Mag Newsstand Sales Fall Again

Newsstand sales of consumer magazines continued to decline in the beginning of 2016, according to the latest figures from MagNet, which tracks single copy sales across the U.S. and Canada.

The number of magazines distributed by wholesalers also dropped compared to last year, according to MediaPost.

The total number of magazines distributed by wholesalers in the U.S. fell from 369.1 million in the first quarter of 2015 to 334.8 million in the first quarter of 2016, for a 9.3% decline over this period.

Also, the number of magazines actually sold fell 10.1% from 98 million to 88.1 million, meaning the proportion sold slipped from 26.6% to 26.3%.

Turning to specific categories, some of the biggest drops in newsstand sales hit business and finance, down 27.9% to one million copies sold; health and fitness, down 19.9% to four million copies sold; home and garden, down 15.7% to 5.1 million copies sold; and celebrity, down 13.7% to 26.6 million copies sold.

MagNet noted that the proportional declines in overall newsstand sales in terms of magazines and dollar volumes are actually smaller than in previous quarters, providing something of a silver lining to the latest figures.