• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, July 6, 2015

More magazines launched than closed in the first half of the year -- but at the same time, the overall number of new launches decreased, according to the latest figures from Oxbridge Communications’ MediaFinder service, which tracks new publication launches.

Overall, the number of new magazines launched decreased from 93 in the first six months of 2014 to 60 during the same period in 2015, per MediaFinder, while the total number of magazines closed also decreased from 30 to 23.

As a result, the net gain of new titles fell from 63 to 37 launches.

The list of new magazine launches in the second quarter of the year included Smithsonian Journeys, a publication targeted to travelers with the Smithsonian’s branded travel program; Organic Life, a relaunch of Organic Gardening from Rodale; and Adventure Outdoors, a biannual title from the David-Jacobs Publishing Group, which also publishes Everyday Home. Launches in the first quarter also include Parents Latina from Meredith Corp.

The list of magazines closed in the second quarter included shopping magazine Lucky, at one time considered a model for a new generation of fashion publications, as well as Nylon for Guys. First-quarter closures included Fitness, phased out by Meredith after it acquired Shape.

The number of new business-to-business publications launched fell from 15 titles in the first half of 2014 to five in the same period this year. The number of B2B titles shuttered remained steady at four closures.

Although the launch of new print titles is always encouraging, it has become more difficult to assess the overall health of the print magazine business over the last year, as the Publishers Information Bureau no longer reports figures for advertising pages.