Eight issues into its run, ESPN Magazine "appears to be
catching on with its target demo group" of men 18 to 34
years old, according to Lisa Granatstein of MEDIAWEEK.
Although there is little "hard data" on readership so far,
the oversized biweekly "is scoring points with readers and
media buyers." ESPN said that for its first two issues, the
magazine "racked up paid circulation of more than" 400,000,
with newsstand sales averaging "roughly" 44% of that total.
And the title "is off to a solid start with advertisers."
ESPN Magazine Senior VP/GM John Skipper said that he
"expects to bring in 1,000 [ad] pages in the" first FY at
the current prices of $21,700 for a full-page, four-color ad
and $15,190 for a B&W ad. The four-color rate will jump 45%
in September. One of the early complaints concerned the
text size, which at times was "so microscopic" that some
readers "were left squinting." But ESPN Magazine Editor-In-
Chief John Papanek said that, starting with the fourth
issue, the typeface was "bumped up" to the "size of
virtually every other magazine" (MEDIAWEEK, 6/12 issue).
