# American versus British magazines **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2002, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-versus-british-magazines/100953 "2002-03-30T20:34:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-versus-british-magazines/100953/1 "2002-03-30T20:34:26Z")
Part GQ, part MPSIMS. In most large bookstores in the Orlando area, you’ll find both American and UK magazines. Usually, British magazines ate twice or three times the size of their American counterparts, while the (dollar converted) cover price is only about 30% to 50% more. “Car” and “BBC Topcar” are about three times the size of “Car and Driver” and “Automobile.” The UK versions of PC World and Maxim are about twice as thick as the US versions. Why are UK magazines so thick, and so much cheaper per page, than their U.S. counterparts? Any particular reason why us Yanks are getting ripped off in the magazine department? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-versus-british-magazines/100953/2 "2002-03-30T20:39:17Z")
Typos galore. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-versus-british-magazines/100953/3 "2002-04-03T04:54:19Z")
Bump. Just once, though. I can’t believe that out of the thousands of people on the SDMB, from both sides of the pond, nobody knows anything about this one. ---
**Author:** ![Mersavets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@Mersavets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mersavets)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-versus-british-magazines/100953/4 "2002-04-03T08:16:42Z")
Do the British magazines seem to have a higher proportion of advertising content? It’s the ads that really pay the wages for periodicals and more advertising will greatly subsidise the cover price as well as add to the size of the issue. British people might also be bigger subscribers of their magazines than Americans. If so, this would also subsidise their cover prices. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-versus-british-magazines/100953/5 "2002-04-03T13:50:10Z")
More advertising in UK magazines … not that I’ve noticed. Granted, the magazines _are_ larger, so there are more ads, but not proportionately so compared to U.S. publications. Even if there are proportionately more subscribers to U.K. maga than their U.S. counterparts, given the smaller population of the U.K., would their verion of … oh, FHM or any other publication, always have more overall subscribers than the U.S. version where there’s a larger subscriber base? ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-versus-british-magazines/100953/6 "2002-04-03T13:54:31Z")
Lower distribution costs? ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-versus-british-magazines/100953/7 "2002-04-03T13:54:52Z")
I always liked the subtle, self-deprecating humour usually found in British Magazines… That said, I seem to recall the pages being a bit thicker, and more white space, in British mags as opposed to American ones. Gave a ‘cleaner’, neater look (although British magazines can certainly pour on the clutter if they want). ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-versus-british-magazines/100953/8 "2002-04-04T07:39:59Z")
WAG–does it have anything to do with the cost/amount of shelf space at newsstands or the total amount of magazines available? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-versus-british-magazines/100953/9 "2002-04-04T13:59:08Z")
I’ve always found it curious that the UK can sustain two thick, hardcore all-movie monthly magazines (Empire & Total Film) and the US can barely support any (Premiere & MovieLine come the closest but can hardly compare in terms of volume & content). And they still have the clut/fringe and arthouse film mags, too. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-versus-british-magazines/100953/10 "2002-04-04T14:04:02Z")
I’d have to say it’s the amount (and price per page) of advertising that makes it happen. Possibly thicker paper but doubtful. It’s not a shelfspace issue as that’s really determined by the individual bookstores. I’m unaware of any magazine (and none that I’ve worked on) that controls size for that purpose. It’s also not distribution costs. Since I believe we’re dealing (correct me if I’m wrong) with the OP seeing UK pubs in the US the distribution costs of the UK mag will be measurably higher than the US magazines. Chalk it up to a better climate for advertising sales in the UK. - Jonatha “Publishing God” Chance