MOST of TIME'S readers are subscribers who sign up for relatively long periods of TIME (one of every ten subscriptions is for a term of five years at a cost of $20). But in recent months, the substantial number of readers who buy TIME on the newsstands has been soaring to new levels.

At 18 major airports across the U.S., TIME outsells every other magazine. For some issues in recent months, the newsstand sale has run more than 50% above the same week in the previous year (see illustrations).

For the five issues of January, average newsstand sales were 30.5% above January 1960. In this same period, the average net paid total circulation of the U.S. edition was 2,647,936, nearly 100,000 over the advertising base (effective Jan. 1, 1961) of 2,550,000.

With the international editions it was much the same story. Average net paid circulation in January 1961 for all five international editions (Canada, Latin America, Atlantic, Asia, South Pacific) was 633,800, up 15% over 1960.

Who are these 3,250,000 TIME buyers? One answer: you. A few others:

48% of the men listed in Who's Who in America.

53% of U.S. corporation presidents.

45% of U.S. scientists.

49% of our top educators (college presidents, school superintendents, collegeboard trustees, high school principals, etc.).

60% of the nation's religious leaders.

55% of the communicators (publishers, editors, broadcasters, etc.).

Perhaps the most meaningful segment of TIME'S readers is to be found among tomorrow's leaders-- the undergraduate and graduate student bodies on campuses across the country. Here we are proud to number a quarter of a million subscribers, with a probable total readership of at least a million.

This we believe to be the highest campus circulation of any magazine. Typical of the thousands of letters from educators in our files is the following excerpt from the librarian of a Colorado college: "TIME is among the most widely read publications received in our college. It is read extensively for pleasure, and used extensively for research."

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