Consumer magazines spent most of the past two decades managing decline. The more confident publishers have stopped doing that. Newsstand sales and print advertising are still shrinking, but well-made titles with loyal readers are raising cover prices and growing.
Scale matters less than it did. Bauer has made Grazia a more premium product and charged more for it, while independents such as Anthem have put print back at the centre of the business and grown their export sales. Stylist has changed format several times without losing its readers. Others have gone the other way, and Gay Times dropped print entirely to build a global audience online.
For most consumer publishers, print is our USP. It’s the anchor that makes advertisers trust us and the very thing that readers want from us.
Jon Bickley Our print strategy: Anthem
Behind the confidence sits some hard arithmetic. Newstrade is now a small share of revenue and events and ecommerce are growing from a low base. Trust has become a selling point as AI fills the web with content of uncertain origin, but the paid-for consumer model that works at scale is still being worked out.
Below you'll find some of our best feature articles on consumer magazines, from premium print and cover pricing to brand extensions, membership and the future of specialist titles, alongside our latest news and industry commentary.
For a while now, magazine publishers have been on the defensive, unsure about the viability of their traditional business model in a fast-changing world. Katie Vanneck-Smith wants to change all that.
We asked Tamar Riley, portfolio managing director at Immediate, what does best practice publishing look like in consumer media? This is what she said…
For premium titles like Grazia, Mojo and Empire, growth is increasingly coming not from extending reach but from deepening engagement with existing passionate audiences, as Lauren Holleyoake tells Ciar Byrne.
The printed magazine will be a cherished part of people’s lives for years to come, says Jon Bickley, co-founder and CEO. That is why it’s the key component in Anthem’s publishing strategy.
With the arrival of AI and the widespread availability of unattributable content, specialist publishers need to ensure that their titles are the trusted go-to brands in their sectors, Our Media’s Andy Marshall tells Ciar Byrne.
Stylist’s mission has been clear from day one: to engage with its female audience in an intelligent, positive and non-exploitative way. 16 years on, and current PPA Media Brand of the Year, they are staying true to those values, says Lisa Smosarski.
Gay Times was stuck in a rut, tied to its traditional publishing model and reaching only a small part of the LGBTQ+ community. Under the editorship of Lewis Corner, that began to change, as he explains to Ciar Byrne.
Whatever the rest of 2024 holds, two things are certain. Firstly, the bumpy economic ride will continue. Secondly, the need for media companies to have a broad base of revenue streams has never been more important or more challenging to achieve.
How do you create a specialist consumer media business that is fit for the future? What steps do you need to take to be resilient and flexible as audiences and technology evolve? Carolyn Morgan researched 20 innovators from across Europe to find out.
For many publishers, circulation is all about chasing volume, but they would be much better off chasing profitability, says Natalie Smith, client relationship manager at Warners.
You cannot improve a process until you have documented it, and you cannot achieve an objective until you have a process and system to support it, says Rosa Sherwood, head of CRM, engagement and loyalty.
It’s important to understand the reason for cancellation and to ensure the retention offer directly addresses the subscriber’s stated concern, says Mike Halstead, managing director of HH&S.
Every conversation, email, or live chat session should feel, authentic, personal and solution-oriented, says Claire Ruzicka, head of customer experience at Air Business Subscriptions.
A subscriber’s first 30 days are important to build habit but so is every day after, says Emma Robinson, head of customer experience.
Catherine de Lange of New Scientist was crowned Editors’ Editor of the Year at the BSME Awards. Here, she talks about her trend-spotting tricks, the “pub test” the team employ for stories & how she’s running a 70-year-old publication like a start-up.
Cafeyn Group has announced the acquisition of Readly’s non-Nordic operations and strengthens its position as a European leader in trusted information and entertainment.
PPA CEO reacts to government update on subscription models under DMCC.
Marking Spielberg's return to science fiction, Empire gets the first word on movie Disclosure Day.
Cosmopolitan UK has announced it has brought back CosmoGIRL in a multi-platform partnership with Universal Pictures International UK & Eire Limited and Nintendo and Illumination’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
The Event Supplier and Services Association has announced Air Business as its new strategic partner, the partnership commenced on 1 April 2026.
BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine 2 for 1 Gardens card and guide returns for 2026.
Future plc, a global platform for specialist media, this week announced a pre-close trading update for the six-months period ending 31 March 2026.
Burda Media announces the sale of BurdaLuxury to Jaipur Capital.
Pixometry, an automated image processing platform, has added latest format support and a refined toning engine.
Hearst UK strengthens its commercial division with three senior appointments.
