289 U.S. magazines reported that they’d sold 7.9 million digital replica editions in the last six months of 2012. That’s 2.4 percent of total circulation — up from less than 1 percent in the second half of 2011, and up from 1.7 percent in the first six months of this year. (AAM’s definition of a digital replica is that it contains “the same editorial and photojournalism as the national print edition,” though that material can be arranged differently on a tablet; nearly all digital magazines fall into this category.)

The growth looks more impressive on an individual title level, where some magazines made huge gains in digital copies: Game Informer, already by far the top magazine by digital circulation, increased that figure by 89 percent, while Cosmopolitan upped its digital circulation by nearly 40 percent in the second half of the year. Two Reader’s Digest titles – Reader’s Digest and Taste of Home — saw triple-digit-percentage growth of their digital editions, both entering the top 10 for the first time. The growth isn’t all paid: Reader’s Digest, for example, is offering print subscribers a free six-month iPad subscription. But Hearst sells digital and print subscriptions separately.

Here are the top 25 U.S. consumer magazines by digital circulation as of December 31, 2012, and how much that circulation grew (or shrank) over the first six months of the year. The Alliance for Audited Media cautions that these are preliminary figures, subject to audit.

1. Game Informer (GameStop), digital circulation: 2,305,816 (+89% over first half of 2012)
   
2. Maxim (Alpha Media Group): 259,529 (-8.9%)
3. Cosmopolitan (Hearst): 254,751 (+37.2%)
4. National Geographic (National Geographic): 160,077 (+18.9%)
5. Poder Hispanic (Televisa): 149,838 (-12.3%)
6. Reader’s Digest (Reader’s Digest): 147,149 (+248.8%)
7. Taste of Home (Reader’s Digest): 103,961 (+243.9%)
8. Popular Science (Bonnier): 98,389 (+5.8%)
9. ESPN the Magazine (ESPN): 92,197 (+20.4%)
10. OK! (American Media): 88,347 (+86.7%)
11. Parenting (Bonnier): 87,253 (+16.7%)
12. Men’s Health (Rodale): 85,842 (+44.2%)
13. O, the Oprah Magazine (Hearst): 84,632 (+4.2%)
14. Wired (Condé Nast): 84,118 (+22.3%)
15. Us Weekly (Wenner Media): 81,611 (+40.8%)
16. Nylon (Jaclynn B. Jarrett): 77,469 (+2.5%)
17. GQ (Condé Nast): 74,806  (+24.6%)
18. Food Network Magazine (Hearst): 67,727 (+65.1%)
19. Women’s Health (Rodale): 66,555 (+29.5%)
20. Star (American Media): 59,903 (+297%)
21. New Yorker (Condé Nast): 59,471 (+66.7%)
22. Esquire (Condé Nast Hearst): 57,795 (+41.7%)
23. Martha Stewart Living (Time Inc. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia): 56,068 (+28.7%)
24. Glamour (Condé Nast): 53,794 (+56.8%)
25. Vanity Fair (Condé Nast): 53,735 (+47.6%)

Publishing revenues were down 17 percent, to $27.6 million. Broadcasting revenues were down 58.6 percent, to $2.7 million, reflecting “a strategic migration of [the] Broadcasting business away from the higher costs associated with daily live television production, in favor of investment in short-form video for digital formats and targeted broadcast initiatives.”

Merchandising was the report’s one bright spot, with revenues of $13.2 million, up 7.3 percent.

“Including the Publishing segment actions announced yesterday, we have taken actions designed to significantly reduce the cost structure of our print and broadcasting operations this year, an important step toward positioning MSLO for profitable growth,” president and CEO Lisa Gersh said in a statement. “We are transitioning our content operations to digital, mobile and video platforms that feature lower fixed costs and align with evolving consumer preferences for how and where they engage with our content. We are seeing some encouraging early results, particularly in video.”

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia announced Thursday afternoon that it is laying off 70 of its roughly 600 staff members, ending the standalone publication of Everyday Food magazine and attempting to sell off Whole Living magazine.

Facing declining advertising pages and the need to emphasize “digital, mobile and video platforms” over print, the company said that it will stop selling Everyday Food as a standalone monthly publication. Rather, subscribers to the monthly Martha Stewart Living will receive an Everyday Food “supplement” five times a year, and more of its content will be available online starting next year. MSLO will try to sell Whole Living, but if it can’t find a buyer its content will be folded into Martha Stewart Living.

The New York Times‘ Media Decoder blog reported that 70 MSLO employees, out of about 600, are being laid off: “Employees at Martha Stewart Living have not been able to return to work this week because Hurricane Sandy flooded the basement of their downtown offices. As a result, many of them learned of layoffs by phone and e-mail.”

MSLO expects the combined changes to save $33 to $35 million annually. The company also announced a handful of digital initiatives: a new PBS show, “several exciting new digital video series made for the web” and more apps.

“As a whole, MSLO’s total digital audience has grown an average of 20 to 25 percent year over year every month since January 2012,” president and CEO Lisa Gersh said. “Following a careful evaluation of our media portfolio, we are responding to clear trends we are seeing across the industry to give our consumers what they are telling us they want: more video, more of the inspiration, solutions and expert advice and how-to content our brands offer in digital formats, across more platforms and on a more frequent basis.”