The
narrative behind the magazine industry has remained steady for a
while—newsstand is down, circulation is flat, and digital is growing but
tiny—and according to PwC's new Entertainment & Media Outlook 2013-2017,
the financial future of publishing will reflect that decline.
PwC's
report, set to be released Wednesday, estimates that the U.S. consumer magazine
market will be worth $23 billion in 2017, down from $25 billion in 2012. The
market has bounced back slightly since the recession (total magazine revenue
fell 15.8 percent in 2009 alone), but PwC predicts that it will drop again as
print circulation falls and marketers continue to abandon the medium.Over the next four years, expect to see even more advertisers abandon print. PwC estimated that consumer magazine advertising will fall to $15.2 billion in 2017 from $16.4 billion in 2012. Advertising now accounts for 67 of total consumer magazine revenue—up from 62 percent in 2009, when it declined in line with the recession.
