WHAT IS PIB?

PUBLISHERS INFORMATION BUREAU (PIB) is the premier source of consumer magazine advertising paging, expenditures and related information.   PIB is a membership organization administered by Magazine Publishers of America (MPA). Both MPA and Non-MPA members are able to join.

PIB is recognized in the industry as the most trusted source of ad data.  Agencies, advertisers, the press, industry analysts and venture capital companies that share an interest in the ROI of the magazine industry regularly rely upon the organization’s reporting.

Published issues of more than 240 consumer magazine titles and newspaper distributed magazine supplements are processed and verified each year—accounting for more than 250,000 ad pages and some $27.5 billion in rate card reported ad revenue.

HOW IS PIB DATA USED?

Advertisers look to PIB to see what mix of advertising is appearing in the magazines of interest and/or for competitive intelligence.

Ad Agencies rely on PIB to show them where competitive brand and category magazine advertising ran and to what extent.

Publishers use PIB data to identify sales opportunities through mutual and exclusive reports, track competitive market share, and compile sales reports.

Reporters monitor ad activity over time for individual titles and categories of magazines.

Venture capital companies use advertising data to produce trends and to judge publishing growth opportunities.

HOW IS AD DATA REPORTED?

Pursuant to a licensing arrangement with the MPA, TNS MEDIA INTELLIGENCE (TNS MI) compiles, verifies and reports magazine advertising data for PIB measured publications. 

TNS MI provides web-based access to a variety of historical reported revenue and page count data that can be classified by brand, parent company, advertising category and individual publication. Custom solutions are also available. 

In addition, TNS MI identifies magazine advertising appearing in the U.S.-circulated portion of regularly scheduled issues, additional/bonus issues, magazine supplements, special advertising sections, inserts and outserts Because of its exclusive partnership with PIB, each member publication provides TNS MI with their less-than-full-run (regional and demographic-placed) advertisements. This is a competitive advantage over other firms that capture only what they see in a less precise manner.

PIB reports all paid advertising in its member publications. House ads, and donated space (public service), are not credited in the service. All full-run revenues reported are based on current gross one-time rates, allowing for color, bleed and cover premiums, but not production/mechanical premiums, frequency or volume discounts, or commissions.

Each member publication is required to supply TNS MI with a current rate card and digital representation of the magazine and provide detailed information about each advertisement in the issue. Electronic tear sheets of all ads appearing in regional and demographic editions are also required.

All submitted advertising appearing in PIB measured publications, regardless of unit size or type, must have the advertiser’s name or brand name or the word “advertising”, “advertisement”, “promotion”, or “promotional” readily identifiable in the advertisement.

To submit advertising appearing in new magazine products that are not currently measured by PIB, such as magazine line extensions distributed to host magazine subscribers, please contact PIB 90 days in advance of publication. By submitting products in advance, PIB can work with you to ensure that qualified advertising is properly counted and reported in a timely manner.

The PIB Technical Advisory Committee and TNS MI meet as needed to modify or improve specifications. Interested parties that have questions or suggestions regarding the counting of paid advertising in the PIB service may request a review by the committee.            

HOW IS ADVERTISING MEASURED BY PIB?

DEFINITIONS

A Regular Issue is defined as any issue of a publication that is distributed to the publication’s entire circulation. This includes issues appearing in a magazine’s rate card at the beginning of the year, as well as any additional/bonus issues that may be distributed to the publication’s entire circulation.  Additionally, Regular Issues must carry a specific issue date.

All Other Issues is defined as any issue of a publication (additional/bonus issues and regularly scheduled issues included) that is distribute to anything less than the publication’s entire circulation.  All Other Issues must contain editorial and advertising content, the name of the host magazine (in the form of the logo) and an issue date on the cover, and be distributed to some portion of the host magazine’s circulation.  Publications must supply TNSMI with an actual month and date to indicate when the data is to be reported.  All Other Issues does not include anything classified as a supplement, Insert or Outsert.

Supplements carry both advertising and editorial, and are delivered with – but not bound into an issue of the host publication.  Supplements must carry the name(s) of the host magazine(s) on the cover, not necessarily in the form of the logo, and be distributed to some portion of the host magazine’s circulation. 

Outserts are sometimes referred to as “Onserts” or “Unserts” and must have only one sponsor.  Outserts, like Supplements are delivered with – but not bound info – an issue of the host publication.

WHO IS ELEGIBLE FOR PIB MEMBERSHIP?

• Consumer magazines published at least quarterly are eligible for measurement.

• Membership in MPA is not a requirement to be included in PIB, but MPA members enjoy reduced membership fees for PIB.

• Applicants must be elected to membership by a majority vote of the PIB Technical Advisory Committee. Membership is available on a calendar year basis. Publications joining the service after June 1^st in a given year will be assessed a half membership fee for that year. There are no rebates for leaving the service during a membership year.

• Membership in PIB is required of all publications desiring to be reported in the Publishers Information Bureau (PIB) service.

• Current annual dues are $1,800 per title for MPA members and $3,600 for non-MPA member titles (provides one year of measurement, a subscription to the Advance Magazine Totals, which are monthly reports providing ad pages and expenditures by magazine title in various formats, a copy of the PIB Advertising Guidelines Manual and related training, and access to the PIB Technical Advisory Committee review process.

• New members also pay a one-time initiation fee directly to TNS MI (currently $2,750) in addition to the first year’s dues to PIB.

• Because the PIB Service publishes comparative year data, all new members having published in the previous year are required, (April 6, 2005 PIB TAC ruling) to provide the prior year’s issues for measurement.

• There is a small per advertisement charge for measuring new members’ prior year issues.

WHAT KINDS OF PIB DATA CAN BE GENERATED USING TNS MI SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES?

Advertisers, agencies, magazine publishers and others may subscribe to the TNS products and services. Subscription fees vary by product. Please contact TNS at 212.991.6000, for more information.

• Page and expenditure gain/loss trending capabilities for 10+ years across publications, products and/or categories.

• Ranking options to identify leaders in ad paging or revenue by publication, company, subsidiary, brand or across all levels of the PIB classifications.

• Management reports based on sales account assignments or sales territories for an individual magazine

• Share of market reports that will show what a publication, product or category’s percentage (%) share based against its competitors. 

• “Mutually exclusive” reporting allows for prospecting accounts that are advertising within a competitive set of publications.

• Brand and publication detail reports provide in-depth views on magazine page positioning, ad type and ad color for a particular publication issue or an advertiser. 

• Access to various multi-media advertisements.

• Comprehensive multi-media advertising information across 19 media:

Consumer Magazines                                  Network TV

Sunday Magazines                                       Cable TV

Local Magazines                                           Syndicated TV

Hispanic Magazines                                     Spot TV

B to B Magazines                                         Hispanic TV

Newspaper                                                    Outdoor

National Newspapers                                   Network Radio

Hispanic Newspapers                                  National Spot Radio

Internet                                                            Local Radio

Branded Entertainment

• Aggregation ability of media properties (including magazines and their web-site counterparts) for multiple comparison purposes.

 Electronic Products for Magazines That Incorporate PIB Data

MagAdvisor: TNS’s comprehensive web -based magazine system. Its dynamic database - updated nightly –gives access to the most current information, and includes access to 10 years of PIB Magazine detailed level information. Page and expenditure information is available on more than 350. PIB member publications, with links to print creative that can be downloaded for your strategic needs.  A flexible report format lets the user tailor information to their needs along with easy data transfer to populate spreadsheet programs.

Ad$pender: A web-based multi-media reporting system providing 5 years of monthly expenditure data for each of the media subscribed to in TNS’s Multi-Media database. The18 media measured are: Consumer Magazines, Sunday Magazines, Local Magazines, Hispanic Magazines, B-to-B Magazines, Local Newspapers, National Newspapers, Hispanic Newspapers, Outdoor, Television (Network, Spot, Syndicated, Cable and Hispanic),  Radio (Network, National Spot and Local) and the Internet. Users can view detailed expenditure information by  category, parent company, subsidiary and brand.  Reports can be tailored and are easy to data transfer to populate spreadsheet and flowchart programs.

Stradegy

Stradegy is the powerful information tool that helps you see the complete media picture 24/7. It provides comprehensive advertising information on 2.4 million brands across 19 media, covering $150 billion in advertising expenditures. A vital resource for advertising professionals, media specialists and marketers, Stradegy is the gold standard for timely, relevant and actionable advertising information; delivering answers to the important media questions that impact your business.

For further information about subscribing to MagAdvisor, Ad$pender or PIB Customized reports,

please contact:

John Ciotoli

Director, Magazine Sales

TNS Media Intelligence

100 Park Avenue, 4th Floor

New York, N.Y. 10017

212.991.6087

For further information about PIB membership, contact:

Wayne P. Eadie

President

Publishers Information Bureau

810 Seventh Avenue, 24th Floor

New York, New York 10019-5818

212.872.3722

weadie@magazine.org

 

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PIB Historical Trends
1960-2006 Yearly Ad Revenue & Pages