1.1 Definition and presentation

A magazine is a periodical publication printed in glossy, opaque paper. Magazines are generally published on a regular schedule and contain a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or a combination of the three. Nowadays, there is a growing trend in digitization of magazines, which are generally provided by publishers in two formats: print and digital. Then, thanks to specific platforms, the same content can be accessed while paying a lower fee, as digital versions cut paper and printing costs. The magazine market can be segmented by type (print and digital), topic, and geographic landscape.

The global magazine market has been valued at $70.3 billion in 2021, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 1 percent over the period from 2021 to 2025.

In Italy, more than in other countries, the shift in format choice from print to digital versions can be assessed. In fact, revenues from copy sales decreased by -11.3% in 2018, and are expected to continue to decline in the coming years. On the other hand, for the digital version of magazines, revenue increased by 7% in 2018, and is expected to surpass the print version by the end of 2021. However, this will not be enough to counter the decline of the print version of magazines. As a result, the market will experience a slight inflection in 2019-2023.

On the other hand, it is possible to see how publishers are making efforts to target more customers for digital magazines. Thus, by discounting rates or making the first few months of subscription available for free, publishers are managing to broaden their customer base and, therefore, the number of customers they will be able to retain in the future.

1.2 The world market will recover from the shock due to the pandemic

The global newspaper and magazine market is expected to grow from $***.** billion in **** to $***.** billion in ****, a CAGR of +*.* percent. The growth is mainly due to the fact that companies are reorganizing their operations and recovering from the impact of COVID-**, which previously led to restrictive containment measures involving social distance, ...

1.3 The national print market and the share of magazines

As of February ****, there are *** titles in the Italian press as a whole, broken down as follows:

There are ** daily titles There are ** weekly titles There are ** monthly newspapers

We will analyze the various titles offered in the supply analysis section. In the meantime, we consider weekly and monthly periodicals as ...

1.4 Magazine and periodical publishing in Italy and the decline in advertising revenue

The following data are for the activity registered under ATECO **.** Publishing of magazines and periodicals. We immediately note a fairly sharp decline since ****: the sector's national turnover has fallen from €**** million in **** to €**** million in ****, experiencing a -**% change in only * years.

Chiffre d'affaires de l'édition de magazines et périodiques Italie, ...

2.1 Most-read weeklies and monthlies in Italy: titles and categories

In the tables below we see the details of the categories of magazines Italians like the most, analyzing the February **** sales for weeklies and monthlies.

The most successful weekly magazines are TV, women's, news, and gossip magazines, while the most popular monthly magazines are automotive, travel, and interior design magazines.

Source: ...

2.2 Question typology: the Italian reader

The age of readers

To analyze the type of Italian magazine readers, we take data from seven of the most widely read magazines in the country and representative of the most popular categories. In the graphs below, we read that seniors over ** years of age make up the majority of weekly ...

2.3 Trend: The transition to digital print consumption has begun

The biggest trend we can see, in Italy as well as worldwide, is the digital consumption of print and magazines. In the graph below, we can read the huge increase in visits to the main online news and magazine platforms: the most important long-term changes have been in the GEDI and ...

3.1 Newspaper printing in Italy

The following data refer to the market registered by the Italian government under ATECO **.** "Printing of newspapers," which includes the printing of other periodicals, published at least four times a week.

We note that the sector has been experiencing a steady decrease in its turnover for several years : from ***.* million euros ...

3.2 The retail trade of magazines

The following data refer to ATECO **.** "Retail sale of newspapers and stationery in specialized establishments," which includes retail trade in newspapers, magazines and periodicals.

Turnover in the sector has also halved for the past ** years from €*** million total in **** to €**** million in **** for a change of -** percent, while the number ...

3.3 Distribution channels

There are basically three distribution channels for magazines, listed in the table below:

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4.1 The Italian supply of journals

The supply of magazines in Italy is very diverse. We can divide magazines into traditional categories:

4.2 Market prices charged and production costs

The evolution of the consumer index for newspapers, magazines and periodicals

The price index related to daily newspapers has not varied that much in the last year, but it has increased in total by +**.*% from **** to ****, which represents a slow but steady increase. On the other hand, as for magazines, their ...

5.1 Italian law

The current regulatory framework governing the press distribution sector throughout the country is established by Legislative Decree No. *** of April **, ****, on the "Reorganization of the circulation system of the daily and periodical press, pursuant to Article * of Law No. *** of April **, ****."

The provisions contained in this decree partly replaced those contained ...