«GOOD BUSINESS IS THE BEST ART»

Twenty- and 30-somethings falling in and out of love. Aging boomers growing out of and into their clothes. All part of a demographic formula that has kept People prospering while so many publications are reeling in these hard times.Most celebrity coverage skews young, but People has attained something unusual, attracting the young (18- to-34-year-olds are its biggest constituency, 38 percent of readership) while holding on to aging boomers (45 to 59 are second, 28 percent of readership).“We need to satisfy both,” Mr. Hackett said. There’s a good economic reason. “Compared to most, boomers remain economically sound,” he said.And so, People is having a boomer year: there have been 10 covers featuring boomers in the first five months of 2009, compared with 11 in all for 2007.While circulation at most celebrity magazines was down in the second half of 2008 — In Touch Weekly (down 29 percent, to 899,000); Life & Style Weekly (down 31 percent, to 472,000); Us Weekly ( down 1.3 percent, to 1.9 million) — People grew 2 percent to 3.7 million. The latest 2009 figures show the magazine’s readership up 1.2 percent.

-New York Times
May 22 2009