Gay Mags, Once Thought Exempt, Now Seeing Ad Downturn

Gay-themed magazines typically have a loyal readership and a niche appeal, and those two things seemed to have helped them avoid the drop in ad spending and circulation that other magazines have been facing. Now, however, it seems as though gay magazines may be facing a similar downturn.

Information on ad spending and circulation are available for only two of the largest and most popular gay magazines, writes MediaPost. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulation’s latest FAS-FAX report, ad pages in October for The Advocate fell 23.3 percent compared to the same month last year, while rate card revenue was down 3 percent.

Interestingly, that magazine’s subscription base grew by about 14,000 subscribers, or 16.4 percent, in the first half of 2006, compared to the same period in 2005.

Out, The Advocate’s sister publication, also experienced healthy growth while seeing falling ad revenue. Subscriptions grew 11.8 percent year-over-year, while ad pages dropped 8.3 percent and rate card revenues dropped 3.4 percent for the year to date.

The gay ad market, in general, is booming, however, according to the most recent Gay Market Press Report from Prime Access and Rivendell Media Co. The report shows that total advertising in gay media reached $212 million, but much of the budget goes to local gay publications including newspapers covering culture, local events and politics. Overall, the 16 million gay consumers in the U.S. over the age of 18 have a combined spending power of $641 billion.
One challenge for gay magazines, like the mainstream press, is that they are facing strong competition from the internet. Gays and lesbians are typically earlier adopters of new technology than the population as a whole, and the social networking aspect of the web has been particularly successful and important in pulling together diffuse gay populations.