2013 New Magazines: Survival is Way UP, Launches are Barely Down… The Mr. Magazine™ Year-End Wrap-Up

The Headlines:

865 Total New Magazines Launched in 2013; 5 less than 2012.
183 Total New Launches with Four Times Frequency or More; 48 less than 2013.
85% Survival Rate of New Magazines Launched in 2012; the highest ever compared with the high of 70%.

But now the days grow short
And the new launches are wrapping up
From Politico to Closer
From newsstands to grocer
New Magazines printed from ink sweet and clear
It was a very good year…

Taking liberties with the song Ol’ Blue Eyes made famous was perhaps a desecration on my part, but well-deserved when it comes to wrapping up the year 2013 in the magazine media world. There was absolutely no letdown when it came to new launches and re-launches for this past year.

And while all eyes are on the re-launch of Newsweek and the new launch Dr. Oz – The Good Life in the upcoming 2014; this past year witnessed a plethora of its own in rebirths and blessed deliveries.

At the front of the nursery window are three magazines that are sure to strike up conversations among the magazine media world in the coming year.

allrecipes is certainly stirring things up – just like their tagline professes. From website to print, Meredith Corporation deepens their commitment to the food category by expanding their very popular digital brand into a print product. With the built-in recognition of the popular website, allrecipes in print is definitely making an impact on the magazine media world.

Closer Weekly a celebrity magazine targeted at women 40 and up, is from Bauer Publishing and promises to give their competition a run for their money. With Bauer’s commitment to newsstand sales and their aim to feature celebrities that women forty and over grew up with, they’re counting on a different market than the rest of the celebrities titles. Their premier issue sold for 25¢ and Bauer distributed 2 million copies. The regular price of the magazine is $3.99 a copy. Judging by Bauer’s earlier commitment to their magazines, I have no doubt that regardless of the media prophets of doom and gloom, the magazine is going to have a very good future indeed.

Politico the digital go-to site for political junkies, launched their print counterpart, Politico Magazine, and hasn’t looked back. With the print version, Politico is going for the deeper dive, featuring long-form journalism and a broad spectrum of topics that appeal not only to the core Washington audience, but also international and non-political readers around the country. Giving birth to a political print magazine that’s lofty goal is to become the leading, dominant news outlet for coverage of Washington, politics and power-at-large, is definitely ambitious, but without ambition where would any magazine new or established be today? It should be noted that Politico was born both on the digital and the ink on paper platforms. They actually did years back what everyone else is trying to do today.

During this year-end wrap-up, I would be terribly remiss if I didn’t talk about three very important factors concerning the year 2013.

1.Launches are down, Survival is UP: While magazine launches with a regular frequency (those published with the intention to publish at least 4 issues a year) were a bit down over 2012: 183 in 2013 versus 231 in 2012 and the total of 865 titles overall in 2013 compared to 870 in 2012. However it should be noted that for the first time since I have been tracking the numbers, more than 30 years ago, the survival rate for new launches after one year in business is 85%. This is 15% above the previous highest survival percentages.

2.Digital is discovering Print: To realize the phenomenal impact that print has had on the digital world in 2013 is amazing. Going from the mantra: “Print is dead – Long live Digital” to the fact that many digital entities themselves are discovering the solid foundation and revenue-building facets that print provides is nothing short of stunning. Sites like allrecipes.com, pitchfork.com and others launched print products that allow them a different platform to showcase more of their great content and photographs, in an entirely dissimilar way than their digital counterpart.

3.Book-a-zines rule the Newsstands: While the total of new launches with frequency declined somewhat in 2013, the host of Book-a-zines certainly filled any empty slots on the newsstands. Book-a-zines are niche marketing at its best. They’re targeted to just about any topic or personality a reader might be looking for.

To sum the aforementioned factors, and as I stated earlier, the survival rate entirely offsets that difference in the number of titles in 2013 compared to 2012. Having an 85% survival for the launches of 2012 is most definitely a worthy factor.

The top 10 categories of new magazines in 2013 are:

• Special Interest/lifestyle: 23
• Crafts/Games/Hobbies/Models: 16
• Epicurean: 11
• Metropolitan/Regional/State: 11
• Art/Antiques: 9
• Fashion/Beauty/Grooming: 8
• Entertainment: 7
• Popular Culture: 7
• Men’s: 7
• Sports: 7

And that’s just less than half of the varied categories, but as you can see, some remained the same and some did not. But every year, the categories differ along with the magazine producer’s dreams.

I hope you have enjoyed the Mr. Magazine™ 2013 wrap-up. And once again, in the words of Ol’ Blue Eyes: “It was a very good year!”

To check all the magazine launches of 2013 and to stay tuned with all the magazine launches on a monthly basis check the Mr. Magazine™ Launch Monitor.

Have a great and wonderful new year and enjoy the wonderful world of magazines.