The first quarter numbers from the Publishers Information Bureau — the useful but by no means bulletproof scorecard for tracking consumer magazine advertising — are in. PIB ad revenue (meaning revenue calculated using the magazine's ratecard without accounting for package discounts commonly given to frequent advertisers) was up 4.2 percent over 2005. Ad pages, traditionally the more telling statistic, were relatively flat.

What's even more interesting, though, are the individual magazines tracked by PIB, particularly those that folded during the first quarter:

ELLE GIRL
Jan. - March 2006 revenue: $7,454,555
Jan. - March 2005 revenue: $5,138,899
CHNG: 45.1 %
Jan. - March 2006 ad pages: 150.28
Jan. - March 2005 ad pages: 131.55
CHNG: 14.2 %

Not the numbers you'd expect from a magazine that had the proverbial rug pulled out from underneath it.

Cargo, on the other hand:

CARGO
Jan. - March 2006 revenue: $5,218,889
Jan. - March 2005 revenue: $5,146,379
CHNG: 1.4 %
Jan. - March 2006 ad pages: 88.55
Jan. - March 2005 ad pages: 104.74
CHNG: -15.5 %

More troubling, though, are the numbers rolling in from magazines that are still here — not exactly reassuring:

DWELL
Jan. - March 2006 revenue: $2,935,935
Jan. - March 2005 revenue: $4,166,176
CHNG: -29.5 %
Jan. - March 2006 ad pages: 105.73
Jan. - March 2005 ad pages: 179.19
CHNG: -41.0 %

FAST COMPANY
Jan. - March 2006 revenue: $4,699,356
Jan. - March 2005 revenue: $6,200,845
CHNG: -24.2 %
Jan. - March 2006 ad pages: 68.92
Jan. - March 2005 ad pages: 95.90
CHNG: -28.1 %

JANE
Jan. - March 2006 revenue: $4,470,524
Jan. - March 2005 revenue: $7,420,578
CHNG: -39.8 %
Jan. - March 2006 ad pages: 69.04
Jan. - March 2005 ad pages: 122.00
CHNG: -43.4 %