Boomer Rags

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Among the competitors for such ads are a handful of magazines aiming generally at anyone over 50. Greg Daugherty, 48, the editor in chief of New Choices, published by Reader's Digest, doesn't see a significant division between baby boomers and the rest of the magazine's 610,000 subscribers; all of them want advice on health, travel and money.

Rather than starting new magazines, investment banker Hale predicts, most publishers will rework existing titles. Time has introduced this Generations section for its mature readers. The January issue of Esquire offered interviews with such sages as John Kenneth Galbraith, 93, and Chuck Berry, 75. But not everything will change. Many magazines find it hard to "move off the DNA" that sets their fundamental tone, says Hale. That's why you may never see tips on hearing-aid fashion in Vogue.