Publishers say worst over amid bleak CMR

HONG KONG: Advertising bookings in regional publications slowed in January, however, most of the worst affected publishers say their numbers have since rebounded strongly. According to CMR International, adspend in the top 15 magazines and newspapers totalled USdollars 16.9 million in January, up a marginal 2.6 per cent year-on-year. Asiaweek, Business Week, Newsweek Asia, Time Asia, USA Today and Yazhou Zhoukan were the worst affected. All saw a double-digit drop in ad bookings. The slowdown was attributed to advertisers holding back on spending because of an uncertain economic outlook, stemming from news at the time that the US economy might be slipping into a recession. "Memories of the last big regional downturn are still fresh in the minds of advertisers because it ended just a year-and-a-half ago so it's natural for them to take a more cautious stance at any negative news," said Adrian King, MediaCom's director of media research and strategic planning. King also said that in hard times, regional advertisers turn to advertising through various local channels on a market-by-market basis because costs are lower, although he said it is arguable if the impact would be the same. Peter Brack, Asiaweek president, whose publication was among the worst hit in January, described the CMR figures as skewed. He pointed to the big spike-up in spending in January last year as advertisers, realising the recession was coming to an end, started spending again. This time around, the opposite appears to have happened - advertisers have adopted a wait-and-see approach before making their commitments. However, Brack said that the magazine improved its position in February and March and that it is now "20 per cent up year-on-year". Business Week regional director, Hong Kong, Christina Chan, described the current mood among advertisers as "mixed but on the optimistic side", reflecting the fact that the magazine now has "more than 60 per cent of its annual renewals signed up already". CMR INTERNATIONAL REPORT ADVERTISING REVENUE (US dollars) Magazine Jan 2000 Jan 2001 Year-on-year (%) 1 Asian Business 70,000 124,900 77 2 Asian Wall Street Journal 3,403,515 4,463,807 31 3 Asiaweek 1,236,285 783,870 -37 4 Business Week 953,539 854,657 -10 5 Economist 824,500 790,850 -4 6 Far East Economic Review 1,115,291 1,348,588 21 7 Financial Times 643,038 755,027 17 8 Forbes Global 76,635 529,361 591 9 Fortune 757,541 899,529 19 10 Harvard Business Review 6,305 3,625 -43 11 International Herald Trib 1,283,858 1,298,622 1 12 National Geographic 196,269 395,411 101 13 Newsweek Asia 1,989,262 1,653,078 -17 14 Time Asia 2,872,157 2,235,816 -22 15 Yazhou Zhoukan 561,737 398,078 -29 Total 15,989,932 16,535,219 3 Produced by CMR International.

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