As the 1980s came to a close it seemed the surviving major US and UK sf magazines, both professional and semi-professional, had established their niches in the market, albeit some tenuously. Asimov's was the creative market leader even though its companion, Analog, remained the more commercially successful, appealing to the hard-sf market. F&SF had lost some of its cutting-edge distinctiveness but retained its idiosyncratic individuality. Though Omni paid the highest rate it was also the smallest market and its appeal to readers was primarily for Ellen Datlow's often extreme tastes, perhaps as far along one end of the spectrum as Aboriginal was at the other. Amazing Stories, constantly struggling for a better share of its publisher's budget, perhaps had the least impact but, like Aboriginal, had a conscientious editor who strove to help new writers. Interzone had shown what a group of committed editors could achieve and had not only helped develop a new generation of British sf writers but had encouraged the fascination for technological realism in sf. Like Interzone, The Leading Edge demonstrated what could be achieved by a cohesive and well-focused team.

In purely commercial terms the Big Three were just about holding their own. Analog fared the best. Its total paid circulation had dropped by 13% between 1980 and 1990, but though its cover-price rise from $1.50 to $2.50 more than covered this, it did not cover the cost of inflation: Analog's gross income increased by 50% compared to the cumulative inflation rate of 62%. Asimov's total paid circulation had fallen by 28% but its rise in cover price meant its gross income had increased by 29%, still way below the inflation rate. F&SF's gross circulation had fallen by almost 13% until 1989, but rallied in 1990. Even so, it only raised its cover price from $1.50 to $2.00, so its gross income had only risen by 16.4%. Amazing Stories fared worst. Its total paid circulation had fallen by only 5%, but this was from an already low base. Its cover price had risen slightly from $1.50 to $1.75 so its gross income had increased by only 3%.

Economies made within production costs of the Big Three enabled them to remain viable and they continued strongly into the 1990s, while Amazing had a complete face-lift as I shall explore in The Rise of the Cyber Chronicles.