MPA announces leading magazine brands in multiple categories – plus some good news
The Association of Magazine Media (MPA) released its “Top 10” magazine brands on Jan. 7, along with its most current industry numbers from November of 2014. The findings, compiled by recently created MPA metrics arm Magazine Media 360°, are encouraging.
Mequoda launched our Digital Magazine Market Study in December.
The Audience Report charted a 9.3% year-over-year increase in site visits, while putting gross traffic for digital magazines at 1.6 billion. The MPA attributed the surge to significant growth in mobile and video, up 76% and 68%, respectively, over 2013. Print+digital editions, as well as desktop/laptop showed little movement.
“It’s always good to start the new year with positive news – in this case, continued good news, as magazine media’s audience continues to build momentum,” MPA President and CEO Mary G. Berner said in a statement.
“We couldn’t be more pleased that The Magazine Media 360° Brand Audience Report is becoming a trusted source of insight and information, particularly among advertisers. The ad community has quickly begun to recognize this metric as a valuable tool that measures consumer demand across platforms, which is exactly the way they are buying our content today.”
Magazine Media 360° measures multiplatform publishing data from 146 magazine brands from 32 companies, representing 95% of total readers.
The MPA cites sources including GfK MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer and TeenMark; comScore’s Media Metrix, Mobile Media Metrix, and Video Metrix; and Nielsen’s NetView, Mobile NetView, and VideoCensus.
Here’s how Magazine Media 360° defines the measurements:
Print+Digital: The unduplicated estimate of average issue readers, in thousands
Desktop/Laptop: The number of uniques, in thousands, that have visited a website on a desktop or laptop at least once in the specified reporting period
Mobile: The number of uniques, in thousands, that have visited a website via mobile device – including iOS and Android – at least one time during the reporting period
Video: Unique viewers, in thousands, who watched a video at least once during the reporting period via a player owned/operated by the publisher – regardless of where that video was viewed – and/or, if reported, through a separate, clearly branded channel.
Top 10 Magazine Brands, November 2014
Overall (Monthly Audience)
1. People (84,209)
2. Better Homes and Gardens (53,127)
3. AllRecipes (52,227)
4. Time (41,442)
5. Forbes (40,702)
6. National Geographic (39,152)
7. AARP The Magazine (35,499)
8. Sports Illustrated (35,164)
9. Taste of Home (31,335)
10. Entertainment Weekly (30,572)
In terms of categories, the top 5 overall performers broke down like this:
Print+Digital: People, Better Homes and Gardens, AARP The Magazine, National Geographic, AARP Bulletin
Desktop/Laptop: AllRecipes, Forbes, People, Time, Sports Illustrated
Mobile: People, AllRecipes, Forbes, Time, Entertainment Weekly
Video: Wired, GQ, Sports Illustrated, Vanity Fair, Glamour
Growth (Y-o-Y)
1. HGTV Magazine (62%)
2. Wired (57%)
3. All You (48%)
4. Life & Style (43%)
5. Vanity Fair (43%)
6. Fit Pregnancy (42%)
7. Harper’s Bazaar (42%)
8. The Atlantic (40%)
9. Taste of Home (39%)
10. Condé Nast Traveler (39%)
In terms of categories, the top 5 growth performers broke down like this:
Print+Digital: AllRecipes, HGTV Magazine, Forbes, Fit Pregnancy, Esquire
Desktop/Laptop: Architectural Digest, Life & Style, Country, Condé Nast Traveler, Harper’s Bazaar
Mobile: Playboy, In Touch, All You, Harper’s Bazaar, Runner’s World
Video: Wired, People StyleWatch, AARP Bulletin, AARP The Magazine, Health
What are your impressions of the MPA’s methodologies and findings? Let us know in the comments!
To read more about the top magazine brands and other data from Magazine Media 360°’s Audience Report, visit the MPA.
