Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- BusinessWeek magazine is undergoing a facelift and adding stories on new products and personal finance in an attempt to attract readers after advertising pages fell 20 percent last quarter.

The magazine, published by McGraw-Hill Cos., is updating its logo, typefaces and graphics starting today, Editor Stephen Adler said. Each issue will have three long articles instead of one now, in addition to new sections. Lifestyle coverage will be cut and most columns will be moved to the back of each issue.

The changes mark a renewed effort by BusinessWeek to capture advertisers targeting affluent, educated readers, counter a drop in auto ads and define its place in a news cycle shaped by the Internet and 24-hour cable TV. The typical BusinessWeek reader is about 46 years old, with a median annual household income of $86,000, according to New York-based Mediamark Research Inc.

``Business magazines want very much to remain relevant, especially with younger readers, and that's harder to do,'' said Reed Phillips, managing partner at DeSilva & Phillips, a New York investment bank focused on media. ``They also want to demonstrate to advertisers that they remain relevant despite publishing once a week or once every two weeks.''

Advertising sales at BusinessWeek declined about 15 percent to $67.7 million last quarter from a year earlier, the New York- based Publishers Information Bureau estimates. McGraw-Hill, based in New York, doesn't break out the publication's sales.

Auto Ads

Business magazines have been hit by the decline in U.S. auto sales, which led to a 5.1 percent drop in the number of magazine ad pages purchased by the industry in the second quarter, according to the bureau.

Time Inc.'s Fortune suffered a 13 percent drop in ad sales in the second quarter as the number of pages sold slid 20 percent, the bureau said. Closely held Forbes and the Economist, partly owned by Pearson Plc, bucked the trend and increased ad revenue by more than 10 percent. Industrywide, U.S. magazine ad pages declined 1.9 percent in the same period.

McGraw-Hill fell 71 cents to $52.90 at 4:02 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have dropped 22 percent this year. Time Warner Inc., the owner of Time Inc., declined 8 cents to $18.96.

The redesign is aimed at attracting a wider audience. The debut issue opens with an expanded news digest called ``The Business Week'' that is followed by a section of lighter, shorter items packaged under the heading ``BTW'' and previously called ``UpFront.'' A new ``What's Next'' section focuses on trends and new products.

``Readers want good, clear summarization,'' Adler, 52, said in an interview. ``They want us to be an intelligent filter about what's going on, about what's important.''

Web Readers

The redesign attempts to further integrate the magazine with its Web site. A section called ``Feedback'' summarizes readers' online responses to articles appearing in the magazine and on the Web site. A ``Links'' section directs readers to Web sites and outside content on subjects in that issue.

``All traditional business publishers are struggling to find the right formula'' that will tie their magazines more closely to the Web, said Peter Kreisky, who runs Kreisky Media Consultancy in New York. ``None of them have reached the promised land.''

BusinessWeek's circulation is little changed from a year ago. Paid readers totaled 919,343 in the six months ended June 30, down 1.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

More Visitors

BusinessWeek.com, the Internet site, receives 6.5 million unique visitors a month, according to Orem, Utah-based Omniture Inc., which measures Web site usage. The Web site had 1.7 million unique visitors a month in December 2004, when Adler became the magazine's editor, the company said.

Online advertising provides 18 percent of BusinessWeek's revenue, said Keith Fox, president of the unit that runs the magazine and Web site. Circulation sales generate about 20 percent, he said.

Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Markets magazine, competes with BusinessWeek, Fortune and Forbes in providing financial news and information.

Fortune

Fortune, led by Managing Editor Andy Serwer, also plans changes to its print edition and Web site in the next few months, said Danielle Perissi, a spokeswoman for Time Warner's publishing division. She declined to give details.

Both Fortune and Money magazine, another Time Inc. publication, are competing with BusinessWeek for an audience comprised mostly of males in their 40s. The BusinessWeek reader profile puts it roughly in between the two. Fortune attracts readers with a median age of 43 and a median household income of $96,000, according to Mediamark. The Money reader's median age is 47 and the median household income is $78,000.

Business magazines have also been challenged by Conde Nast Publications' new Portfolio magazine, which started its monthly run in September.

Redesigning a publication is also about creating ``buzz,'' among advertisers, Phillips said. BusinessWeek's redesign is a way of stirring interest in its print product and Web site at a time when advertisers are assessing the effectiveness of the Internet relative to traditional media, he said.

``Advertisers, autos and all others, are also trying to remain relevant to their buyers, so they're diversifying their advertising, which means reaching their audience in business magazines as well as other places,'' Phillips said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Leon Lazaroff in New York at llazaroff@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 11, 2007 16:20 EDT