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‘Rolling Stone’ Shrinks to Standard Size

In the hopes of increasing single copy sales - which have slipped from 189,000 in 1999 to 132,000 last year - Rolling Stone is scrapping its oversized format in favor of the standard size used by most magazines.

Gary Armstrong, chief marketing officer for Wenner Media, says that when Rolling Stone goes to a standard format, it should be able to boost newsstand sales significantly. Magazine racks are made for standard dimensions; Rolling Stone is often placed on a high or low shelf, or is folded or placed on its side, writes The New York Times. The smaller size will give the magazine more visibility.

Jann Wenner, founder publisher and editor of the magazine, points to the fact that the consumers the magazine aims for watch television on big-screen TVs, on computer screens, and on iPhones. “They’re agnostic on format,” he says, adding that, “All you’re getting from that large size is nostalgia.”

The magazine will also switch to heavier, glossier paper and will be perfect bound rather than saddle stitched.

Rolling Stone’s readership is larger than it has ever been, with a paid circulation in the U.S. of more than 1.4 million. But ad pages, in the first half of 2008, slipped 33 percent from the same period in 2005.

Brenda White, senior vp for publishing at Starcom USA, said that the improved picture quality of ads on glossy paper will likely more than compensate for the smaller size - in fact, she says, it will save advertisers the expense of reformatting their usual ads to fit in the oversized book.

Rolling Stone tested the standard size with a prototype issue that was sent to more than 3,000 readers in July. The response was “overwhelmingly positive,” according to the company.

The change will debut with the Oct. 30 issue.