The magazine industry is facing declines in print circulation due to new technologies that allow consumers to access magazine content online. The earliest magazines date back to the 17th century in Germany and the UK. Today, there are over 8,000 magazine titles published in the UK alone, with the top selling magazines being TV listings magazines and women's weeklies. While print circulation continues to decline year-over-year, magazines are adapting by making their content available online as digital readership grows. The impact of new technologies is both challenging the traditional print magazine model but also keeping magazines relevant for modern media consumers.

1. Magazine Industry

2. Overview:
The earliest magazine was launched in Germany, 1663; this was
a literary and philosophy magazine. The first general magazine
was produced in London in 1731 which was called The
Gentleman’s magazine. The oldest magazine that is still being
printed is The Scots Magazine which was first published in 1739.
Now there are over 8000 magazine titles published in the UK
alone, with around 3000 being consumer magazines.

3. Top 10 Selling Magazines:
As you can see from the table, the top selling magazine is TV Choice which is from
the category TV listings; this is not surprising as a variety of different ages and
genders are targeted towards this type of magazine. Despite this, the main category
that is sold is Woman’s Weeklies; suggesting that magazine companies should target
females.
Rank Title Est. RSV Newsstand
Single Copy
News trade
single copy year-
on-year change
RN Category
1 TV Choice £18.0 1,276,045 -2.1% TV Listings
2 What’s on TV £30.5 1,010,798 -2.2% TV Listings
3 Take a Break £27.1 602,674 -7.4% Women’s Weeklies
4 Slimming World Magazine £6.1 496,308 15.0% Health & Parenting
5 Radio Times £47.3 454,330 -11.5% TV Listings
6 Glamour £5.2 285,194 -4.9% Women’s
Monthlies
7 Closer £21.4 274,148 -9.6% Women’s Weeklies
8 Chat £12.3 263,394 -10.8% Women’s Weeklies
9 Woman’s Weekly £12.1 257,471 -3.1% Women’s Weeklies
10 New! £12.9 245,366 -23.4% Women’s Weeklies

4. Top 10 Online Magazines
Rank Title Dec 2014
end
Prd-prd%
change
Yr-yr%
chhange
1
The Economist - United
Kingdom Edition
49,976 129.5 295.3
2 T3 17,791 -20.3
3 Times Educational Supplement 15,592 1,690.10
4 BBC History Magazine 15,122 34 35.8
5 BBC Top Gear Magazine 14,140 4.3 5.5
6 Stuff 12,903 -13.7
7 GQ 12,516 10.2 2.8
8
Time Magazine - EMEA
(excluding BI/SA)
12,211 98.9
9 Slimming World Magazine 11,653 0.3 50.6
10 Empire 11,625 -11.1

5. Top Selling Music Magazines:
Rank Title
1 Entertainment Weekly
2 Rolling Stone
3 Billboard
4 Variety
5 NME
6 Sound On Sound
7 Alternative Press
8 Premier Guitar
9 MixMag
10 DJ

6. Top Companies- circulation costs
and advertising
Total Revenue by Publisher
http://www.spyglassintel.com

7. Companies: Circulation by
Publisher
http://www.spyglassintel.com

8. Trends
In recent years magazine prints have been declining over the US and UK. In
the first half of 2014, Britain lost 1million print sales, showing how serious
this has become.
Paid subscriptions were also declining, as in Britain they fell by 4.4% and in
the US by 1.9%. Despite this, paid subscription both print and digital kept
the most stable throughout 2014. Even magazines like NME were effected
as their circulation fell by 28%. However, NME’s digital platform 3.6 million
and most of their consumers were now reading online.
Most music magazines seem to be struggling as people are finding new
music online. Titles like Q, Mojo and Kerrang! Have had double digit sale
losses.
Some magazines have resorted to going completely online, like fashion and
lifestyle magazine Company; after only being a print magazine for 36 years.
Digital sales have kept the best sales increasing 26% year on year in the UK
and most consumer magazines (40% in the UK) now have an online
edition.
Overall, magazine circulation has fell for the seventh year in a row, 2014
being the biggest decline since 2008.

9. Impact of Technology
Traditionally magazines are a print based media, however with
the introduction of new technologies magazines have started to
be published online as well as in print. New technology has seen
the decline in magazine print as consumers can now get
everything on their mobiles or tablets and can access it on the
go; therefore being more efficient for the user.
Magazine companies are now making their content available
online as this is where most of their consumers go. They are also
changing features in the print versions and adding things like
scan codes so readers can involve their technology with the
magazine.
People argue that the impact of technology is ruining the
magazine industry, however it is in fact keeping magazines
relevant and up to date with today’s society.