ABSTRACT
American magazines, though, entered a third phase with the failure of the general-interest, mass-circulation magazine. Life, Look, the Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s-the benchmark publications of an industry-failed because they could not support themselves financially. And the new formula for magazines became, instead, targeted readerships, targeted advertising, and market segmentation. Magazines would need to be molded to suit special-interest audiences-for business or hunting and fishing or entertainment or simply for young women and their interests. Competition was no longer for the largest audience, but for the right audience. Circulation had peaked years before. Now it was not how many people read, but who read that made the difference.
