Expert: Muhammad Kashif - 4/6/2004

Question
I could flip through a magazine and count all the adds I see, but then that would only be on magazine wouldn't it.  I want to know, on average, how many advertisements are found in magazines.  And what percentage of people in this country read magazines daily.  Good luck, sorry if I sound vague.  Thanks for the help.

Answer
Hi Amy,
Sorry for being late on the response.  

The number of ads present in a magazine would depend on 2 things.  The popularity of the magazine (its reach) and the editorial policy.  On an average 15-20% of the space available in the magazine is assigned for advertising.  This would mean that if the magazine is of 100 pages then it will have roughly 15-20 ads.  This is an average and the actual count would depend on the reach and policy as mentioned above.

"This country" - I assume you are talking about USA.  I am not based in USA and thus do not have direct access to this data.  The best way to answer this question is to go through the National Readership Survey or look at the profiles of some major magazines (They should have this data in their audience profile).  If you were to ask me to make a lucky guess, I would say that 35-40% of the population over the age of 12, reads magazine regularly.  

One point to note is that magazine readership is not calculated on a daily basis.  The frequency of the magazine dictates the time period for the reach.  Hence a weekly magazine would have weekly readership and a monthly magazine will have monthly readership.  The readership is always calulcated based on the period between an issue and the next one.  

I too am sorry if I sound vague.

Kashif