Although circulation for newsweeklies remains flat or is dipping, I am still astonished that Time reports a circulation of 4.05 million copies. Are those real sales or do they give most of them away? I haven’t read a copy outside a doctor’s office in years. Newsweeklies seem almost quaint these days. Daily newspapers, even blogs, can be too slow for true news junkies who mainline the raw AP feed 24/7. [Are you talking about yourself?-ed. No, I can quit at any time.]
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“quit at any time”. You are a funny man Roger. This **it is sweeter that any smack, to state the obvious. As for ‘Time’, where do most people do their reading? If you are a budding dentist, what magazines do you place in your office? OTH, dentists appear to be declining at a scary rate…http://www2.cdc.gov/nccdphp/doh/synopses/NatTrendTableV.asp
Luther,
You have to look at the number of reporting states for the number of dentists.
Roger,
I would still happily read a newsweekly if I thought they were any good. I dropped my subscription to Time – 3 years for $50, dentist office rates – because their science articles were so bad they were almost parodies. I figured the rest of the magazine was unlikely to be any better. But the depth of analysis and coverage they *could* offer would be worth it to me. They just don’t happen to offer it.
My line of thinking is that these circulation numbers are inflated by “waiting room copies.” Two members of my family operate professional offices (optical and dental) and both receive the majority of their magazines (Time, Newsweek, and US News included) 100% free. No invoice is ever sent after years in the same location. I believe this practice is widespread.
DJ
Sorry chuck, I was thinking 41 out of 50 for 2004 was moderately close to a real number. Well, perhaps New York, California, Florida and Texas didn’t report. Apoligies for a quick link.
In the 60s and 70s I worked in radio as an engineer.
My favorite pastime at the station (when nothing needed fixing) was watching the newswire.
Old habits die hard.
In any case Instapundit has a piece up about where Chrysler is putting its ad money. 18% to the internet. More next year.
Öîwhere Chrysler is putting its ad money. 18% to the internet. More next year.î
But… butÖ butÖ I was told that the online advertising would NEVER work! (Can I now the value of my Internet portfolio back?)
Damn! Preveeiw and Osamaís goat are still at large in Hindu Kush.
ìIn any case Instapundit has a piece up about where Chrysler is putting its ad money. 18% to the internet. More next year.î
This is what Iíve been predicting for quite some time. Many blogs like this one attract the sort of demographics that excite Chrysler and other advertisers. It is simply a matter of sooner or later. The main thing worrying them was the exaggerated fear of controversy. They are home free after getting over this hump. The rest is history.
Dentists’ rooms?
Try colleges.
Time/Newsweek flood colleges with low cost subscriptions where they end up in the mens’ room meeting a valuable need; “Hey, Brian, outta TP, O, hell, might as well use this !!!”
There are two other articles at the MediaWeek site that are interesting.
Are there any readers here who have personalized RSS feeds? If so, how do you like them?
The other article on blog readership puts the weeklies subscription rates into a little better perspective. MediaWeek gets a D- for not linking the Comscore findings directly. It’s an eleven page pdf. A report that neglects Instapundit and Lucianne while promoting Kos, Wonkette and TPM is very unimpressive. Mebbe just a touch of bias, although they do give FreeRepublic proper placement.
Best news? Newsweeks 14% drop in newstand sales. They sure earned it.
The question is not “How many paid subscribers do they have?”, but “How many people actually read the magazine?” Others have noted that many copies are extremely cheap. To their examples, let me add another – heavily discounted subscriptions through fund-raising activities and promotions such as Publisher’s Clearinghouse.
How many people read issues bought from their nephew’s Scout troop fund raiser? I’d venture to say a minority.
More telling is how many times Time, Newsweek, et al get referenced in the political blogosphere. My experience says “not much”, certainly not in proportion to their supposed circulation numbers. Economist Magazine is much more influential in discussion circles, even though the number of copies sold here is miniscule compared to Time/Newsweek/US News.
I think their problem is content. Forget their biases. Sure they’re biased, but no one cares that much about that. Why? Because their content has gotten so fluffy that it’s not even worth discussing.
Newsmagazines already suffer a considerable time lag because of weekly publication. If they can’t produce compelling content, it doesn’t matter how many cheap copies they manage to mail out – they have no influence to speak of.
You also have to assume Time is telling the truth about its circulation. Remember Newsday.
I’m in the heart of parlor-pink LA, between the NoHo “arts” district and the People’s Republic of Studio City. I never see Time and Newsweek sell out. Strangely, at my regular newsstand, National Review usually does and Weekly Standard and the American Spectator (which I stopped reading when they endorsed Intelligent Design) often do.
I read both Newsweek and Time for a long time. (We held out hope for Time as long as they had Hugh Sidey as a columnist.) Now, they are so predictable that I don’t even need to buy them to know what they say. They have become the People of news mags. Actually, that’s unfair to People, since at least it will often have towards the back a nice human interest story, told straight, about something you probably don’t know. That’s what I read at the dentist, as I wouldn’t be caught dead reading Newsweek and Time in public.
Yes, I would take their circulation numbers with a grain of salt. I suppose if they drop a barrel of them out of an airplane they are, technically, “circulating.”
Roger: Do you think barbershops and beauty salons pay for all those magazines?
Wow, those “other Internet users” must be really, really old.
We once had a “gift” subscription to newsweak. It made the journey from mailbox straight to recycle bin every week. In waiting rooms I seek out travel magazines. Failing that I always have a NYT crossword puzzle in my purse.
I am one who tends to ignore advertising in all its forms (one noteable exception is travel ads). I probably have a sufficient number of digits on my body to count the number of times I’ve clicked on an Internet ad.
Besides the college freebies, take away the “subscriptions” to all the: a)barber and beauty shops; b) libraries; and c) doctor and dentist offices, and you really don’t have much of a readership left. I wonder what kind of a silent rebate the advertisers are getting?
Well… there’s this thing called “Time for Kids” which is like a scalled down version of the Times, to which all elementary school students MUST subscribe in our area. We are not given the option of opting out. We have to send the kids with money for their Time For Kids. Since this handout has the Time logo on their covers, I think it’s published by Time mag. And perhaps counts towards circulation?
We had never subscribed to Time, but about 4 months ago it started appearing with my 18 year old sons name on it. I leave it in his box and he throws it out.
It is a mystery to us.
I’m a physician and several years ago I suddenly started receiving numerous free magazines for the waiting room including Time and Newsweek–we haven’t bought magazines here at the office in 8-9 years! Sometimes the variety rotates, but Time and Newsweek ALWAYS show up.