As I noted just about one year ago, MR has been showing a consistent decline in circulation for better than twenty years now. The January 2019 issue, listing an accounting of the magazine's readership/circulation only reinforces evidence of this disturbing, long enduring, slide. The number of subscribers to the magazine's hard copy version amounted to only 81,000 issues monthly in 2018, while newsstand sales only added an insipid 13,000 further copies per month to the total averaging a bit over a 94,000 copies going to readers. Surprisingly, Kalmbach continues to print vastly more copies than it has hopes of selling amounting to some 136,000 copies monthly. So, upwards of 40,000 copies go unsold and presumably are returned EVERY MONTH ! This is something I hardly think is justifiable given that the popularity of the publication is clearly ebbing as times and interest in hobbies change. The on-line electronic version of the magazine appears to simply never have really taken off with any gusto and still totals less than 10,000 electronic mailings per month.
I would add that as a longtime reader of MR I have been particularly disappointed with their December issues weak content. Years back the Christmas issue of MR was always the magazine's premier installment, one every hobbyist looked forward to annually with great anticipation. This December's MR bore no difference from any other of this year's monthly copies and I had already tossed it aside after less than half an hour of perusal. The January 2019 issue I took to be much superior to the December copy in its content, but it was, of course, an anniversary issue. Traditionally anniversary issues have been particularly impressive. I only wish more in the way of in-depth discussion had been offered this year concerning the magazine's and the hobby's past.
I still hold out only faint hopes of seeing MR pull itself out of the doldrums during 2019, but I fear that the only chance for that happening would be a major shake-up in staff. Unless I can obtain one of the super-discounted subscriptions later this year, I don't think that I'll continue with MR any further...after nearly half a century.
CNJ999
I would add that as a longtime reader of MR I have been particularly disappointed with their December issues weak content. Years back the Christmas issue of MR was always the magazine's premier installment, one every hobbyist looked forward to annually with great anticipation. This December's MR bore no difference from any other of this year's monthly copies and I had already tossed it aside after less than half an hour of perusal. The January 2019 issue I took to be much superior to the December copy in its content, but it was, of course, an anniversary issue. Traditionally anniversary issues have been particularly impressive. I only wish more in the way of in-depth discussion had been offered this year concerning the magazine's and the hobby's past.
I still hold out only faint hopes of seeing MR pull itself out of the doldrums during 2019, but I fear that the only chance for that happening would be a major shake-up in staff. Unless I can obtain one of the super-discounted subscriptions later this year, I don't think that I'll continue with MR any further...after nearly half a century.
CNJ999