General
A study reported in 1968 of Book Trade Statistics sections of the Bowker Annual 1967-69 showed that the increase of sales of hardbound books rose from 32,298,000 in 1958 to 40,213,000 in 1963 (increase of 24.2%), while sales of paperbound books rose in the same period from 5,661,000 to 48,874,000 (for an increase of 763.3%). (Source)
A study of book trade mergers during the period 1958-70 showed that during this 12-year period 307 book trade mergers were reported. Mergers involving 2 or more publishers accounted for 224 (72.9%) of the mergers; mergers between a publisher and a company in the field of communications accounted for 33 (10.7%) of the mergers; mergers between a publisher and some other kind of company accounted for 22 (7.2%) of the mergers; and partial purchases and joint ventures accounted for 28 (9.2%), the remainder. (Source)
Ibid. . . . showed that there were 2 peak periods of merging activity during this period. The first was 1960 and 1961, with 28 and 24 mergers, respectively; and the second was 1968 and 1969, with 49 and 46 mergers, respectively. (Source)
Ibid. . . . showed that the 15 largest publishing companies accounted for 108 (35.2%) of the mergers during this period. (Source)
School
A survey reported in 1978 of factors influencing selection of school media materials and involving 107 wholesaler/distributors (25 responses or 27%), 106 publishers/producers (46 responses or 49%), and 516 media program personnel (222 responses or 44%) showed that publishers/producers reported the following dollar sales volume for various media: books (54%); sound filmstrips (16%); 16mm film (6%); kits (4%); audio cassettes (2%); super 8 loops, filmstrips, records, reel-to-reel tapes, videotapes, and study prints (approximately 1% each). (217) (Source)
