New York, NY - Total magazine rate-card-reported advertising revenue for full-year 2009 closed at $19,450,949,762, posting a 18.1% decline against the previous year, according to Publishers Information Bureau (PIB).  A total of 169,217.76 advertising pages were generated throughout the year, a drop of 25.6% compared to 2008.  In the fourth quarter of 2009, PIB revenue generated $5,778,429,251, which was a 12.4% decrease compared to 2008's fourth quarter.  There were 48,958.92 advertising pages counted for the quarter, a decline of 21.6% compared to the same period in 2008.

Food & Food Products, one of 12 major advertising categories, showed a 21.9% PIB revenue and 9.8% page increase during the fourth quarter of 2009, along with a 1.4% revenue bump for the full year, driven primarily by ads for cooking ingredients, mixes and seasonings. The fourth quarter saw significant contributions from produce, meats, beverages and snacks. (Twelve categories are the most significant contributors to PIB revenue, comprising more than 85% of total advertising spending.)

Two fourth quarter growth trends were apparent across other ad sectors. First, a number of subcategories registered PIB revenue and page increases in Q4: household cleansers, pet foods/supplies, drugs, toiletries and fitness products. Second, four major categories, while still down, showed significant improvement in fourth quarter compared to prior quarters in 2009: Finance, Insurance & Real Estate; Direct Response Companies; Toiletries & Cosmetics; and Automotive. The fourth quarter of 2009 marks the first time Automotive declines have been in single digits since fourth quarter 2007, with the category showing a more than 80% increase in fourth quarter versus the average quarterly spending earlier in the year.

"While marketers' skittishness continued through the fourth quarter, magazine spending showed improvement compared to earlier in 2009," said Ellen Oppenheim, EVP/Chief Executive Officer, Magazine Publishers of America. "Magazines experienced an uptick in food spending and relative improvement in other areas, especially in automotive."

Full news release and charts.