MagNet Business Insights (not to be confused with the MagNet just held in Toronto) has just released their findings on the 1st Quarter 2012 newsstand sales results. The news is actually encouraging, so long as you are not a weekly, so long as you are a smaller publisher, so long as you are a Canadian magazine.

In the United States, unit sales were down nearly 8% overall.

In Canada, unit sales were down nearly 6%

The big publishers felt the most pain, according to the MagNet data:

• In the U.S., the Top 50 titles were down 8%, while the Top 100 were down 5.5%, the Top 200 were down 2.9% , the Top 1,000 just 2.6%.
• The same held true in Canada, with the Top 50 down nearly 7%, the Top 100 down 4.4%, the Top 200 down 1.7% and the Top 1,000 down just .5%.

Click to magnify chart below:

Good to be niche, good to be high-quality, good to be a Canadian title: 

Canadian Real Estate Wealth is up 18% in the 1st Quarter of 2012 (Jan, Feb, Mar 2012)

Canada’s History is up 54% on the last two closed issues (Oct/Nov, Dec/Jan), and is forecasting a record-breaking result on their Titanic issue

Legion is up 68% on their last 3 issues (Nov/Dec, SIP, Jan/Feb)

Canadian Yachting is up 128% on their last 2 issues (Nov/Dec, Jan/Feb)

4WDrive is up 25% since re-launching recently

Canadian Business Franchise Directory is up 33%

GardenMaking has launched a brand new SIP, retailing for $9.99 that is selling briskly

Fly Fusion is coming off their best year ever, with record breaking issues.  Sales in Canada were up 11% in 2011, and sell-through efficiency increased by 12.8pts.  In the U.S., sales were up 17%.