The Atlantic Delivers Record Financial Results and Audience Growth in 2013

Washington, D.C., and New York, N.Y. (January 7, 2014)—The Atlantic delivered record financial results and audience growth in 2013, improving its showing in these key categories compared with a year ago. Readership for The Atlantic across its print and digital editions was up 34 percent last year, making it the second-fastest-growing title, according to GfK MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer. And after achieving profitability for the first time in recent memory, in 2010, the 156-year-old magazine brand was profitable for the fourth straight year, this year posting its greatest profit yet.

2013 was distinguished by major editorial accomplishments, including two National Magazine Awards for The Atlantic—one for Best Web Site for TheAtlantic.com and one for Best Essay for Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “Fear of a Black President.” Several new editorial initiatives and products also debuted, including The Weekly, a digital publication featuring the best of The Atlantic’s three Web sites; numerous original video series produced by the brand’s growing video division; four e-books; a special issue marking the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s death; and the launch of the Education channel. In the live events space, AtlanticLIVE, the industry-leading events division, hosted more than 50 public forums and conferences, drawing over 17,000 attendees.

The Atlantic’s digital properties—TheAtlantic.com, TheWire.com, and TheAtlanticCities.com—all reached new traffic benchmarks in 2013. In April, TheAtlantic.com and TheWire.com both hit all-time highs—16.1 million and 8.5 million unique visitors, respectively—while TheAtlanticCities.com set records in October, November, and December, closing out the year with 2.4 million unique visitors. In 2013, the three Web properties exceeded 2012’s then-record traffic by more than 37 percent.

“The media landscape is not without serious challenges, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon,” said M. Scott Havens, President of The Atlantic. “But the fact that The Atlantic continues to grow its footprint on all fronts—print and digital versions of the magazine, a mobile-optimized platform online, across the social graph, and in live events—is a testament to the strength of this team and the power of our brand. I regularly talk about building a sustainable business model in which our industry-leading journalism can not only survive but thrive, and, as I look ahead to 2014, I am confident we are well on our way to achieving that end.”

James Bennet, The Atlantic’s editor in chief, added: “It was a good year, and it set a foundation, I think, for an even stronger year ahead. I’m looking forward to our colleagues coming up with more great stories in 2014 and also with more new ways of telling them. The Atlantic’s tradition may be a long one but, thanks to the work of our imaginative, dedicated people, it never gets old.”

(Source: GfK MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer, Omniture, publisher’s data)