Newspapers and other publications have reported circulation drops the past several years, but affluent Americans are helping boost the readership of specialized magazines such as Yachting, Motor Boating and Sail.
A recent survey from New York-based research firm Mendelsohn found that readership of magazines targeting Americans with incomes exceeding $85,000 per year was up from a year ago for several magazine titles, particularly publications catering to boating.
The survey polled 13,000 affluent Americans randomly selected from across the country with incomes exceeding $85,000 annually.
“This is a year where all you hear is doom and gloom: Ad pages are going down, subscriptions are going down, newsstand is going down ? all these heavy-hearted things,” said Mitch Lurin, president of Mendelsohn Media Research.
“But among affluent Americans, magazine readership is as healthy as it?s always been.”?
Linda Klockner, marketing communications director for Sail, a national sailing magazine with offices in Annapolis, said her publication has “held its own” in readership and circulation.
“Special-interest magazines are always going to have their niche,” Klockner said.
“The upper end of the market generally can weather the [economic] storm better than the rest of the market. And [these readers] are seeking information that you can?t find anywhere else,” she said.
For example, the latest electronic navigation gear and accessories for sailing are found in specialized publications, Klockner said.
Boating readership jumped 40 percent, the survey found while Motor Boating climbed 27 percent, and Yachting jumped 55.6 percent.
“But more mainstream [publications] also enjoyed a lift in affluent readership,” the survey stated.
Automobile Magazine was up 31.2 percent, and Car and Driver was up 20.9 percent.
In personal finance and business, BusinessWeek was up 16 percent, Barron?s was up 11 percent, Forbes was up 11 percent, Inc. was up 35 percent, and SmartMoney was up 24 percent.
“We were surprised to see the amount of growth,” said Lurin.
