Magazine Publishers Industry Profile

Companies in this industry produce and distribute magazines and other print and electronic periodicals. Major US companies include Meredith, Advance Magazine Publishers (doing business as Condé Nast), Hearst, and International Data Group. Outside the US, major companies include Arnoldo Mondadori Editore (Italy), Bauer Media Group (Germany), Gruner + Jahr (Germany), and Sanoma (Finland).

The global magazine market, including consumer and trade magazines, is forecast to drop from $91.9 billion in 2017 to $88.1 billion by 2022, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. As publishers struggle with subscription and advertising revenue growth, many are focused on diversification, adding offerings such as events, custom content, brand licensing, e-commerce, and affiliate marketing.

The US magazine publishing industry includes about 5,600 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $27 billion.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand for magazines is driven largely by growth in consumer income. The profitability of individual companies depends highly on marketing expertise. Small companies can compete by specializing in niche topics and markets, while larger companies benefit from a wide selection of magazine titles to offer advertisers. Large companies also have economies of scale in production and distribution. The US industry is concentrated: the 50 largest companies generate about 60% of revenue.

Magazines compete with a variety of print, online, and broadcast media for consumer attention and advertising dollars. Significant competition is coming from digital media and entertainment that is, in many cases, ...