Globe delves into U.S. magazine sales in Canada

James Adams of the Globe and Mail takes the Canadian magazine industry seriously, which is not often the case in most newspapers. This is demonstrated by his detailed look today at trends in U.S. circulation in Canada, based largely on data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, Statistics Canada and consulting group Pricewaterhousecoopers.

In the past quarter-century, he reported, the average circulation per American title has been slashed in half, to 13,243 in 2005 from 26,303 in 1983. But, he says, the slack has not been entirely taken up by Canadian magazines. He quoted a recent study by the Hill Strategies Research on cultural spending in Canada by consumers (as opposed to advertisers) which found "from 1997 to 2003, magazine-buying was largely flat, the median dollar value being $705-million. In fact, adjusting for inflation, spending on magazines by Canadian consumers declined by almost 6 per cent in that period."