The general trend away from mass market publications and toward specialty magazines coincided with radio’s move to specialized formats in the 1950s. With the rise of television, magazines ultimately reacted the same way radio and movies did: They adapted. Radio developed formats for older and younger audiences, for rock fans and classical fans. At the movies, filmmakers focused on more adult subject matter that was off-limits to television’s image as a family medium. And magazines traded their mass audience for smaller, discrete audiences that could be guaranteed to advertisers.

Magazines are now divided by advertiser type: consumer magazines (O: The Oprah Magazine, Cosmo), which carry a host of general consumer product ads; business or trade magazines (Advertising Age, Progressive Grocer), which include ads for products and services for various occupational groups; and farm magazines (Dairy Herd Management, Dakota Farmer), which contain ads for agricultural products and farming lifestyles. Grouping by advertisers further distinguishes commercial magazines from noncommercial magazine-like periodicals. The noncommercial category includes everything from activist newsletters and scholarly journals to business newsletters created by companies for distribution to employees. Magazines such as Ms., Consumer Reports, and Cook’s Illustrated, which rely solely on subscription and newsstand sales, also accept no advertising and fit into the noncommercial periodical category.

In addition to grouping magazines by advertising style, we can categorize popular consumer magazine styles by the demographic characteristics of their target audience—such as gender, age, or ethnic group—or an audience interest area, such as entertainment, sports, literature, or tabloids.