Magazines are one of the oldest and most diverse forms of media in America. Benjamin Franklin is generally credited with creating the first American magazine in 1741; but the rise of magazines as the first national mass media occurred in the mid-19th century when rail transportation made it possible to distribute magazines to consumers anywhere in the country in a timely manner and manufacturers of consumer products began to use magazines to advertise their products on a national basis.

As electronic media -- primarily radio and television -- arrived in the 20th century, magazines lost their role as the dominant national medium, but in the last half of the century the industry re-created itself as a highly diversified medium targeting the special interests of readers effectively. And its growth in this role has been phenomenal.

At a time when new technology offers consumers an increasing array of media choices, magazines -- one of the oldest media in America -- are a growing and profitable business, as evidenced by the high prices paid for magazine properties in the marketplace and the robust growth of new titles described in the 1999 Guide. All told there are more than 18,000 magazines targeted to virtually every demographic and psychographic group imaginable. Every year about a thousand new magazine titles appear and several hundred disappear.

So why has this old media endured and prospered? Because it is exceedingly flexible and dynamic, offering consumers more choice in information and entertainment than any other media in a relatively cheap, portable and user-friendly format.

As new interactive media and targeted cable TV expands, magazines have increasingly sought to integrate these new electronic media into their editorial and marketing strategies through brand extensions and complementary programming. But the vast majority of magazine revenue and profit continues to come from the traditional print products.

Of course, the growth of new media and cable TV programming poses a potential long-term threat to magazines and all other traditional media in terms of competition for consumers' leisure time. But there is little evidence thus far that magazine reading is declining. In fact, a recent study showed that heavy Internet users are also heavy magazine readers. What they are sacrificing to make time for Internet usage is less time watching TV.

As we enter a new century, all media must compete in a dynamic media marketplace serving an information-driven society where technology discovers new ways to transmit and receive information and entertainment. One of the great strengths of magazines has always been our ability to change our products and the way we market them to meet the needs of consumers and the demands of the marketplace. I'm confident that we will continue to do this successfully in the next century as well. We will survive and prosper in the new millennium; but we will be recreating ourselves as an industry and we will have an exciting and interesting future.

Donald Kummerfeld
President
Magazine Publishers Association