Still Climbing

As final reports trickled in, U.S. magazine publishers totted up their best half-year profits ever. For the first time since 1961, Curtis Publishing reported a six-month net profit of $368,000; ad revenues were up 18% on the Saturday Evening Post, 20% on the Ladies' Home Journal, and 40% on American Home. Time Inc. continued to pace the industry with a record net income of $17,730,000, up $4,095,000 from the same period in 1965. McGraw-Hill Inc. was in second place, with a net income of $8,176,452, up $2,127,429.

The upsurge seemed to bear out predictions that 1966 will be the magazines' best year ever, and the pattern generally applied across the board. A surprise exception: the Reader's Digest's 11% drop in ad revenues. Such varied magazines as Cosmopolitan, Teen and Motor Trend all announced revenue increases of more than 50%. Hugh (Playboy) Hefner's HMH Publishing did well enough to declare its first cash dividend, 75-c- per share, though it was a bit like transferring cash from one pocket to the other. Hefner himself owns 80% of the stock, giving him a personal, first-half profit of roughly $146,000.

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