers didn’t do TV program listings. A huge success. Demonstrated sales power of supermarket checkout sales.

• Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. bought in 1988. Why? Sold in 2000.

The Fall of General Interest Magazines

• People finds success as new general interest magazine in 1974. Emerges from Time section.

Specialization

• Regional editions - content tailored to different geographic regions

• Split-run editions - national magazines that tailor ads to different regions

• Demographic editions - ads target different consumers by occupation, class and zip code

Categories

• Magazines are developed for many NICHES – (Primedia video)

• Currently about 12,000 magazines in U.S.

Fragmented Marketplace

• Of the 12,000 consumer magazines, only about 90 have circulation of more than one million

The largest magazines?

Fragmented Marketplace

• Of the 12,000 consumer magazines, only about 90 have circulation of more than one million

AARP Bulletin (21.5 million)AARP The MagazineReader’s DigestTV GuideBetter Homes and Gardens

Supermarket Tabloids

• The National Enquirer

Making magazines

• Editorial Content (about 50-50)• Advertising and Sales

– $64,000 fullpage ad– $20,000 1/3 page ad

• Circulation and Distribution– Evergreens– Paid circulation

Major Chains

• Time Warner• Meredith Publishing• Hearst Corporation• Bertelsmann• Hachette Filipachi• Advance Publications/Condé Nast

• Online Magazines– Salon– Slate