Digital editions up slightly at U.S. magazines

AAM

Digital edition circulation rose at U.S. magazines in the first half of 2014, according to the Alliance for Audited Media’s most recent report. But digital editions represented only 3.8 percent of total circulation, compared with 3.3 percent in June 2013. Paid subscriptions fell nearly 2 percent, AAM’s Neal Lulofs writes. Single copy sales fell about 12 percent.

AARP The Magazine and the AARP Bulletin were the top magazines in the U.S. Both saw circulation gains. Circulation at Game Informer Magazine, the fourth-biggest title, fell 9 percent, but was still relatively massive: 7,099,452. GameStop owns Game Informer and bundles subscriptions to it with the chain’s paid loyalty card, Michael Sebastian reported last year.

The Top 10 magazines (and their total paid, verified, analyzed and non-paid circulation):

1. AARP The Magazine (22,837,736, up 4.1 percent)
2. AARP Bulletin (22,183,316, up 2.2 percent)
3. Better Homes and Gardens (7,639,661, up .2 percent)
4. Game Informer Magazine (7,099,452, down 9.3 percent)
5. Good Housekeeping (4,315,330, down 1.9 percent)
6. Family Circle (4,015,728, flat)
7. National Geographic (3,572,348, down 10.7 percent)
8. People (3,510,533, down .9 percent)
9. Reader’s Digest (3,393,573, down 35.3 percent)
10. Woman’s Day (3,288,335, down 3.1 percent)

Some news magazine stats:

• Time‘s circulation was down about half a percentage point, to 3,286,467.
• Wired‘s circulation rose 6.8 percent, to 917,580.
• The New Yorker‘s circulation was 1,049,430, down .6 percent.
• The New Republic‘s circulation fell 11 percent to 41,429.
• Bloomberg Businessweek‘s circulation fell half a point, to 992,582.
• The Atlantic‘s circulation fell 1.5 percent, to 480,317.
• The Week‘s circulation rose 3.2 percent, to 579,291.

The Top 10 digital replica magazines (and their digital replica circulation):

1. Game Informer Magazine (2,894,248)
2. Shape (296,157)
3. Star Magazine (237,333)
4. OK! Weekly (196,248)
5. Working Mother (194,167)
6. Maxim (186,863)
7. National Geographic (164,408)
8. Taste of Home (160,198)
9. Men’s Fitness (156,600)
10. Cosmopolitan (154,278)

Worth noting: The next nine magazines after Game Informer have a combined digital replica total of 1,746,252, about 60 percent of Game Informer’s digital circulation.