Affinity’s American Magazine Study found that more subscribers access the digital versions than the printed for 15 magazines in their report. (The digital category includes websites, social networks, smartphone and tablet apps, eReader apps and Zinio editions.) At the top of the list, ranked by the number of digital subscriptions, were ESPN the Magazine, WebMD the magazine, Food Network Magazine, Money, Fortune and Forbes. ESPN senior vice president and general manager for digital and print media John Kosner said “Unlike digital, print is constrained by the number of issues ESPN can print and circulate…” but he added, “There’s an ability with print to be authoritative, definitive, have a level of writing and editing and reflection that is hard to do…with the rapid fire website…[In print] the storytelling is better…There’s a way that photography can be revelatory in print.” All of which left Mr. Kosner to conclude that despite the lower numbers, the print magazine “plays and invaluable role in the …product portfolio.”
