US magazine circulation slips 1.7 pct in 2nd half

Magazine industry auditors say that total average U.S. circulation for 386 magazines fell 1.7 percent in the final six months of the year to 284.9 million.

The Alliance for Audited Media says paid subscriptions were down 1.2 percent, while newsstand sales fell about 11 percent.

Digital editions rose about 37 percent to 10.8 million, representing only 3.5 percent of total circulation. That's up from 2.4 percent of the total in the same period a year ago.

The top three publications by circulation were AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin, which both had more than 22 million copies, followed by Game Informer Magazine, with 7.6 million.