Can We Learn From Other People's Successes (And Failures)?

The Magazine Publishers of America posts ad revenue every quarter and they compare numbers with the previous year.

Here are a few examples:

AMERICAN PHOTO: $1,006,320 (in ad revenue in 2010) vs. $1,629,491 (in 2009), down -38.2 percent.

THE ATLANTIC: $9,178,376 (in ad revenue in 2010) vs. $6,479,115 (in 2009), up 41.7 percent.

COSMOPOLITAN: $105,340,071 (in ad revenue in 2010) vs. $83,956,017 (in 2009), up 25.5 percent.

EBONY: $7,522,627 (in ad revenue in 2010) vs. $9,381,082 (in 2009), down -19.8 percent.

ESPN MAGAZINE: $82,268,146 (in ad revenue in 2010) vs. $56,237,239 (in 2009), up 46.3 percent.

ESQUIRE: $25,524,238 (in ad revenue in 2010) vs. $19,858,039 (in 2009), up 28.5 percent.

READER'S DIGEST: $43,385,150 (in ad revenue in 2010) vs. $65,220,256 (in 2009), down -33.5 percent.

TRANSWORLD SKATEBOARDING: $4,888,631 (in ad revenue in 2010) vs. $7,358,215 (in 2009), down -33.6 percent.

Take a look at all their numbers here. Are there trends happening? Is there a movement back to name-brand magazines? Is ESPN benefitting by being a multi-platform company? Are niche mags doing better or worse this year? How does that compare to years past?

Can we learn from these numbers? Can we make bold predictions about the future based on past performance?

If you were going to start a new magazine, what would it focus on?