Research from the Henley Centre commissioned by the Periodical
Publishers Association claims magazines now offer advertisers comparable
value to newspapers in cost per hour of reading.
The data, revealed last week, shows that the price of advertising in
magazines per hour of reading has fallen over the last decade from 108p
to 53p, whereas in newspapers it has risen from 50p to 52p. According to
the report, the change in the relative cost of advertising has been
driven by the increasing amount of time spent reading magazines.
The Henley Centre warned publishers that, as consumers face information
overload, winning audience attention would become ever more
challenging.
Paul Edwards, a researcher at the Henley Centre, said: ’Every new piece
of media is competing with existing media for a fixed amount of
attention. So if we consider attention given to reading, the growth in
time devoted to magazines has been matched by a decrease in the time
devoted to newspapers; and there is every reason to expect this to
continue.’
Presenting the research at last week’s PPA conference, PPA chairman
Sally Cartwright called for the print industry to unite to face the
threats posed by broadcast and electronic media, consumer disaffection
and government legislation.
Listing TV and radio as the ’real enemies’ she added: ’We have a world
class publishing industry and a responsibility to keep it that way and
support and promote our industries for the future.’
However, this should not affect competition between the print media for
ad revenue. ’I want magazines to compete strongly for the advertising
pound against newspapers and other press sectors,’ said Cartwright.
She will be succeeded as PPA chairman in 12 months’ by Kevin Hand,
Emap’s group chief executive. Hand, who has been nominated as deputy
chairman and chairman-elect, served as a PPA director until moving to
head Emap’s French operation five years ago.
The PPA Marcus Morris Award was presented to Time Out’s Tony Elliott for
his success in developing the listings title into an internationally
recognised brand.
It was also announced at the conference that deputy chief executive
Peter Dear is to leave at the end of the year after ten years at the
PPA.
