Below are a selection of publisher statements from Bauer Media, BBC Magazines, Condé Nast, Dennis Publishing, Egmont Publishing, Imagine Publishing, IPC Media, National Magazine Company and PPA. All statements and figures are provided by the publishers themselves:
Bauer Media
Paul Keenan, Chief Executive, Bauer Media, said: "Bauer Media's portfolio of world class, influential and trusted magazines continue to be purchased in their millions. They sit at the core of the business and underpin our commitment to deepen our relationships with audiences in a multiplatform world, further extending and enriching client conversations with their customers."
CELEBRITY WEEKLIES
Closer (w) 498,683
Nicky Holt, Publisher of Closer, commented: “In an incredibly competitive market Closer’s consistent, week in, week out newsstand performance reflects an unrivalled editorial mix delivered with excellence which has secured unparalleled levels of loyalty and engagement amongst its readers.”
heat (w) 370,132
Sophie Wybrew-Bond, MD of heat, commented: “heat is the go-to multiplatform brand for all things celebrity, and remains hugely influential amongst its consumers who love its agenda-setting news, unbeaten access to celebrity, cheeky humour, fashion and beauty.”
WOMEN’S LIFESTYLE
Grazia (w) 224,421
Ella Dolphin, Publisher of Grazia, commented: “Grazia continues to connect and engage with its fashion-fixated readers by leading the news and driving trends with an intelligent edge. It is still the stand-out, first choice brand for advertisers in delivering an upscale audience in a premium environment every single week.”
more! (w) 188,265
Jo Morrell, MD of more! commented: “more! stands alone as the weekly lifestyle magazine for under 25s thanks to the entire editorial team’s two-way conversations with the more! community via its website and social media channels. more!’s vibrant and confident tone, with its accessible fashion, beauty and relationship editorial, is a direct result of the team’s real-time interaction and connection with the more! audience.”
Yours (f) 293,016
“A really strong performance from a highly trusted brand, Yours’ celebratory content and community-inspired campaigns have driven an unparalleled level of engagement and loyalty with 50-plus women – a powerful, lucrative, but hard to reach audience.”
WOMEN’S SPECIALIST
Top Sante (m) 68,278
Kirsten Price, Publisher of Top Sante, commented: “Top Sante faces fierce competition from a wide range of media outlets. Under recently appointed editor Ellie Hughes, the core specialist content of health, beauty and wellbeing is developing into a more in-depth, informed and intelligent read.”
Mother & Baby (m) 50,653; Pregnancy & birth (m) 28,881
Kirsten Price, Publisher of Mother & Baby and Pregnancy & birth, commented: “Bauer’s market-leading portfolio of Parenting titles reach a highly engaged audience delivering sought-out and essential advice from pre-conception to pre-school in trusted environments - not just on the page, but on TV, and at Events.”
MEN’S LIFESTYLE
FHM (m) 177,261
Rimi Atwal, Publishing Director of FHM, commented: “FHM remains a cornerstone of Bauer’s commitment to offering consumers a magazine brand portfolio tuned in to 21st century young men. Central to FHM’s content is the celebration of its ‘Funny, Sexy, Useful’ brand values, which still reach and resonate with millions of 18-34 yr olds every month, whilst also adapted and amplified via the successful - and recently relaunched - fhm.com.”
ZOO (w) 68,610
Geoff Campbell, MD of ZOO, commented: “In recent weeks we have redeveloped ZOO to re-energise the brand amongst its audience of fun-loving young men. We are proud of ZOO’s new direction and our readers and advertisers have already told us that it’s now more relevant and more exciting than ever before.”
FILM
Empire (m) 172,639
Sophie Wybrew-Bond, MD of Empire, commented: “Empire is the PPA Consumer Magazine of the year 2010, and also the world’s biggest and best movie magazine with A-list access to the film world’s talent providing exclusive interviews, shoots and reviews every month. Brand new for 2011, Empire Presents…. BIG SCREEN – a three day movie event at the 02 - will be a compelling addition to Empire’s ever-increasing online, iPhone and iPad presence, alongside the annual star-studded Empire Awards.”
MUSIC
Kerrang! (w) 42,967
Mojo (m) 94,617
Q (m) 88,240
Rimi Atwal, Publishing Director, Kerrang!, Q and Mojo, commented: “The most influential music magazines brands in the UK have all put in market-beating performances.
“Kerrang! enters its 30th year as the world’s biggest music weekly and a multi-platform youth culture brand for all rock genres. The magazine, along with its website, Kerrang! Radio, The K! Awards, K! Tours and K! Podcasts ensures the brand remains a unique route for reaching a young dynamic audience.
“Mojo is the world’s largest music monthly delivering world class journalism and iconic photography aimed squarely at an audience of extremely passionate music connoisseurs. MOJO is the music expert that celebrates quality over popularity - music that will stand the test of time.
“Q is the brand for discovering great music and at 25 years of age, remains the UK’s biggest music monthly. It is the beating heart of a brand that has developed its trusted and influential content to huge success online, on TV, Radio, at Gigs, Tours and also at the world-famous - and infamous - Q Awards.”
SPECIALIST
Today’s Golfer 64,595 (Jul-Dec 10)
Golf World 35,158 (Jul-Dec 10)
MATCH! 57,108 (Jan-Dec 10)
MCN 106,446 (Jan-Dec 10)
Bike 57,472 (Jan-Dec 10)
Classic Bike 45,369 (Jan-Dec 10)
RiDE 42,218 (Jan-Dec 10)
Performance Bikes 21,385 (Jan-Dec 10)
CAR 58,380 (Jul-Dec 10)
Practical Classics 53,177 (Jan-Dec 10)
Classic Car Weekly 27,804 (Jan-Dec 10)
Rob Munro-Hall, Group MD Bauer Media’s Specialist portfolio, commented: “We remain dominant in the motorcycling market, with the number one, two, three and four best-selling titles*.
“In classic motoring, the addition of Classic Car Weekly has been a massive boost to our portfolio and we now sell more than twice as many copies at UK newsstand as our nearest competitor.
“Today’s Golfer remains the number one monthly golf magazine, and alongside sister title Golf World and todaysgolfer.co.uk, which has 164,000 unique users**, we deliver the deepest reach and the best content.
“MATCH!’s young readers still value a genuinely funny, fact-packed football read every week despite copy cat competitors. MATCH! continues to innovate editorially in print and online and embracing and engaging new audiences through its 30,000 (and growing) Facebook friends with some fantastic new ideas coming soon.”
BBC Magazines
BBC Magazines has delivered another strong performance in the latest ABC release (July-December 2010) with circulations across the portfolio up 5.5% period on period, delivering year on year growth of 0.5% - the only one of the UK’s top five consumer magazine publishers to have achieved year on year growth in this set of results. Subscriptions to BBC magazines are also at an all-time high of 904,867.
Highlights from BBC Magazines’ results:
Lonely Planet Magazine delivers another impressive circulation increase, up 33.4% year on year, at 60,106, retaining its position as the number one actively purchased travel magazine in the UK;
Radio Times retains its market-leading position as the best-selling quality listings title, with its circulation up 1.4% period on period, at 960,839, down 4.0% year on year. This means that in this ABC period, Radio Times is the UK’s number one magazine in terms of retail sales value and the number one weekly subscription magazine.
Across BBC Magazines’ food titles, olive is up 9.3% period on period and up 2.9% year on year, with a circulation of 96,034; Good Food is up 8.6% period on period, down 5.5% year on year at 332,198. Good Food retains its position as the market-leading paid-for food title;
In the off-peak season for gardening, market-leader Gardeners’ World retains a strong circulation at 212,439 down slightly year on year (-2.1%);
Top Gear magazine is up 0.6% period on period, at 191,539, down slightly year on year (-4.6%), but firmly retaining its position as the UK’s market-leading paid-for motoring title;
All of BBC Magazines’ specialist factual titles, published by BBC Magazines Bristol, have increased their year on year circulations, with BBC History Magazine up 7.2 % year on year at 69,353, science title Focus up 0.6% year on year at 72,183 and Countryfile magazine up by an impressive 30.5% year on year, at 36,333;
Among BBC Magazines’ children’s titles, Zingzillas magazine’s debut ABC is an impressive 52,037; CBeebies Weekly delivers another strong ABC of 54,345, stable year on year (up 0.3%); and Doctor Who Adventures magazine sees an impressive increase of 26.8% year on year, at 56,648;
BBC Magazines retains its position as the UK publisher with the highest number of subscriptions, with subs to BBC titles at 904,867.
BBC Worldwide’s magazine-related websites have also delivered strong ABCe results: bbcgoodfood.com now has 3.7m unique users, more than double the last audited figure of 1.7m unique users; topgear.com has 3.9m unique users, making over 36m page impressions; and Radiotimes.com now has 1.5m unique users, with 22.7m page impressions, a 67.5% increase between June and December 2010.
Peter Phippen, MD of BBC Magazines, said: “BBC Magazines has delivered another strong set of ABC results, showing growth for the second successive period and, of the UK’s top five publishers, we are the only company to have shown year on year growth. The market – and the weather –have proved challenging to magazine publishers over the past six months but once again BBC Magazines’ brands have shown resilience and, in many cases, fantastic growth, with the whole portfolio up 5.5% period on period.”
Alfie Lewis, Publishing Director, BBC Food Group: “The Good Food brand goes from strength to strength and it’s great to see Good Food outperforming the women’s lifestyle category, up 8.6% period on period and continuing to lead the market despite more competition than ever. We continue to invest in new formats, extending the brand whenever and whenever its fans want to find it. The success of the website in reaching 3.7 million unique users shows the power and further reach of the brand and our latest innovation is the beautiful new iPad version of the magazine, which is receiving terrific ratings and reviews in the apple store.
Easy Cook was the first in the practical end of the cookery marketplace. Since then we have seen enough of a market develop so that we are pleased to announce we will have 10 issues per year from 2011. The ABC average circulation decline is a result of the frequency changes. In this period we have actually sold almost 10,000 more copies of Easy Cook than we did in July to December 2009, with an increase of 3.9%.
With many magazines there is often a hidden story behind an ABC circulation increase, but olive’s achievement in recording a fourth year on year circulation increase is down to listening to our readers and shaping our editorial around their needs. This was highlighted by our groundbreaking reader generated issue from August, which was up 20% year on year. We are now within touching distance of achieving a 100,000 circulation, our long term aim.”
Dominic Murray, Publishing Director, Lonely Planet Magazine: “Lonely Planet Magazine, the UK’s number one actively-purchased travel title, continues to go from strength to strength. It is still the UK’s fastest-growing monthly magazine year-on-year with an ABC of 60,106, up 33.4% year on year and 9.9% period on period. UK and export newsstand, and subscription sales are all growing - as is the travel category as a whole - reflecting the additional demand we are generating. This result and in particular the ongoing commitment from our loyal subscribers (now over 30,000, and up 46% year on year) is our reward for continuing to invest in unique editorial content, genuine added-value and innovative marketing”.
Kathy Day, Publishing Director, Radio Times: “This ABC period sees Radio Times pull off an amazing double, delivering more retail sales value than any other magazine, and being the UK’s biggest-selling weekly magazine on subscription.
Radio Times’ ABC is 960,839, up 1.4% period on period and down 4.0% year on year.
This ABC period sees Radio Times grow its share of the premium TV listings sector for the 13th consecutive period to a massive 61.1%. Radio Times now outsells the rest of the premium titles put together by 349k copies. I’m also delighted that Radio Times retains its position as the biggest selling UK weekly magazine on subscription, increasing subs year on year by 9.1% to 190k.
The magazine’s success is reflected across the brand as our digital products go from strength to strength. Radiotimes.com has increased unique users by 6.8% to 1,512,670, with page impressions up a whopping 67.5% to 22.67m per month. In addition Radio Times is now available on EPGs in nearly 4m homes, reaching 11m viewers via our partnerships with Inview and Rovi, and sales of the RT iphone app have reached 48k.”
Dominic Murray, Publishing Director, Gardeners’ World: “Gardeners’ World magazine delivers another robust circulation performance keeping us way out in front as paid-for leader in this market. We have continued to innovate successfully with issues such as the August ‘Q+A Special’ performing particularly well. It is an exciting time for the brand overall with the return of Monty Don as lead presenter, and his home garden a new location for the TV programme. A refreshed design for the magazine will be revealed in our special 20th anniversary issue in March. The changes were made following extensive research with our readers and bring a clearer, renewed focus on practicality and navigation, making sure we really deliver for our core gardening audience. We’re in great shape as we move forward into this next key gardening season.”
Simon Carrington, Top Gear Magazine Publisher: “We are very pleased to have delivered a positive ABC figure for this period. Today’s result means Top Gear is now the UK’s second-biggest selling men’s monthly magazine. Combined with the NRS numbers, which show that we still have more readers than any other men’s monthly, this demonstrates that Top Gear magazine’s blend of entertainment and information continues to be a hit with the readers. We are also pleased that we have maintained our market leadership and that the monthly motoring magazine sector is stable.
“Subscriptions to Top Gear magazine are now just short of 60,000, a fantastic achievement and further proof that male magazine consumers can be targeted successfully with a strong product that meets their needs.
“New editor Charlie Turner has overseen a significant new look for Top Gear, delivering content that we believe the readers will love and that gives us a platform for further growth in 2011.”
Pauline Cooke, Publisher, BBC pre-school Magazines: “I’m very pleased that circulation figures for BBC Magazines’ Pre-school portfolio, as whole, are up 40,020 period on period (9.8%) and up 67,789 year on year (17.8%).
“The increase is mainly due to the successful launch of Zingzillas magazine last summer, which delivered an impressive debut ABC of 52,037. CBeebies Weekly maintains its position as the best selling pre-school magazine in terms of total volume across the period, with stable circulation period on period, and up slightly year on year, at 54,345. All titles in the CBeebies magazine stable - CBeebies Weekly, CBeebies Art and CBeebies Specials - have had a very positive year, with Art posting a 3.3% increase period on period despite a price rise.
“I’m also very excited to announce the forthcoming launch of Something Special magazine next month, a new four-weekly title based on the immensely popular CBeebies programme, featuring the lovable Mr Tumble.”
Jaynie Bye, Joint MD, BBC Children’s Magazine: “In this digital age it is really heartening to see that our top brands continue to have huge appeal with the pre-teen audience. In particular, I am delighted with the performance of Doctor Who Adventures magazine – up by an impressive 26.8% year on year – demonstrating the continuing strength of the title and the increased interested generated by Matt Smith in his role as The Doctor.
“Girl Talk retains its position as the market-leading pre-teen title for girls, with a healthy circulation of 67,959. While Top of the Pops is down year on year, it also retains its market leading position, with a strong circulation of 94,224, quite an achievement in this tough market, and during a period which has seen the closure of Sugar magazine.
“And finally, with an audited circulation of 58,447, I am very proud that our weekly title Match of the Day is now the market-leading children’s football magazine, less than three years since launch.”
Jemima Ransome, Publisher, Countryfile Magazine: “This has been a hugely successful six months for Countryfile Magazine, with circulation growth accelerating to an increase of over 30% year-on-year from an impressive 22% last period. The new-look magazine is clearly getting the mix just right, enjoying strong growth across both newsstand and subscriptions with a unique proposition that celebrates the best the British countryside has to offer. Countryfile Magazine is real ray of sunshine and an increasingly important platform for outdoor brands.”
Jemima Ransome, Publisher, BBC Wildlife Magazine: “This is a particularly pleasing performance from BBC Wildlife Magazine, with growth driven primarily by a 9.5% gain on the UK newsstand. In addition, subscription volumes continue to increase year on year. This is a rich reward for a title that prides itself on giving its readers the most informative writing of any consumer magazine in its field, accompanied by world-class photography and painstaking attention to detail.”
Jemima Ransome, Publisher, Gardens Illustrated: “Once again, Gardens Illustrated has bucked the traditional seasonal decline for garden titles, enjoying its fourth consecutive period of growth and proving the resilience of a premium brand in an otherwise challenging market. With its finger firmly on the pulse of the gardening world, Gardens Illustrated is an increasingly influential title and fast becoming the magazine of choice for stylish brands.”
Andy Healy, Publisher, Homes & Antiques: “The regeneration of Homes & Antiques has continued this year after a successful redesign, and it’s great to see a year on year increase. Subscriptions are almost at the 30k mark, the highest in three years. This is a very significant increase and subs now account for almost 50% of the readership, which highlights the all-important loyalty factor. In a notoriously changeable market, this robust subs base gives us a perfect platform to grow further in 2011.”
Andy Healy, Publisher, Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine: “I’m delighted with this year-on-year increase of over 10%, which reflects the readers’ reactions to our redesign and constant improvement of the title. We continue to deliver great quality entertainment and importantly a magazine which is full of hints, tips and education - elements that are paramount for anyone wanting to delve into their family’s past and start, or further, their family trees. With more series of the hit TV show planned and the 2011 census rolling out, this year is shaping up to be a great one for this brand.”
Andy Healy, Publisher, BBC History Magazine: “This is BBC History Magazine’s tenth consecutive circulation rise representing a year-on-year increase of 7.2%. Subscription numbers are also at an all-time high proving we are consistently and by far the most popular history magazine in the market. This success is due in part to the outstanding editorial mix we give our readers - great stories, deeply researched, well-written, and clearly laid out. They also want history they are familiar with and can relate to, so our cover strategy has been to deliver well-known events in British history, but always with a new twist or angle. It’s important, relevant and enjoyable and I’m thrilled we’ve hit this landmark achievement.”
Andrew Davies, Publisher, BBC Music Magazine: “I’m very excited that BBC Music Magazine has shown growth this period to a very satisfying 42,843. This means that not only has BBC Music Magazine consolidated its position as the world’s best-selling classical music magazine but it has also grown the gap and outperformed the rest of the market. A firm favourite with both its loyal readership and within the classical music industry both in the UK and the US, BBC Music Magazine is a truly multi-platform, international brand with a bright future.
Andrew Davies, Publisher, Focus: “It is incredibly pleasing to see Focus continue to grow year-on-year thanks to our commitment to providing the very best mix of popular science and consumer technology. With increased subscriptions - up 13% year on year - Focus has a solid core of loyal readers that ensure it remains strong in even this most difficult sector. As well as being a successful period for Focus magazine it has also been a highly innovative one with the launch of our groundbreaking iPad edition, the continued success of our podcast and the publishing of our inaugural ‘Focus Gadget Guide’ bookazine. Building on this, we look forward to continue to serve our readers across a multitude of exciting platforms.”
Andrew Davies, Publisher, Sky at Night Magazine: “The only astronomy title to publish an audited figure, Sky at Night Magazine has shown excellent growth to achieve a record ABC posting of 21,975. A specialist magazine in the true sense of the word, Sky at Night’s ongoing commitment to both the novice and experienced stargazer and its integral association with the iconic TV brand has made it the magazine of choice for the astronomy industry.”
Conde Nast
Vogue
With a new ABC figure of 211,277, sales of VOGUE have increased 7% period on period at UK newsstand, and 6% in UK actively purchased copies. UK subscriptions are up by 10% year on year. VOGUE remains the dominant magazine in the fashion and luxury market.
House & Garden
HOUSE & GARDEN announces a new ABC of 127,063, showing an increase in UK subscriptions of 0.7% year on year. HOUSE & GARDEN is the biggest selling British quality title for international design and decoration.
The World of Interiors
THE WORLD OF INTERIORS posts a new ABC total of 62,072, an increase of 0.1% year on year and period on period. UK actively purchased copies are up by 4% year on year, and UK subscriptions have increased by 5%.
GQ
GQ announces a new ABC of 120,087, remaining level period on period and year on year. UK subscriptions have risen to a record figure of close to 20,000. GQ is the market-leading quality men’s monthly title.
Vanity Fair
Posting another record-breaking circulation of 102,471, VANITY FAIR has increased sales at UK newsstand by 15.5% period on period. This is also an increase of 6% in UK subscriptions year on year.
Condé Nast Traveller
CONDÉ NAST TRAVELLER, the world’s most discerning travel title, posts a new ABC of 81,089, showing growth of 0.1% both year on year and period on period. UK subscriptions rose by 5.1% year on year.
Glamour
In its 10th anniversary year, GLAMOUR maintains the number 1 position in its sector, announcing a new ABC total of 500,591. The magazine has grown its UK subscriptions by 5% year on year.
Easy Living
EASY LIVING announces a new ABC total of 160,061. UK subscriptions rise by 10% year on year, a record number for the magazine, emphasising the growing loyalty of its readership.
Wired
WIRED posts a record-breaking ABC total of 50,044, an increase of 3.7% year on year. UK actively purchased copies are up by 4.3% year on year and UK subscriptions have grown by 62% year on year.
Tatler
Announcing a new ABC of 87,258, TATLER shows an increase of 1.1% year on year and 0.9% period on period. UK actively purchased copies have grown by 1.5% period on period, and UK subscriptions have increased by 21% year on year.
GQ Style
GQ STYLE, the leading men’s fashion bi-annual, is the definitive guide to men’s style in the UK, and will continue to surprise and innovate with a new world class team in place for the forthcoming issue. LOVE, the bi-annual style magazine launched in February 2009, has just published its fifth issue and is recognised as the leading and most authoritative title in the edgy style sector.
Brides
BRIDES posts a new ABC of 64,523, retaining its long-held position as the UK’s number one best-selling quality bridal magazine.
Nicholas Coleridge, Managing Director of Condé Nast, comments: “We are delighted with the resilience of our high end glossy monthlies. Our titles continue to dominate their sectors and our quality journalism has been rewarded with loyalty from our sophisticated readers. Subscriptions across the portfolio have risen by 9% in the UK. Commercially, after double-digit growth in advertising pages last year, we’re seeing a continuing bounce in 2011.”
Dennis Publishing
evo
evo cements its position as the world’s leading performance car magazine brand in the ABC results, growing 1.7% year on year to 65,674 readers.
Editor of evo, Nick Trott said, “This is the most exciting time in evo’s history. The success of the print magazine is allowing us to explore a number of exciting ways of delivering the best motoring features and photography across some new and dynamic media platforms. We are about to publish our 5th iPad edition, evo magazine has seen has seen a successful transition onto the Zinio digital magazine platform and our website (evo.co.uk) is showing the highest uniques in its history. We couldn’t achieve this without brilliant writing, unbiased reviews and sensational photography. Simply put, the thrill of driving has never been more thrilling.”
Octane
Octane, the world’s greatest classic and performance car magazine has also shown a strong increase with a rise of 4.8% year on year to 34, 955 readers.
Editor of Octane, David Lillywhite said, “The key to Octane's success is simply featuring the best cars, people, products and events, written about by the best writers, photographed by the best photographers. And it works, the historic car world loves it.”
Land Rover Monthly
Newly acquired Land Rover Monthly has seen a great success in its first ABC, with 23,737 readers.
Geoff Love, publishing director of Land Rover Monthly said, “Dennis Publishing acquired LRM just over a year ago, and this first ABC period reflects the investment we have been making in the title. Written by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts, LRM is at the real heart of the Land Rover community. Further investment in the coming months, including a new website, and significant retail and promotional activity will see LRM continue to grow market share.”
Egmont Publishing
Egmont, the UK’s top specialist publisher of children’s magazines and books, delivered a strong set of ABC results for the period July to December 2010 with some exceptional performers, despite a tough market.
Egmont’s popular Ben 10 and Disney Toy Story magazines spearheaded the increase along with fellow Disney title, Tinkerbell.
The continued success of Ben 10 magazine was reinforced by a consistently strong sales performance over the summer and Egmont’s inclusion of a number of high value packages and on-brand gifts which contributed to a circulation of 71,104, an impressive increase of 11.1% year on year.
Egmont’s innovative publishing strategy also continued to drive the success of its Disney portfolio with circulation of its five titles (Disney Princess, Disney & Me, Tinkerbell, Cars and Toy Story) soaring by 22.5% period on period to 208,497. This strong result proves once more Egmont’s expertise in extending the success of Disney films and merchandising.
Egmont delivered one of the biggest launches in the children’s market in 2010 with Disney Toy Story magazine, which launched in July to coincide with the release of the Toy Story 3 movie. Toy Story magazine reported an impressive debut ABC, with a circulation of 48,525, demonstrating Egmont’s publishing muscle in a competitive and challenging market.
Disney Tinkerbell magazine performed very strongly in the Primary Girls’ market with a circulation of 31,003, an increase of 5.1% period on period and 1.6% year on year. This was bolstered by the launch of a high value summer issue of the Tinkerbell magazine, timed around the release of the Tinkerbell film in August.
Meanwhile, Fireman Sam magazine has gone from strength to strength. The introduction of new characters and vehicles, and action-packed storylines, contributed to a compelling magazine package which resulted in a boost in circulation by 5.1% year on year to 28,541 for the children’s favourite.
In the highly competitive pre-teen market, top boy's lifestyle magazine Toxic recorded an increase of 1% period on period taking the circulation to 40,639, boosted by a rise in sales over the summer and Christmas holidays.
The entire Egmont portfolio has seen its collective magazine ABC circulation reach 538,856, an increase of 2.8% period on period and 1.2% year on year for the period of July-December 2010, due to the growth of the Disney portfolio with the addition of Toy Story and continued success of Ben 10.
Debbie Cook, Director of Magazines, Egmont says: “Egmont has delivered another set of strong ABC results with some really exceptional performers in Ben 10 and Toy Story. I am delighted that we have continued to a build on our success in a tough market, by managing a diverse portfolio and growing our smaller titles while maintaining the success of our bigger brands.
By keeping up a constant dialogue through our programme of consumer research we have been able to give our readers magazines they love, with imaginative and original content along with exciting gifts.”
Imagine Publishing
Digital Photographer magazine is celebrating circulation growth despite tough market conditions for 2010. The Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), the body, which audits magazine circulations, has announced Digital Photographer’s average circulation now stands at an average of 20,645 per issue.
The leading photographic title from Imagine Publishing has managed to maintain strong and steady sales, with a circulation increase of 2.8% for its print sales – one of only two magazines to show a rise in ABC – against an overall market drop of 4%. This figure does not yet include sales of the Digital Photographer digital editions for the iPad, predicted to be strong since their launch in early 2010.
Editor Rosie Tanner commented: “We’d like to thank our readers for their continued loyalty and support. There’s no doubt it has been a challenging year on the newsstand, with photography being an extremely saturated market to be part of, but the latest ABC figures prove Digital Photographer remains strong and well received. We’re very proud of that.”
As well as the strong circulation figures, the Digital Photographer brand looks set for further success this year, with the growing popularity of its digital versions, an exciting website redesign and huge popularity of companion bookazines and eMags.
“Photography enthusiasts have never had it so good, with such a wide range of resources available to them to help improve their skills.
Digital Photographer offers readers fantastic features, tutorials and advice, not to mention a free CD packed with Photoshop video tutorials every issue,” said Tanner.
IPC Media
IPC Media chief executive Sylvia Auton says: “IPC continues its commitment to a strategy of investment in developing compelling and entertaining content. This set of ABCs shows that commitment is paying off in a number of key sectors. Despite a range of challenging circumstances we have delivered outstanding performances on our pillar brands.”
ABC highlights
• Essentials posts double digit growth on the year – 12.7% – and has risen 9.5% on the period with an ABC of 126,379. For the fourth consecutive period, Essentials is the Monthly Lifestyle sector’s fastest-growing title.
• Every title in IPC Southbank’s market-leading homes portfolio has posted growth.
• Ideal Home is up 8.4% year-on-year with an ABC of 203,020.
• Homes & Gardens is up by 3.9% year-on-year and 0.9% period-on-period, reporting an ABC of 137,296.
• Livingetc cements its position as the biggest-selling modern homes magazine. With an ABC of 96,510, Livingetc has grown by 5.4% on last year and by 4.1% on last period.
• 25 Beautiful Homes is up 3.6% year-on-year with an ABC of 107,842.
• Country Homes & Interiors delivers its highest circulation in six years, up by 3.3% on last year to 90,243.
• Beautiful Kitchens has recorded double digit growth. With an ABC of 22,985, the magazine is up 11.7% year-on-year.
• Woman's Own delivers an ABC of 291,700 – up 7.1% on the period.
• TVTimes records an outstanding ABC of 309,510, up 6.5% on the period, and continues to deliver unique and exclusive access to the stars.
• woman&home, the monthly glossy for women over 35, records its highest ABC in 15 years. Up 4.7% on the year and 4.5% on the period, woman&home delivers a circulation of 385,800.
• woman&home Feel Good Food reports a debut ABC of 64,638.
• What’s on TV delivers an ABC of 1,257,028, up 4% on the period and 0.9% on the year – and outperforming the TV sector.
• Wallpaper*, the international design, fashion and lifestyle magazine, records an ABC of 108,250, up 3.1% year-on-year.
• The world's best pro racing monthly magazine, Cycle Sport performs strongly in the cycling sector and sees its ABC increase 2.9% on the year to 16,324.
• A sterling performance by World Soccer sees its ABC increase by 2.5% on the year to a total of 41,016.
• Reporting an ABC of 344,068, Woman’s Weekly is up 1.6% on the period and continues to go from strength to strength in its centenary year.
• TV easy reports an ABC of 168,929, up 1.3% on the period, following focused editorial development.
• A strong performance from Country Life sees the magazine post an ABC of 37,206 – up 1% on the year and marking an increase in both UK newsstand and total sales.
• Now publishes an ABC of 338,328, up 0.1% on the period, the only celebrity magazine to show period-on-period growth in the sector.
• In the Soaps sector, Soaplife delivers a strong ABC of 100,237 – up 0.8% on the period – and maintains its position as the number one soap fortnightly.
• Motor Boat & Yachting remains rock solid with total sales increasing by 0.1% to an total ABC of 14,430.
Sylvia adds: “IPC continues to focus on our long term strategy of investing in insight, innovation and editorial development to serve our consumers wherever they are across multiple brand touch points — in print, online, in person or on the go.”
IPC SOUTHBANK – UPMARKET WOMEN’S GLOSSIES AND HOME INTEREST
Overview
• Southbank’s portfolio operates in the Women's Fashion, Lifestyle and Home Interest sectors and targets upmarket women.
• The Homes sector is forging ahead and Southbank has posted growth across its market-leading portfolio, as well as maintaining the number one position for Ideal Home.
• And with very strong performances from woman&home and Essentials, Southbank has increased its market share within the Fashion and Lifestyle sector year-on-year, up from 22.4% to 23%.
• Nine of Southbank’s brands reporting today have delivered circulation growth year-on-year.
• Southbank’s share of the market is rock solid at 32% in terms of value and 28% in terms of volume.
• The Southbank portfolio generates £41.7m in retail sales value each year.
woman&home and Essentials
• woman&home, the monthly glossy for women over 35, once again shows a strong rise in circulation with its highest ABC in 15 years and its seventh consecutive increase.
• Up 4.7% on the year and 4.5% on the period, woman&home delivers an ABC of 385,800.
• woman&home is the biggest-selling monthly lifestyle magazine on the UK newsstand and it generates an annualised RSV of £10.1m, an increase of 3.5% year-on-year.
• With an ethos celebrating attitude not age, woman&home is attracting increasing numbers of women and providing a winning proposition across print, online and events.
• In addition, woman&home Feel Good Food, the brand’s quarterly glossy food title, reports a debut ABC of 64,638.
• Meanwhile, Southbank’s Essentials is the fastest-growing title in the entire Women’s Monthlies market. Up 12.7% on the year and 9.5% on the period, Essentials posts an ABC of 126,379.
• In celebration of its readers and women like them, Essentials launched a strategy from its October issue of featuring only real women as its cover stars, rather than professional models or celebrities.
Jackie Newcombe, IPC Southbank managing director, says: “woman&home and Essentials just get better and better. During the last two decades there have been so many women’s monthly launches that it is quite remarkable to realise that woman&home now enjoys a higher circulation than it had 15 years ago. I doubt there is a single other title in the market that can make that boast. For Essentials this is the fourth consecutive period that it has been the sector’s fastest-growing title. I am delighted for both teams.”
Marie Claire and InStyle
• Marie Claire, Southbank’s flagship glossy, posts an ABC of 265,042 and retains its position as the third biggest fashion monthly.
• www.marieclaire.co.uk is the biggest women’s magazine website and twice broke one million monthly unique users in the period*. In print and online, Marie Claire’s overall reach is bigger than ever.
• Marie Claire further extended its multi-platform brand in the period with the launch of the Marie Claire Beauty Genius App. The beauty app, which shows users how to get the hottest hair and make-up looks, reached number one in the UK paid-for app chart and was awarded App of the Week by Apple.
• InStyle posts an ABC of 180,574, down a little year-on-year.
Jackie says: “Marie Claire continues to evolve and is successfully engaging women on multiple platforms. We will build on this strength in 2011, as well as exposing more women to the re-energised magazine proposition that is exciting readers and the industry.
“InStyle’s unique take on fashion and beauty really differentiates it from other fashion magazines. 2010 was a great year for InStyle, with a host of new readers and advertisers establishing relationships with the brand. It approaches this year’s 10th anniversary in great shape and with exciting plans.”
Home Interest
• The Home Interest sector has once again performed strongly with substantial ABC growth across the market.
• Each of Southbank’s homes titles has grown circulation, with every title up on the year. In addition, Southbank has strengthened its market-leading position, growing volume share on the year from 38.7% to 40%.
• Ideal Home is up 8.4% year-on-year with an ABC of 203,020. Ideal Home is also the biggest title on the UK newsstand by far, growing 6.3% on the year.
• Reporting an ABC of 137,296, Homes & Gardens is up by 3.9% year-on-year and 0.9% period-on-period. The strong growth sees Homes & Gardens extend its lead over House & Garden.
• Livingetc is up by 5.4% on last year and 4.1% on last period. With an ABC of 96,510, Livingetc cements its position as the biggest-selling modern homes magazine.
• 25 Beautiful Homes, which showcases more homes than any other title, is up 3.6% year-on-year with an ABC of 107,842.
• Beautiful Kitchens reports an ABC of 22,985, up an impressive 11.7% year-on-year.
• Meanwhile, Country Homes & Interiors delivers its highest circulation in six years, up by 3.3% on last year to 90,243.
• Southbank’s growth in print is also mirrored in digital, with its homes portal www.housetohome.co.uk attracting 877,959 unique users in January, an increase of 25% compared with last year*.
Jackie says: “Our Homes portfolio targets affluent readers, who have not been as impacted by the economic downturn as some other sectors. The Homes team excelled throughout 2010 and the resulting growth in our circulation figures underlines IPC Southbank’s market-leading credentials in the Homes sector.”
Wallpaper*
• Wallpaper*, the international design, fashion and lifestyle magazine, delivers an ABC of 108,250, up 3.1% year-on-year.
• Wallpaper’s themed issues have created excitement for both readers and advertisers. Highlights in 2010 include the BSME award-winning Handmade issue, which invited readers to design their own custom cover, and Born in Brazil, which saw the team set up a temporary HQ in Rio and São Paulo.
• The brand continues to develop across platforms. In addition to becoming the UK’s biggest lifestyle magazine on Twitter, with more than 290,000 followers, Wallpaper* has also launched an iPhone app and two apps for the iPad.
Jackie says: “Wallpaper* has had a fantastic year, publishing incredibly ambitious projects that have gained well-deserved industry recognition. Across print, digital and events, Wallpaper* continues to raise the bar for the whole industry.”
* Source Omniture
IPC CONNECT – MASS MARKET WOMEN
Overview
• IPC Connect's brands provide powerful reach, with its magazines read by 51% of all mass market women – almost ten million* women – while its digital brands reach 3.3 million UK adults.*** Connect's audience are highly valuable main shoppers, responsible for the vast majority of UK purchasing decisions.
• Connect serves its consumers in two core markets: Women’s Weeklies – with brands in the Celebrity & Fashion, Real Life, Lifestyle and Traditional sectors – and TV Entertainment.
Women’s Weeklies
• IPC Connect’s share of the UK newsstand in the period stands at 27.2%. The seven-strong portfolio of mass market women’s weeklies sells 110 million copies annually at the UK newsstand and generates £114.5m in RSV, a 25.1% share of the Weeklies market.
IPC Connect managing director Fiona Dent says: “IPC Connect continues to develop our long term strategy focused on investment in consumer insight and editorial innovation. Our commitment to consistently delivering premium brands is attracting more discerning and less price-sensitive consumers. And they remain the most valuable asset for our advertisers.”
Look
• Look, Britain’s biggest-selling fashion weekly, delivers a rock solid ABC performance, posting a circulation of 311,425. Look sells more than 15 million copies a year, and on the UK newsstand it outsells its closest weekly competitor by more than 110,000 copies every week.
• Look’s annualised RSV is up by 5% to £25.8m, making it the ninth highest revenue-generating title on the newsstand.
• Look’s advertising volume is up 17% year-on-year, a rise that outperforms the market, which has grown by 11%.
• In digital, www.look.co.uk delivers 394,000 unique users in January, up 86% year-on-year***. New beauty videos, such as Hairstyle How-to guides, have been a big hit with its style conscious, female audience.
• With brand extensions such as The Look Shoe in partnership with Office and The Look Show, the brand continues to innovate. The Look Shoe became Office’s biggest-selling high heel of the season, while the ground-breaking Look Show is now an established event on the London Fashion Week calendar. Taking place tomorrow, the huge 24-model runway show is the only LFW show open to consumers. The event will also see the winner of Look’s Curvy Supermodel competition revealed.
Fiona says: “Look is a massive success and a very powerful brand. It is performing brilliantly across all platforms, and delivering ground-breaking events and brand extensions. It’s no wonder that readers and the industry love Look!”
Now
• Now publishes an ABC of 338,328, up 0.1% on the period, the only celebrity magazine to show period-on-period growth in the sector.
• Now generates £23.1m in annualised RSV and ranks as the tenth highest revenue-generating title on the UK newsstand.
• New editor Sally Eyden took up her role on Now last week. Formerly editor of News of the World celebrity and style magazine Fabulous, Sally has a wealth of experience in celebrity and entertainment, and will drive the recent successful editorial development of the brand to the next level.
• www.nowmagazine.co.uk continues to go from strength-to-strength, delivering 1.23 million unique users in January, up 54% year-on-year. It now generates 7 million page views every month, complementing the magazine by serving up an addictive combination of celebrity glamour and news all day, every day.***
Fiona says: “Now has delivered a strong performance on the period, despite the Celebrity sector continuing to be hotly contested, testament to the strength of the brand. I’m delighted to welcome Sally Eyden to the team. She will be leading Now to even greater success.”
Chat and Pick Me Up
• In Real Life, Chat has out-performed the sector as a whole year-on-year, consolidating its number two position in the sector. Delivering an ABC of 415,040, Chat maintains its focus on insight, editorial development and marketing investment. Chat increased its cover price by 2p to 82p in December, and generates £16.4m in annualised RSV, selling 20 million copies a year on the UK newsstand. Chat’s overall value share of the Real Life sector has increased by 0.6 percentage points year-on-year to 18.3% at the UK newsstand.
• Pick Me Up retains its number four position in the Real Life sector, delivering an ABC of 287,029. The title continues to drive its premium cover price strategy. Pick Me Up generates £9.6m in RSV on the UK newsstand, and sells 13.7 million copies a year.
• Combined, Chat and Pick Me Up represent a 27.5% volume share of the Real Life UK newsstand market, and a 28.9% RSV share.
Woman and Woman's Own
• On the UK newsstand, Woman and Woman's Own continue to lead the Weekly Lifestyle sector, with a combined sector volume share of 52.4%. Combined RSV share is 53.5%.
• Woman remains number one in the Weekly Lifestyle sector with an ABC of 309,878, generating £13.9m in annualised RSV on the UK newsstand. Woman shows an improving year-on-year sales trend and continues to consolidate its position as the number one brand in the sector – at a premium price point.
• Woman's Own delivers an ABC of 291,700. The brand generates an annualised RSV of £13.1m on the UK newsstand. With a total ABC up 7.1% on the period following the arrival of editor Vicky Mayer in June, the brand’s mix of celebrity, real life and practicals clearly resonates with readers.
Woman's Weekly
• Woman's Weekly continues to go from strength to strength, remaining number one and clear standout leader in the Traditional sector. Reporting an ABC of 344,068, Woman’s Weekly is up 1.6% on the period.
• Woman’s Weekly is the only title in the Traditional sector to show growth, outperforming rivals and extending its lead to 61,000 copies every week. The title generates an annualised UK newsstand RSV of £12.8m, up 2% on the period and 2.2% on the year. Woman’s Weekly has extended its value share of the Traditional sector this period by 1.2 percentage points to 44.9%. Its overall volume share of the Traditional sector has increased by 2.5 percentage points period-on-period to 45.8% at the UK newsstand.
• Its unique blend of features, food, fiction, fashion and health is absolutely in tune with its readers. Woman’s Weekly has introduced a new look as it enters its centenary year – which is already performing strongly on the newsstand – and there is a raft of brand events planned to celebrate its very special anniversary.
goodtoknow
• goodtoknow Recipes, which launched in January 2010 as a monthly magazine, delivers a settle-down ABC of 43,412, following launch marketing activity in the first half of 2010. A brand extension from the hugely popular website www.goodtoknow.co.uk, the food monthly targets busy mums, providing them with cooking inspiration and advice on feeding their families cheaply, quickly and healthily.
• Meanwhile www.goodtoknow.co.uk – the website that connects women with the best recipe ideas, health tips and family advice – continues to grow. The site achieved over 10.9 million page impressions in January 2011, up 39.2% year-on-year; and delivered 1.5 million unique visitors, up 36.4% year-on-year.
• The re-launched Recipes channel on the site delivered over 4.7 million page views alone, up a staggering 95.8% on the year.***
TV Entertainment
• Connect’s TV Entertainment portfolio is the market leader in sales volume, with 45.5% share of the annual UK newsstand. It is also number one in RSV, with 44.1% share, an increase of 0.8 percentage points year-on-year, extending IPC’s market leadership.
• Annually, Connect’s TV Weeklies portfolio now sells 95 million copies at the UK newsstand and generates £64.5m in RSV.
• Connect remains committed to driving both innovation and cover prices in the TV market, attracting discerning readers who are prepared to pay more for quality brands.
Fiona says: “IPC Connect has grown its share of the TV Entertainment sector in the period. By continuing to deliver high quality brands to our consumers, we have seen great newsstand performances from hugely powerful magazines like What’s on TV and TVTimes. And our Christmas bumper issues performed superlatively, with What’s on TV retaining its crown as number one best-selling TV entertainment brand for the fifth year running; this year selling over 2.3 million copies.”
What’s on TV and TV easy (Value sector)
• IPC share of the value market is 51.1%.
• What’s on TV delivers an ABC of 1,257,028, up 4% on the period and 0.9% on the year – and outperforming the TV sector period-on-period, and year-on-year. That reach is increased further through its website. www.whatsontv.co.uk today unveils an ABCe of 828,069 monthly unique users – up 35% year-on-year – delivering 6,514,887 page impressions, up 21% year-on-year. ****
• What’s on TV continues to deliver the highest RSV in the value sector - £31.4m per annum. What’s on TV generates £2.2m more RSV than TV Choice annually.
• In addition, IPC Connect’s value sector presence in the TV Weeklies market is strengthened with compact TV weekly TV easy, which reports an ABC of 168,929, up 1.3% on the period, following focused and continuing editorial development.
TVTimes and TV & Satellite Week (Premium sector)
• TVTimes records an outstanding ABC of 309,510, up a fantastic 6.5% on the period, and continues to deliver unique and exclusive access to the stars. The brand pushed price by 10p in January to £1.20. TVTimes’ value share of the TV market has increased by 1.1% on the period to 11.7%. The Christmas sales of the title were the highest since 2006 and TVTimes delivered a record RSV share for its bumper Christmas issue (£2m)
• Meanwhile, with an ABC of 181,150, TV & Satellite Week continues to be the number one multi-channel weekly, driving newsstand RSV year-on-year by 3% to £10.8m. TV & Satellite Week is the highest priced TV Weekly, having raised its cover price by 10p to £1.40 in January.
Soaps
• In the Soaps sector, Soaplife delivers a strong ABC of 100,237 – up 0.8% on the period – and maintains its position as number one soap fortnightly.
* source: NRS July 2009 - June 2010
** source: UKOM: Avg monthly reach Jul-Dec10 based on all women
*** source: Omniture
****source: ABCe (December 2010)
IPC INSPIRE – MEN, MUSIC, SPORT & LEISURE
Overview
• Inspire is the men's division of IPC Media, reaching 26% of UK men and more than one in two of all 18 to 34-year-old men. Its brands cover a huge spectrum of passions.
• Key brands reporting in the period include: Nuts, NME, Uncut, Country Life, Shooting Times, The Shooting Gazette, Cycle Sport, The Field and World Soccer.
Nuts and Mousebreaker
• UK newsstand magazine sales in the Men’s market overall during this period exceeded 6.4 million, generating £14.8m in RSV.*
• Nuts delivers a total ABC of 142,212.
• Nuts accounts for 51.1% of all men’s magazines* sold at the all-important UK newsstand in the period. Every month, men spend more than £1m on Nuts!
• Nuts achieved a record share of the UK newsstand in the Weeklies sector, delivering 67.3% of sales – up 4.3% on the year – and the 12th share increase over Zoo in a row.
• For the first time, Nuts sells twice as many copies as Zoo at the UK newsstand. And Nuts sells more copies in a week at the UK newsstand than FHM does in a month, generating twice as much RSV.
• In a year, Nuts sells more copies at the UK newsstand than FHM, Loaded, GQ, Esquire, Front, Men's Health, Men's Fitness and Stuff combined.
• Since launch, Nuts has sold more than 85.2 million copies at the newsstand.
• Total Nuts weekly reach across print, mobile and online is now 1.3 million.**
• Every 4.6 seconds, a copy of Nuts is bought somewhere in the UK. And in every second, another 35 pages of Nuts content are consumed digitally.
Inspire managing director Paul Williams says: “Since launch Nuts has sold over 85 million copies at the UK newsstand, generating £120.7m in RSV. The magazine saw 7.3 million copies in circulation last year alone. We continue to invest in brand development – in print and digitally – and Nuts remains the pre-eminent media channel to reach the UK’s young men.”
Meanwhile the Mousebreaker portfolio of casual games sites – including www.mousebreaker.com – delivers 3.7m unique users every month***. The brand celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and serves up more than 10m game plays every month.
* Men’s Market – Nuts, Zoo, Front, Loaded, Esquire, FHM and GQ
** Source: combined total of data from NRS, Google and Omniture. Based on the latest data available. Data has been adjusted for weekly measurement. Please note this is the total number of hits and includes duplication
*** Source: Omniture
NME and Uncut
• Over eight million music magazines are sold each year. The music sector* generates over £15m in RSV on the UK newsstand each year, with almost £6.8m generated by the two weeklies (NME and Kerrang!) alone.
• Copies of NME account for more than 23.8% of all music magazines sold every year on the UK newsstand (based on annualised JD10 figures).
• NME magazine, with an ABC of 32,166, remains at the heart of the brand. Across all platforms – including NME Radio, NME TV, www.nme.com and a raft of live events – NME has a weekly brand reach of well over one million.
• NME continues to explore innovative ways in which to distribute the magazine and its premium content, such as the recent initiative in partnership with Rizla in which 20,000 copies of the NME Albums of the Year edition were distributed to students across the country.
• 2010 saw NME take home a raft of awards including:
• A hat trick at the British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) Awards – Fiona MacPherson New Consumer Editor of the Year Award (Krissi Murison), Website Editor of the Year, Consumer (David Moynihan) and Art Director of the Year, Consumer Weekly (Joe Frost)
• Another hat trick at the Record of the Day Awards for Music Journalism and PR – Editor of the Year (Krissi Murison), Magazine of the Year and Digital Publication of the Year (NME.COM)
• Association of Online Publishers (AOP) Awards – Consumer Website of the Year (NME.COM)
• Professional Publishers Association (PPA) Awards – Consumer Website of the Year (NME.COM)
• And NME’s own Awards, sponsored by Shockwaves, take place later this month at O2 Academy Brixton. With a more diverse musical remit than ever before, the Shockwaves NME Tour kicked off the Awards season in style, headlined by Crystal Castles with support from Magnetic Man, Everything Everything and The Vaccines. The Shockwaves NME Shows are also well underway with acts including Carl Barat, Warpaint, Caribou, Edwyn Collins and Gang of Four hitting some of London’s most iconic venues. The awards ceremony itself – televised by Channel 4 – takes place February 23rd, when Foo Fighters’ leader Dave Grohl will pick up the renowned Godlike Genius award. And two days later Foo Fighters, Cee Lo Green, Band of Horses and No Age play NME’s sell-out Big Gig at Wembley Arena.
• In the Monthly market, Uncut continues to hold its own with an ABC of 72,586, growing its UK newsstand market share year-on-year to 20% from 18.9% in JD-09.
Paul Williams, managing director of IPC Inspire, says: “Over the last few years, NME has become the exemplar of a modern multi-platform media brand, serving its core audience of 16-24 year olds in print, online, via social media, on TV, radio, mobile and most recently via apps. Our mission is to continue engaging with passionate music fans on multiple platforms and delivering NME's editorial voice and unique access, while offering our advertisers innovative and targeted marketing solutions.”
• Music Market - NME, Uncut, Kerrang, Q, Mojo and Classic Rock
Sport & Leisure
• Cycle Sport, the world's best magazine for fans of professional cycling, delivers an excellent performance in the cycling sector with an ABC of 16,324, up 2.9% on the year.
• The unrivalled authority on the international game, World Soccer, scores a 2.5% increase during the World Cup year, taking its total ABC to 41,016. This marks the only year-on-year ABC increase of any title in the soccer market.
• Country Life delivers a sterling ABC performance, posting a 1% increase in a year which has seen improvement in the premium property market. Exciting editorial developments, such as the Dream House series, helped earn new readers, and both newsstand and subscription sales have increased year-on-year. Investment into marketing special editions, such as the Christmas double issue, has also resulted in increased sales – with this year’s Christmas issue up 7% on the previous year.
Country Life was in the spotlight at the end of 2010, when its renowned frontispiece page was the subject of a BBC documentary which attracted an audience of over two million viewers. Country Life now has a total ABC of 37,206. And with further signs of recovering confidence in the UK premium property market, the brand is well placed to show continued improvement.
• Following a continued programme of editorial development, Motor Boat & Yachting posts year-on-year growth today with an ABC of 14,430, up 0.1%.
• IPC’s market-leading shooting portfolio has remained strong in the Shooting market this reporting period. The Shooting Gazette leads the way with a rock solid ABC of 14,768 and Sporting Gun retains market leadership with an ABC of 30,279. An improving trend can also be seen in sales of Shooting Times during the second half of this reporting period, putting the magazine in a great place going into 2011.
Paul says: “IPC Inspire contains some of the UK’s best-loved specialist brands serving their audiences of passionate enthusiasts. Across a number of our sectors including marine, shooting and country pursuits, we are seeing strong brand performances and 2011 is already shaping up to continue this success and offer more opportunities to reach our key audiences.”
National Magazine Company
Of the 19 brands audited (excluding Prima, which NatMag is disputing with the ABC; please see publisher’s statement below), 16 titles including Good Housekeeping, Country Living, Harper’s Bazaar, Men’s Health and NatMag’s entire portfolio of weekly titles – Best, Reveal and Real People – have all delivered great performances with many taking market share in a challenging environment.
Compelling editorial, cross-platform innovation and the strength of internationally-renowned glossy titles such as Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire and Cosmopolitan, have ensured that NatMag retains its strong position in the industry.
Highlights include:
• Good Housekeeping – This much loved brand has recorded its highest ABC since July – Dec 2007, with a 3.2% year on year increase to 443,750.
• Country Living - Market leader by a mile, Country Living posts yet another positive increase of 4.0% with an ABC of 205,770.
• Men’s Health – Men’s Health has again increased its lead over its competitors with an ABC of 245,023 and retains the number one position in the men’s market.
• Harper’s Bazaar – A brilliant performance by Harper’s Bazaar with its highest ever ABC performance and 16th consecutive increase year on year.
• Prima (please see publisher’s statement below regarding Prima)– Prima continues to be one of the UK’s best performing titles with circulation for this period showing a healthy sale of 297,063.
• NatMag refuses to recognise the ABC certificate for Prima and will be trading on the figure of 297,063, which is the true and correct figure for this ABC period. Please see publisher’s statement below for more details.
NatMag’s Chief Executive, Arnaud de Puyfontaine says: “Yet again, strong performances from NatMag titles. Our weekly titles, in particular, have again bucked the downward trend, while our women’s lifestyle titles have shown considerable growth with Good Housekeeping and Country Living outperforming their nearest rivals and delivering a fantastic set of ABC figures. We are proud of our brands and continue to offer our advertisers an open and transparent view of our position in the market. The strength of our brands also allows us to take full advantage of cross-platform innovations and new revenue streams, and provides us with a firm foundation for the future growth of the company.”
Title highlights
Monthlies
Coast: total ABC – 42,617
Another impressive performance by Coast posting its highest ever ABC figure, up 2.0% year on year. Subscriptions are also at their highest ever level, up 2.9% year on year.
Company: total ABC – 217.491
A stable period on period performance for Company. The brand launches its third edition of sister High Street fashion title, High Street Edit, on 7th March, and NatMag continues to develop Company and innovate with a strong focus on company.co.uk and online mobile version launching in April.
Cosmopolitan: total ABC – 400,575
Cosmopolitan sells over 400,000 copies a month in the hugely competitive young women's market. Subscriptions continue to grow, up 4.1% year on year to 55,268. Cosmopolitan.co.uk unveils a completely new design tomorrow (Feb 18) which, coupled with the brand's highly successful spin-off magazine for students, Cosmo on Campus, offers more commercial opportunities to its partners than ever.
Cosmopolitan Bride: total ABC – 37,690
In a very competitive market, Cosmopolitan Bride posts a respectable ABC of 37,690.
Country Living: total ABC – 205,770
Country Living continues to be the market leader by a mile in its sector, posting its highest ever ABC performance since it first launched 26 years ago - up 4.0% year on year and 0.8% period on period. Subscriptions are also at their highest ever level, up 4.1% period on period. The hugely successful Country Living Fairs celebrate their 20th anniversary this year.
Esquire: total ABC – 59,382
A fantastic performance for Esquire posting an ABC increase of 2.1% period on period and 0.4% year on year. New Editor, Alex Bilmes, will unveil his new look for Esquire in the June issue, on sale May 5.
Good Housekeeping: total ABC – 443,750
The leading women’s lifestyle magazine, Good Housekeeping, continues to dominate this market posting a year on year increase of 3.2%. Subscriptions continue to be very strong (219,416) and growth this period has come from a fantastic newsstand performance – up 5.1% year on year and 11.2% period on period.
Harpers Bazaar: total ABC – 119,712
Harper’s Bazaar posts its highest ever ABC performance and a 16th consecutive increase - up 8.2% year on year and 1.0% period on period. Subscriptions are also at their highest ever level, up 6.9% year on year.
House Beautiful: total ABC – 165,161
A solid performance from House Beautiful posting an ABC increase – up 8.6% year on year. A strong subscription base continues to highlight the strength of this brand with an impressive total of 58,857.
Men’s Health: total ABC – 245,923
With ABC growth to 245,923, Men's Health has further increased its lead at the top of the men's lifestyle market. There is now a significant sales gap between Men's Health and the other titles in the sector.
Prima: total sales – 297,063*
Prima continues to be one of the UK’s best performing magazines with circulation for this period showing a healthy sale of 297,063 copies. This represents a 3.0% increase year on year and 2.8% increase period on period. (please see separate publisher’s statement for Prima, below)
“We, the National Magazine Company, dispute the ABC certificate published for Prima magazine published on February 17, 2011. The certificate issued for Prima does not reflect the brand’s true performance over the July –December 2010 period. This is because the ABC has excluded the UK newsstand copies on the September issue from its calculation on a technicality that is detrimental to both advertisers and customers.
Prima continues to be one of the UK’s best performing magazines with circulation for the July – December period showing a healthy sale of 297k copies, representing a 3 percent increase year on year and a 2.8 percent increase period on period.
The ABC certificate, however, posts a performance that indicates Prima only sold an average of 268,361 copies in the period which, incorrectly, shows a dip of 7.2 percent year on year. The ABC has unfairly excluded Prima’s UK newsstand copies of the September issue from the certificate because it claims that a cover mount of an old Best magazine, which we gave as added value to our Customers at no extra cost, meant that the package should have been sold as a multi pack. We strongly dispute this claim as each customer paid the full cover price of £2.80 for Prima and the copies of Best have not been claimed in any way as part of any ABC certificate.
We believe the rules are ambiguous and that the ABC has let us, our advertisers and our customers down. To offer an open and transparent view of the situation we enlisted one of the UKs top four auditors and they have independently documented the sales on this issue from which we have created our own Publisher’s statement. This statement makes clear that the September issue was indeed purchased by consumers through exactly the same process as every other issue in the period as such, it should not be disqualified.
This technicality is not in the spirit of the ABC rules and does not uphold the interest of all ABC members. We are therefore confident that when this issue is discussed at the next Reporting Standards Group meeting the outcome will be that the rule will be re written and that promotions such as this will in future be within the ABC rules.
In the meantime, we refuse to recognise the ABC certificate for Prima and will be trading on the figure of 297k which is the true and correct figure for this ABC period.
We are delighted to say that so far, all of our advertising colleagues have fully supported our Publisher trading statement.”
Group Commercial Director, Matt Salmon
Prima Baby: total ABC – 33,542
In a very competitive market, Prima Baby maintains its’ No 2 position, posting an ABC of 33,542. Prima Baby continues to have a strong dual platform presence, with its digital arm, Baby Expert, going from strength to strength.
Runner’s World: total ABC – 96,360
Runner's World has continued its amazing run of success, posting its highest ever ABC of 96,360. This is the fifteenth consecutive year of growth for Runner's World.
SHE: total ABC – 144,583
A solid performance period on period, reflecting the new editorial and product developments introduced by new Editor, Claire Irvin..
Triathlete’s World: total ABC – 13,160
Triathlete's World has built on the success of its launch year, consolidating the No.2 spot in the market with an ABC increase to 13,160.
You & Your Wedding: total ABC – 48,664
You & Your Wedding maintains its No. 2 position in the wedding market, posting an annual ABC of 48,664.
Zest: total ABC – 88,554
Zest retains the No. 1 spot in the women's health and fitness sector. With the increasing success of its online platform, Zest.co.uk, the brand remains a trusted source for expert health, fitness and beauty advice for women.
Weeklies
Best: total ABC – 294,161
Best shines bright in the classic market. This is a solid performance in a challenging sector.
Reveal: total ABC – 324,590
Reveal puts in a sterling performance in the highly competitive celebrity weekly market.
Real People: total ABC – 218,276
NatMag’s real life weekly Real People continues to go from strength to strength, posting an ABC of 218,276 up 1.0% year on year.
PPA
Magazine circulation figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) today showed a continuing improvement in the demand for magazines among consumers.
Total Average Issue Net Circulation for ABC-audited titles reporting for the six months between July and December 2010 increased by 4.0 per cent compared with the same period the previous year. This follows a rise of 3.3 per cent reported for the first half of 2010.
Circulation within the women’s magazine market grew by 9.2 per cent overall year-on-year, with notable increases in the Cookery and Kitchen (36.0 per cent), and Lifestyle and Fashion (6.7 per cent) sub-sectors.
Leisure interest magazines as a whole increased circulation by an impressive 7.9 per cent and the TV listings market delivered a robust performance, with circulation up 0.4 per cent overall year-on-year.
Current affairs titles posted strong results, with an improvement of 4.9 per cent in the International sub-sector and 2.4 per cent in the Domestic sub-sector.
Barry McIlheney, CEO of the PPA, said: “These very positive ABC results are further evidence of the continued strength of the medium of magazines at a time when many brands are expanding their reach by engaging with audiences on various platforms, from websites and apps to live events.”
