The Monitor: Entertainment/Celebrity Category

Magazines got a much-needed newsstand bump from Michael Jackson’s death, but the increase seems likely to be short-lived.Magazine retail sales tracker Magazine Information Network (known as MagNet) estimated first-half 2009 retail sales would be about $1.8 billion, 11.2 percent lower than last year’s $2.02 billion. And an ongoing loss of space at retail and weakened consumer spending will continue to challenge the industry.“There are a lot of other products that are competing for space at retail,” said Gil Brechtel, president of MagNet. “It does not appear magazines and books are winning those battles. That will have a negative affect on sales.”Industry sources said Wal-Mart and Kroger, two major sellers of magazines, have recently removed pockets from checkout or moved magazine racks to the rear of stores, where titles are less likely to benefit from impulse sales.Entertainment magazines will be enjoying a short-term lift from the spate of tribute issues they rushed out after Jackson’s unexpected death. MagNet estimated that Jackson-themed issues contributed to a 3.3 percent lift in unit sales and 3.6 percent increase in dollars for the May-July period versus the first four months of the year. It further estimated that magazines reaped $67 million in Jackson issue sales, $55 million of which was attributable to special, often premium-priced publications.Sales in the early part of the year were hurt by the closing of wholesaler Anderson News, but the newsstand picture began to brighten later in the spring. May-June sales were up 2.6 percent in units and 2.1 percent in dollars versus the first four months of the year, per MagNet.Full magazine circulation results for the first half are due to be published Aug. 31 by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. “We think this may be the first shift in momentum showing the entire industry is starting to recover,” said Ken Godshell, executive vp, consumer marketing, Magazine Publishers of America. “Now that wholesalers are filling in for Anderson’s departure, there’s some hope consumer sales will increase.”Wenner Media’s Us Weekly sold two Jackson covers, the first of which sold 1.15 million copies. The second didn’t do as well, selling just over 800,000 versus its first-half newsstand average of 843,479. Time Inc.’s People said its Jackson tribute issue was its biggest seller of the year but didn’t specify a number. People’s newsstand sales averaged 1.3 million for the first half of the year. Lori Burgess, publisher of Northern & Shell’s OK! Weekly, which got some backlash for publishing a photo of a dying Jackson on its cover, said the pop icon’s death injected interest in what had been a slow news cycle. “Other than the crazy Jon and Kate dilemma, there hasn’t been a lot of celebrity activity this year,” she said. Ad pages at celebrity/entertainment titles also have been hard to come by. An exception is OK!, which is still in growth mode. It got a boost from packaged goods, beauty and pharma ads and its recent inclusion in MRI’s audience measurement study. Publishers foresee an uptick in the categories of beauty products and entertainment as networks look to promote their fall shows.For weekly updates to all magazine categories, consult the Mediaweek Monitor.

Performance Marketing

The Monitor: Entertainment/Celebrity Category

Lucia Moses

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Lucia Moses