Expanded Audience Measurement Service Enables Agencies and Publishers to Quantify Magazine Delivery Across Print and Digital Channels

NEW YORK, June 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Affinity, creators of the VISTA Ad Effectiveness Service, released today the Spring wave of its expanded American Magazine Study, which now reports the audience delivery of traditional printed magazines, as well as the host of digital platforms that publishers are aggressively leveraging to extend the reach of their brands.  These digital audience channels include magazine Web sites, social networks, electronic subscriptions and magazine apps designed for the iPad and other handheld mobile devices.

Unlike the historical print-only approach to magazine planning, the expanded AMS Service enables the leading ad agencies, for the first time, to evaluate potential schedules based on the total reach of their campaigns across multiple magazine platforms.  Charter agency subscribers include MediaVest USA, Initiative and Starcom USA.

"In the last year, millions of consumers have embraced tablets, e-readers and other mobile devices, and it has led to significant changes in the way magazine media is now consumed," said Nina Link, President and CEO, MPA.  "The Affinity American Magazine Study is an important step forward in helping the magazine industry and advertisers better understand and measure the total audience for magazine media on print and digital platforms."  

From Pages to Screens, Consumers Rely on Magazines

The AMS study reports that more than 184 million American adults read magazine-branded content in print or electronic form every month.  Of the 172 magazine brands measured by AMS, the average number of different magazines read by consumers, regardless of the delivery channel, is 8.1.

One of the many benefits of the AMS single-source methodology is that it provides the first true measure of the duplication between print and digital magazine audiences.  Among those Americans reading printed magazines, 51% also access magazine content digitally, while 90% of digital magazine users report reading the printed versions of publications.  Overall, almost half of the total magazine reading population, or 89 million Americans, access both print and digital magazine content.

The AMS study also reveals that the demographic profile of print readers differs from readers of digital magazine content, offering publishers the opportunity to expand their core customer base.  Digital users tend to be younger, skew more male, and report higher income levels than their traditional print-reading counterparts.  In addition, over half of these digital magazine readers (51%) report that they enjoy all of the things that they can do electronically that they can't do with printed magazines, like searching for articles and clicking on links for more information.

While many new digital channels, like mobile magazine apps, are in the early stages of adoption, these emerging digital environments also represent new opportunities for magazine advertisers, according to AMS.  For example, 36% of digital magazine readers report that they have tapped or clicked on advertiser links for more information about products and services.

For more information about Affinity's American Magazine Study, or to download total audience estimates for the magazine brands measured by AMS, please visit www.AffinityResearch.net.

About Affinity LLC   Affinity is a media research firm specializing in magazine audience measurement and accountability tracking.  Affinity's products include ProofReader (campaign pre-testing), The American Magazine Study (print and digital magazine audience measurement), the VISTA Service (in-market effectiveness of print and digital magazine ads) and MagPlan (the industry's first accountability-driven magazine optimizer).  Company Web site: www.AffinityResearch.net.

Contact   Tom Robinson, Affinity, 212-922-9582 ext. 201, Tom@AffinityResearch.net.

SOURCE Affinity LLC

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