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Publishing in the knowledge economy
The industry today
CHAPTER
9
Business to business media
9.1 Magazines
9.1.1 Advertising
Advertising expenditure in business magazines
(Figure 9.1) shows a faster growth in the
classified segment than in display. Classified ad
spending rose from 28% of the total in 1991 to
40% by 2000.
Several publishers said they had the strategic
goal of moving as many of their ‘free’
subscribers on to a paying basis as possible
and diversifying revenue streams. One leading
B2B publisher told us:
“We are looking to convert a proportion from
free to paid for whenever the opportunity
presents itself. Traditional page advertising is
weakening, it is a vulnerable revenue stream.”
9.1.2 Number of titles
The number of business titles has been
growing until very recently. Some titles have
been hit by the decline in the technology and
telecoms sector, for example. The data in
Figure 9.2 shows the much greater number of
titles in the business sector than in consumer
magazine publishing.
9.1.3 Circulation
A different estimate, contained in World
Magazine Trends, for the total number of
business magazines sold and distributed in
2000 came to a fairly astonishing 6050 million.
Table 9.1 Total circulation of business press
titles, m copies
1995 1998
Controlled circulation 196 210
Paid-for 88 90
Total 284 300
Source Keynote
The data in Table 9.2 shows circulation and
number of titles in the top 10 sectors, according
to the Audit Bureau of Circulation.
Business magazines have a wider sale
beyond national borders than consumer
magazines, which tend to internationalise by
means of setting up editions elsewhere or
licensing formats to others for use. The differing
export shares are shown in Figure 9.3.
9.1.4 Diversification of revenues
Some very useful ‘snapshot’ information on
business magazine publishing was contained in
the Connecting Business study. This shows the
sheer numbers of companies engaged in the
sector and the number of titles produced, which
greatly exceeds the estimate from BRAD used
in the chart above. It also shows the extent to
which business publishers are using electronic
publishing to provide editorial content.
The revenue breakdown also shows
diversification. Although copy sales and
especially advertising in various forms
Table 9.2 Segment circulation
Top 10 business sectors Sector circulation, Sector circulation, No. of titles, No. of titles,
June 2000 June 2001 2000 2001
Business management 990,130 1,221,916 51 61
Finance and investment 420979 469269 32 36
Accountancy 421681 395088 10 10
Marketing 246306 404776 15 22
Agriculture 467657 362454 15 11
Architecture 20458 284902 12 15
Building 225548 242468 19 20
Medical 387125 385898 12 13
Personnel Management 202448 209959 4 4
Wines and spirit trade 173649 207205 11 11
Total 3,555,981 4,183,935 181 203
Source ABC
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