Don't worry friends, magazines aren't dead. In fact, the ad market is showing a bit of a rebound. "Paced by automotive and technology ads, consumer magazines posted ad-page gains of 3.6 percent in the third quarter compared to a year ago, marking the second consecutive quarter of growth for the embattled industry." A healthier economy with more jobs will increase consumer spending and increase advertising. People still read and printed media will not go away any time soon, although usage patterns are changing.
At the same time, there will continue to be a shift of reading from print to digital as an ever growing number of devices hit retail. The iPad will be sold in Walmart and Target, Kindles and other e-book readers continue to make a splash too. and online subscriptions are increasing. The Financial Times just announced some intriguing results of their subscription base, "In the five months since its launch, the (Apple iPad) app has attracted 400,000 downloads and accounts for 10% of new digital subscriptions". That is a huge percentage for such a short period of time.
These are exciting times for media with new opportunities emerging through technological changes. Embracing change and adapting to it will determine which publishers excel and which are destined to perish.
