Regional publications' advertising revenue rebounded just over
three per cent year-on-year in 1999, following the 12 per cent plunge in
1998, according to a CMR International report.
Although modest, the rise is seen as the clearest sign yet that
Asia-Pacific's fortunes have turned around for the better following the
economic turmoil of the late 1990s.
Total advertising revenue for 1999 climbed to US$298 million,
compared with US$289 million the year before.
Time Asia topped the CMR rankings of all regional publications with a
revenue of US$49 million, which was just marginally up on 1998,
while its market share stood at 16.59 per cent. The Asian Wall Street
Journal ranked second with a revenue of US$46 million,
representing a jump of almost 18 per cent from 1998. Newsweek held onto
third spot despite its revenue declining about 11 per cent to US$32 million.
Nine of 23 publications saw drops in advertising revenue, which compares
favourably with 1998 when all regional magazines and newspapers - with
the exception of Business Week - experienced declines.
