Digital Circ Doubles -- But Is Dwarfed by Print

Ink on paper still dominates magazine circulation. A new analysis by the Audit Bureau of Circulations found that although magazines more than doubled their paid digital circulation in the most recent reporting period, print retained the overwhelming majority of the magazine business. Digital circulation rose to an estimated 3.29 million in the second half of 2011, up from 1.46 million in the year-earlier period, according to the Audit Bureau. Despite that growth, digital represented only about 1% of the reporting magazines' total paid and verified circulation. Still, the Audit Bureau can read the writing on the tablet, so to speak, and its board of directors recently endorsed an expanded publisher's statement giving ad buyers more information on digital circulation. A sign of more digital growth to come: Magazines report that, while they rely most on business-sponsored digital circulation, a growing percentage of digital readership is now individually paid. For more, see the Ad Age news story at http://adage.com/article/media/magazines-digital-circulation-doubles/233771/