If size is a measure of health then I wonder about the future of computer magazines. What we have on our shelves today is Australian titles which are half the size they used to be two years ago.
The size of the magazines means they need less space and this is leading to a reduction in space allocation – our second time in a year.
The content content of computer magazines is changing too, morphing into a broader focus than their roots – in an effort to find new readers I guess.
It gives me no pleasure to say that I preduct we will see some closures in the computer magazine segment this year. Their traditional consumers are accessing more current information online.
Mark, the reason they are so thin is two fold. Firstly, advertisers are pulling out of mag’ ads due to the dynamic of internet based sales, many PC parts seller’s realised that buyers are searching on the net before setting foot in a store. So it’s the net they advertise on !
Second, it’s the end of the year/start of the year issues that means around this time of the year, PC mag’s are produced well in advance with top up articles for only certain ‘current’ news worthy stories.
I always dread buying mag’s now/before Christmas. It always seems the editors have always a ‘pencilled in’ time for a go slow period, staff on holiday etc.
But this year PC mag’s surprised me as to how thin they were, more so than in the past I believe.