Magazine publishing spans print and electronic periodicals, specialist titles, consumer magazines and adjacent news businesses. The statistics below separate broad U.S. periodical measures from company-specific evidence, survey estimates and digital publishing indicators.
Key Magazine Industry Statistics
The most quotable magazine industry statistics include:
- 3,869 U.S. employer establishments operated in periodical publishing in 2023, a Census category that includes magazines and other periodicals.
- U.S. periodical-publishing revenue was $23.9 billion in 2020, down from $40.2 billion in 2002.
- Periodical-publishing revenue declined 20.7% between 2002 and 2010 in the United States.
- Periodical-publishing revenue declined 25.0% between 2010 and 2020 in the United States.
- Dotdash Meredith reported $125.391 million of total revenue in 2024, compared with $139.696 million in 2023.
- Dotdash Meredith reported $46.671 million of print circulation revenue in 2024 in its TDMN group.
- Dotdash Meredith reported $18.220 million of digital circulation revenue in 2024 in its TDMN group.
- Dotdash Meredith circulation revenue totaled $64.891 million in 2024, combining print and digital circulation revenue.
- Dotdash Meredith print advertising revenue was $22.914 million in 2024.
- Dotdash Meredith digital advertising revenue was $8.633 million in 2024.
- Gannett reported $1.103651 billion of digital revenue in 2024, a company-wide publishing measure.
- Gannett digital-only subscription revenue was $188.828 million in 2024.
- Gannett print advertising revenue was $525.800 million in 2024.
- Gannett print circulation revenue was $650.047 million in 2024, including newspaper circulation.
- Three percent of U.S. adults said print newspapers or magazines were their most common source of 2024 election news, according to Pew.
- Gannett newsprint and ink expense was $67.833 million in 2024.
- Gannett total operating costs were $1.211817 billion in 2024.
- News Corp News Media revenue was $1.111 billion for the six months ended December 31, 2024, down 3% year over year.
- Digital revenue represented 81% of News Corp Dow Jones segment revenue for the six months ended December 31, 2024.
Contents
- Magazine industry scale and publisher counts
- Magazine publishing revenue and business mix
- Print and digital circulation trends
- Advertising, subscriptions and audience shifts
- Publishing costs and operating outcomes
- Recent periodical industry trends
Magazine Industry Scale and Publisher Counts
The clearest establishment count comes from the U.S. Census Bureau’s NAICS 511120 category. It measures employer establishments rather than total titles, circulation or worldwide magazine businesses.
- The United States had 3,869 employer establishments in periodical publishing in 2023. The category covers publishers producing magazines and other periodicals in print or electronic form (511120: Periodical publishers – Census Bureau Profile).
- Internet-only periodical publishers are classified by Census in NAICS 519130, rather than NAICS 511120, under the 2023 classification structure (511120: Periodical publishers – Census Bureau Profile).
- Periodical printers that do not publish are classified in NAICS 32311, so printing activity is outside the periodical-publisher establishment count (511120: Periodical publishers – Census Bureau Profile).
These definitions matter when interpreting “magazine industry” totals. NAICS 511120 includes medical, scientific, religious, scholastic and other specialty periodicals, while internet-only publishers and standalone printers are treated elsewhere.
Magazine Publishing Revenue and Business Mix
Long-run Census data shows a contraction in U.S. periodical-publishing revenue, while company filings show how individual publishers combine advertising, circulation, marketing services and production-related income.
| U.S. periodical-publishing measure | Period | Reported result |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 2002 | $40.2 billion |
| Revenue | 2010 | 20.7% decline from 2002 |
| Revenue | 2020 | $23.9 billion; 25.0% decline from 2010 |
The Census Bureau describes these as estimates for the broad periodical-publishing industry, not consumer magazines alone. The series is nominal reported revenue and has not been adjusted for inflation (Service Annual Survey Shows Continuing Decline in Print Publishing Revenue).
Dotdash Meredith provides a narrower company example for the years ended December 31. Its total revenue was $125.391 million in 2024, down from $139.696 million in 2023.
- Print advertising revenue was $22.914 million in 2024, while digital advertising revenue was $8.633 million.
- Print circulation revenue was $46.671 million, and digital circulation revenue was $18.220 million in 2024.
- Advertising and marketing-services revenue was $47.900 million in 2024, a category that includes agency marketing and media services.
- Printing, distribution and other revenue was $12.600 million in 2024.
These company figures are not estimates of the whole magazine industry. They are reported measures for Dotdash Meredith’s TDMN and agency reporting group (Meredith Corporation / Dotdash Meredith revenue disaggregation tables, year ended December 31, 2024).
Print and Digital Circulation Trends in Magazine Publishing
Dotdash Meredith’s 2023–2024 circulation revenue comparison shows different directions for its print and digital categories, but revenue changes should not be read as direct changes in copies or subscriber counts.
| Dotdash Meredith TDMN measure | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Print circulation revenue | $49.034 million | $46.671 million |
| Digital circulation revenue | $16.315 million | $18.220 million |
| Combined circulation revenue | $65.349 million | $64.891 million |
Print circulation revenue decreased from $49.034 million in 2023 to $46.671 million in 2024, while digital circulation revenue increased from $16.315 million to $18.220 million over the same period. The combined circulation measure was $65.349 million in 2023 and $64.891 million in 2024 (Meredith Corporation / Dotdash Meredith revenue disaggregation tables, year ended December 31, 2024).
Gannett supplies adjacent publishing evidence rather than magazine-only data. Its consolidated digital revenue was $1.103651 billion in 2024, compared with $1.050370 billion in 2023 and $1.038580 billion in 2022, while digital-only subscription revenue reached $188.828 million in 2024, up 21% from 2023 (Gannett Co., Inc. 2024 Form 10-K).
Magazine Advertising, Subscriptions and Audience Shifts
Advertising and audience behavior show why magazine publishers increasingly track print and digital products separately. Gannett’s 2024 consolidated figures are news-publishing evidence, not magazine-only results.
- Gannett digital advertising revenue was $346.378 million in 2024, up 4% from 2023.
- Gannett digital marketing-services revenue was $476.049 million in 2024.
- Gannett print advertising revenue was $525.800 million in 2024, down 9% from 2023.
- Gannett print and commercial revenue totaled $1.405664 billion in 2024.
- Gannett total revenue was $2.509315 billion in 2024, down 6% year over year.
Pew Research Center’s 2024 survey measures election-news use, not total magazine readership. Only 3% of U.S. adults said print newspapers or magazines were their most common way of getting 2024 election news, compared with 35% for television, 21% for news websites or apps, and 20% for social media (Where Americans turn for election news).
The survey’s population and use case should remain explicit: these are estimates for U.S. adults’ most common election-news source in 2024, not a measurement of all magazine reading or subscription activity.
Publishing Costs, Production and Operating Outcomes
Publishing costs remain tied to physical production, distribution, staffing and outside services. Gannett’s consolidated 2024 expenses illustrate the scale of those categories in an adjacent news-publishing business.
| Gannett cost category | 2024 expense | Change versus 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Newsprint and ink | $67.833 million | Down 32% |
| Distribution | $276.069 million | Down 15% |
| Compensation and benefits | $375.008 million | Down 5% |
| Outside services | $305.593 million | Not supplied |
| Total operating costs | $1.211817 billion | Down 11% |
The filing reports these as company-wide costs, and distribution includes newspaper operations. They should not be treated as a cost benchmark for every magazine publisher (Gannett Co., Inc. 2024 Form 10-K).
News Corp’s News Media segment offers another six-month view. For the six months ended December 31, 2024, revenue was $1.111 billion, down 3% year over year; circulation and subscription revenue was $564 million, advertising revenue was $427 million, and other revenue was $120 million, down 15% year over year.
News Corp reported News Media segment EBITDA of $92 million for the same six-month period, up 24% year over year. EBITDA is a company-defined non-GAAP operating measure, and News Media includes newspapers and other news products rather than magazines alone (News Corp 2024 Form 10-Q, six months ended December 31, 2024).
Recent Magazine and Periodical Industry Trends
Recent News Corp figures show how digital revenue can become the majority of revenue in adjacent information and news segments. They are useful trend evidence, but they do not describe the consumer magazine market as a whole.
- Digital revenue represented 81% of News Corp’s Dow Jones segment revenue for the six months ended December 31, 2024, compared with 79% in the comparable prior-year period.
- Digital revenue represented 73% of Dow Jones circulation revenue for the three months ended December 31, 2024, compared with 70% in the comparable prior-year quarter.
- News Corp News Media advertising revenue decreased 3% for the six months ended December 31, 2024, while circulation and subscription revenue decreased 1%.
- News Corp News UK revenue was $433 million for the same six-month period, down 7% year over year; advertising revenue decreased 10%, while circulation and subscription revenue increased 1%.
- News UK other revenue decreased 51% over the period, a change attributed largely to transferred third-party printing contracts rather than a magazine-demand measure.
News Corp reported $1.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2024. Approximately $210 million of foreign-subsidiary cash was not readily accessible because it was held by REA Group; these are corporate-liquidity details, not measures of magazine-market size (News Corp 2024 Form 10-Q, six months ended December 31, 2024).
Taken together, the evidence supports a careful reading of magazine industry statistics: U.S. periodical publishing has a defined establishment base and a long-run revenue series, while company filings reveal mixed print, digital, advertising, circulation and cost outcomes. No single measure in this set represents the entire global magazine industry.