MORE NEW MAGAZINES THAN CLOSURES

In 2010, 193 new magazines launched while 176 ceased publication, according to MediaFinder.com - the largest online database of U.S. and Canadian publications. Food magazines topped the list of new launches with 28 new titles, such as Northeast Flavor, and ChopChop.

MediaFinder reports that the next largest category for new magazine launches in 2010 was the Regional category, with 15 new titles, including Bel-Air Magazine and 944 Dallas. Other top categories for new magazine launches were Health with 10 new magazines such as Livestrong Quarterly, and Sports with nine new titles, including Athlon Sports.

From 2009 to 2010, magazine closures declined, with only 176 compared to 596 in 2009. The Home magazine category showed the greatest decline in 2010, with 13 titles folding including Mountain Home and Home Miami. The Lifestyle category also declined, with seven magazines ceasing publication, including Salt Lake Living. During the same time period, only 28 print titles converted to an online-only format in 2010, compared with 81 titles in 2009.

In the business-to-business segment, 34 new titles launched, such as CinDayB2B and Sustainable Engineering; and 47 titles folded, including Printing News and Maddux Business Report. Of the 28 print magazines that converted to an online-only format in 2010, 15 were b-to-b magazines, including American Machinist.

"This year marked the launch of the first iPad magazines, with magazines such as Project, RoadTrip and WaveLines available on that platform, providing publishing companies with another way of delivering content to their readers," said Trish Hagood, president of Oxbridge Communications, publisher of MediaFinder. "In addition, we have seen strength in new print magazine launches, such as Food and Luxury magazines."