The research, which measures advertising revenue on a monthly basis, show a 10 per cent drop for regional titles in January 2004 over last year.
January 2004's adspend was US$13.1 million, compared with US$14.6 million one year earlier. At Newsweek, for example, ad revenue dropped from US$1.8 million in January 2003, to US$1.4 million in 2004, marking a 19 per cent decrease. However, Newsweek Pacific director Theresa Yeung was relatively unconcerned, and attributed the drop to a unique first quarter in 2003.
"The first quarter of 2003 was a very strong quarter, relatively speaking, as we had a couple of campaigns that spilled over from Q4, 2002," said Yeung. "The first quarter this year was definitely slower, but usually January is a very soft month and it was more like an average quarter this year."
Yeung also noted that while 2003 was a tough year for print titles, conditions were generally better than after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The rebound in Q4 2003, correspondingly, was less dramatic than the one in Q4 2002.
"Q2 and Q3 were nearly totally dead for travel clients, but it didn't affect other industries as much compared with 9/11, which hit many more industries," said Yeung.
Newsweek placed third in the survey, behind Time Asia's US$2.4 million in ad revenue (zero per cent change) and the Asian Wall Street Journal, which attracted US$1.8 million, a 29 per cent decrease, year-on-year.
Behind Newsweek was Fortune China, which rattled up ad sales of US$850,000 in January 2004, compared to US$740,000 one year earlier, marking an impressive increase of 16 per cent.
Canace Chak, group publisher at Fortune China, attributed the publication's increased ad revenue to a number of factors, including content and circulation.
"One of the main reasons is editorial content - we introduced some new sections, which advertisers and readers have been very receptive to," said Chak. "In addition, our circulation increased by 15 per cent, which also helped."
Chak was unsurprised by the region's poor showing in January, and attributes the 10 per cent drop to a tough environment. "The Asian market has not picked up 100 per cent," she said. "Also, for regional titles, the first quarter is normally the lowest season."
In Fortune China's case, of course, a strong China market has buoyed its results, although Chak is unwilling to appear too bullish about the year ahead.
"We had some help in the first quarter from advertisers wanting to promote for Chinese New Year, and I remain optimistic," she said. "Everybody knows that China is a good market, but it is becoming more competitive with the launch of both foreign and local business titles."
CMR'S TOP 5 PERFORMERS: JANUARY 2004
Dollars %
Jan-03 Jan-04 Change
Time Asia 2,459,967 2,451,398 0%
Asian Wall Street Journal 2,551,525 1,808,409 -29%
Newsweek Asia 1,834,883 1,494,419 -19%
Fortune China 736,095 852,349 16%
Readers Digest Asia 736,547 811,970 10%
Sources: CMR International