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 magazines
Godeys Ladys 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

Harpers 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, McClures Magazine (18931933)
Ida Tarbells book The History of the
Standard Oil Company on John D.
Rockefellers 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

Colliers The Great American
Fraud series on patent
medicines. SAMUELHOPKINSADAMS

Social Reform and Muckrakers

 Upton Sinclairs novel The Jungle

and Colliers 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.

Readers 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 didnt do TV
program listings. A huge success. Demonstrated
sales power of supermarket checkout sales.

Rupert Murdochs 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 Magazine
Readers Digest
TV Guide
Better 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/Cond Nast

 Online Magazines
Salon
Slate