• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, January 6, 2016

The total cross-platform audience for U.S. consumer magazines, including both print and digital channels and not excluding duplicates, increased 4.1% from 1.69 billion in November 2014 to 1.76 billion in November 2015, according to the latest MPA 360 report.

The increase was due mostly to growth in digital audiences, with mobile rapidly supplanting desktop as the digital medium of choice.

The total volume of print readership slipped 6% from 982 million to 925 million over this period. However, this was more than offset by a surge in magazines’ mobile audiences, which expanded 39.5% from 357 million to 498 million.

Over the same period, their desktop Web audience fell 7.7% from 300 million to 277 million, reflecting the accelerating shift to mobile consumption. Finally, magazines’ video audiences, measured separately from mobile and desktop, grew 14.4% from 53.3 million to 61 million.

Turning to individual titles, some of the biggest year-over-year increases were seen at The Atlantic, whose total cross-platform audience increased 66.9% to 22.1 million; Esquire, up 40.5% to 10.9 million; Elle, up 37.8% to 13 million; Bon Appetit and its associated site Epicurious, which together form Conde Nast’s Food Innovation Group, up 34.8% to 21.3 million; and Forbes, up 32.5% to 53.9 million.

There were relatively few titles that experienced double-digit percentage declines.

This small group included Wired, which saw its total cross-platform audience slide 10% to 16.3 million; Woman’s Day, down 10.3% to 19.1 million; Better Homes and Gardens, down 10.6% from 53.1 million to 47.5 million; Elle Décor, down 13.9% to 2.4 million; and Life & Style, down 23% to 5.3 million;

The MPA no longer reports figures for magazine ad pages compiled by the Publisher’s Information Bureau.