The major players in the magazine industry include Entertainment Weekly, People, Us Weekly, TV Guide, and Rolling Stone, with circulations ranging from 700,000 to 3.4 million. Magazines are financed through advertising, subscriptions, or a combination. The production process involves setting deadlines, accepting manuscripts, copyediting, layout, determining ad/article ratios, printing, and distribution through mail, newsstands, or free pickup locations. Circulation is categorized as paid, non-paid, or controlled based on how the magazine is obtained. While print magazine audiences are declining with the rise of digital content, some magazines focused on current affairs have increased sales recently.

1. Industrial context
of magazines

2. Who are the
major
players?
Entertainment Weekly (Circulation: 1.8 million
(2013) )
People (Circulation: 3.4 million (2018))
Us Weekly (Circulation: 2 million (2013))
TV Guide (Circulation: 1.8 million (2014))
Rolling Stones (Circulation: 700,622 (2018))
Empire (Circulation: 123,004 (2016))

3. Financing of
Magazines
• Magazines are usually financed by
advertising or by a purchased price or
by prepaid subscription or a
combination of the three
• For adverts, the magazine allows
advertisers to use their unused space
for their adverts which usually costs
thousands of pounds
• For subscriptions allow consumers to
receive the magazine directly and is
usually more profitable as one of the
intermediaries are cut out but, also
allows the magazine know what their
audience’s consumption habit are like.

4. Production:
Step 1: Deadlines are set so that the editor, publisher, the printer and the circulation department
know when the magazine will reach the customer
Step 2: Once deadlines are set, scheduling and planning of the magazine can proceed
Step 3: The content of each issue is the responsibility of the editor and when a manuscript is
completed by a writer it’s usually given to a magazine in electronic format along with a hard copy. The
senior editors will make comments and evaluate the manuscript. The magazine will then officially
accept or reject the manuscript
Step 4: If the manuscript is officially accepted, it enters the copyediting phase where the manuscript
will be thoroughly checked for accuracy – if the manuscript is not checked properly the publication will
be at risk. A copy editor will critically review the manuscript and make changes. Once completed, the
manuscript is ready to be laid out by the art department
Step 5: The art director will create/make the decisions of the photography, colours etc. It would be
reviewed with the editor and sent it back to the copy editor. Once the layout is approved by the copy
editor, editor and art director, it is ready for printing
Step 6: Articles and advertisements will be decided and the ratio of advertisement and editorial will be
determined. The production manager will oversee the final preparations made for the printer and is
sent to the advertisements to be approved.
Step 7: The magazine will then be printed and dried and folded, trimmed etc. ready for distribution

5. Distribution
• Magazines can be distributed
• By mail
• Sales by newsstands
• Bookstores
• Other vendors
• Through free distribution at selected
pick-up locations
• The subscription business models for
distribution fall into three main
categories

6. Circulation
Paid circulation: The magazine is sold to readers for a
price, either on a per issue basis or by subscription
where an annual fee or monthly price is paid and
issues are sent by post – allows for defined readership
statistics
Non-paid circulation: No cover price and issues are
give away e.g. in street dispensers, airline or included
with other products or publications – entails the
number of issues distributed
Controlled circulation: Usually for trade magazines as
magazine companies decide who may receive a free
subscription based on a person’s qualification as a
member of the trade – avoids wasted printing and
distribution expenses

7. Audience
consumption
• The business model for print magazines
are declining
• Living in a digital, the demand for
online content is on the rise
• Magazines such as Look, Now, Closer,
Vogue, Star, Grazia, Heat etc. have
decreased in sales
• However, due to the current affairs and
the global political climate, magazines
such as The Economist, The Spectator,
Prospect have increased in sales