Not much happened in the last quarter of 2022 in the world of new magazine launches. Only 12 new magazines appeared on the nation’s newsstands, bringing the total of magazine launches to 74. Add to that three relaunched titles Mad, Marie Claire, and Ebony.
Below is a breakdown of the new titles of 2022:
Total US Print Magazines Launched By Category In 2022*
16 Special Interest
10 Sex
08 Women’s
07 Arts & Literary
05 Metro & Regional
05 Home
05 Crafts/Games/Hobbies
05 Black/Ethnic
04 Auto, Motorcycle, & Bikes
03 Food
02 Children’s
01 Travel
01 Music
01 Men’s
01 Hunting & Fishing
*A total of 74 new magazines were launched in 2022 compared to 122 in 2021 and 60 in 2020.
And here are the images of all the aforementioned magazines of 2022:
And here’s what I wrote on the Mr. Magazine™ blog about the current status of magazine launches:
The new magazine launches of 2022 were as cold as the arctic weather that hit the nation in the last few days of December. In 2020 the number of new magazines dropped to 60 titles, but then we had COVID 19 to blame. In 2021 the number of new launches doubled and some more to 122. But in 2022 the number of the brave souls who launched new titles, or brought old ones back to life stopped at 74 new titles.
I asked Doug Olson, the president of a360 Media, about his reaction to the aforementioned news. His answer, “2022 was a year of perseverance for the magazine industry. Through hard work, leadership, and continued innovation, the industry navigated input costs, advertiser supply chain issues, labor shortages, and unprecedented consumer inflation in ways that position the industry for a successful 2023!”
Whether 2023 will see an improvement in the number of new title launches or not is yet to be seen. What is for sure is that the so called book-a-zines or special interest publications have taken over the nation’s newsstands squeezing out both the established regularly published magazines and the arriving newbies.
Never in my recent memories have I walk into a newsstand and left empty handed. Twice in 2022 that happened, to the surprise of my wife. “You mean you did not find a single new magazine,” she asked with honest surprise on her face.
Don’t lose the faith, keep the hope and head to a newsstands to pick up a magazine or two…
All the best,
Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, Ph.D.
Founder & Director
Magazine Media Center
samir.husni@gmail.com
Mr. Magazine™ Launch Monitor 