NEW YORK — Purchases of U.S. magazines at newsstands and other retail outlets fell 9 percent in the second half of 2009, a slight improvement from the 12 percent year-over- year decline in the first half of the year.
Those figures released Monday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations show how the weak economy continues to batter the magazine industry at a time when consumers have plenty of free reading alternatives available online.
Newsstand and other single-copy retail sales are important for publishers because they charge more per copy than they do for subscriptions, which fell 1.1 percent in last year’s second half.
Magazines have been enduring one of the worst advertising slumps in memory. The number of ad pages sold by U.S. magazines tumbled nearly 26 percent last year from 2008 levels, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.
In October, Conde Nast Publications announced it was closing Gourmet and three other money-losing titles. The Associated Press
