Below are statements about their ABC results from: Bauer Media, BBC Worldwide, Beano, The Big Issue, Condé Nast, Dennis Publishing, Haymarket, Hearst UK, Hello!, Immediate Media, Media 10, Monocle, Motor Sport, Prospect, Redan Publishing, Shortlist Media, Time Inc UK.
Bauer Media
Bauer Media remains the UK’s leading consumer magazine publisher by total paid-for copies sold and Retail Sales Value.
Commenting on the results Rob Munro-Hall, Group Managing Director, Bauer Magazine Media UK said: “Bauer Media retains its leading position in the highly competitive TV Listings and True Life markets. We’re extremely proud of our performance this period - TV Choice is the only magazine in the UK to sell over 1 million copies a week and Take a Break’s monthly companion magazine has seen an impressive 25% YOY uplift. We’ve also seen continuing success for our Specialist magazines, particularly our gardening titles Garden News and Garden Answers, whilst Practical Photography is the fastest growing monthly magazine in the UK. These standout performances demonstrate how magazines play a critical role in the lives of our readers, creating meaningful connections in a truly trusted environment. Our world class editorial teams are tireless in ensuring that they have a deep understanding of their audiences, both through insight and instinct. This enables us to deliver content that has a strong cultural impact whatever the passion area and brings readers back every week or month.”
TV Listings
TV Choice (w) – 1,188,588 (print only)
TV Choice, remains the UK’s biggest selling magazine, entering its 11th successive year at the top and is the only UK magazine to consistently sell more than one million copies per issue. TV Choice significantly outperformed the market trend YOY and increased its market share, continuing to outsell its nearest rival by nearly 300,000 copies every week. These great figures are testament to TV Choice’s relevance and ability to engage readers with entertaining content that enhances their love of the nation’s favourite pastime.
Total TV Guide (w) 94,209 (print only)
Total TV Guide has significantly out-performed all its competitors in the premium end of the sector in year on year performance. Changes in September 2017 saw the addition of editorial pages and increased consumer value by increasing its radio coverage and expanding coverage of digital streaming services. The popularity of these new additions has helped the title increase its market share.
True-Life
Take a Break (w) – 497,349 (print only)
Take a Break continues to lead the market as the UK’s No.1 women’s weekly, selling nearly twice as many copies as its nearest competitor. The magazine’s success is underpinned by delivering consistently fascinating stories, key practical features, brilliant puzzles and generous prizes. A refresh in early 2018 promises to enhance and keep the title fresh for today’s true-life reader.
Take a Break Monthlies Series (m) – 212,560 (print only)
Take a Break’s bumper monthly special has carried its spectacular growth performance across the whole year with growth of a stunning +25% YOY. The companion magazine provides a similar winning formula to its sister weekly title, and continues to be a hit with its true-life audience, introducing a wider audience to the Take a Break portfolio.
That’s Life (w) – 203,031 (print only)
That’s Life has delivered a very strong performance this period, continuing to outperform the true-life market both POP and YOY. The magazine engages a younger weekly true-life audience through a combination of inspirational, emotional and incredible true life stories. A series of successful seasonal and crime specials reinforces the power of this brand for the reader and wider true life market.
Classics
Bella (w) – 164,051 (print only)
Bella outperforms all competitors both POP and YOY, retaining its No. 1 position in UK full rate standalone sales and moving up to second place in the Classic Weeklies market closing the gap on its nearest competitor. Following a very strong summer and Christmas performance, Bella is the only title of the market to show a positive increase POP of 1.5% and has increased market share by 3.1%.
Celebrity Weeklies
Closer (w) – 189,577 (print + digital)
Closer maintains its position as No. 2 in the celebrity market. Closer’s trend has improved both POP and YOY following a successful product refresh. The title has a loyal readership who have a close connection to its unique content mix which brings together celebrities, real-life and inspirational lifestyle for the home and wardrobe, plus topical debates and expert advice on health, relationships and money.
heat (w) – 119,853 (print + digital)
heat outperforms the weekly celebrity market and increases market share both YOY and POP. heat continues to set itself apart from its competitive set, delivering 360 multiplatform content across print, online, social and radio. Renowned for its celebrity news, unique entertainment content and famous feature campaigns, heat has also successfully extended its fashion, beauty and lifestyle content through its ‘Wear it’s at’ and ‘Life hacks’ sections.
Grazia (w) – 102,859 (print + digital)
Grazia is uniquely positioned as a premium title within the weekly market. In October, the magazine underwent an editorial refresh, introducing new content ideas rooted in audience insight. The research revealed that readers were bored of homogenised content and sought more depth, emotion and opinion in order to fuel their conversations (both online and “IRL”). Grazia responded to this by building on its successful and unique fashion-led mix to offer more opinion, introducing “The Provocateur” & “The Take”, a new mental health column “School of thought” and by ensuring there is diversity and authenticity throughout. During the past six months Grazia has collaborated with Swarovski to create a cover-wrap in support of the launch of their Holiday collection, featuring Naomi Campbell & Karlie Kloss, with 50,000 copies distributed in key locations in central London. In November the brand created its first ever LUXE issue featuring Instagram style icon Giovanna Battaglia, celebrating premium and luxury brands in an accessible and compelling way and driving display fashion advertising from brands including Gucci, Dior, Chanel & Burberry up by +31% YOY.
Film & Music
Empire (m) - 109,654 (print + digital)
The world’s biggest selling movie magazine outperforms the market, while its website has seen unique users grow to over 2m per month in 2017. Empire continues to deliver standout issues that celebrate great film moments including the epic Star Wars collector’s issue to celebrate the release of The Last Jedi and the innovative Virtual Reality issue in partnership with Google and Fox to celebrate the release of Alien Covenant.
MOJO (m) - 62,779 (print + digital)
MOJO is the best-selling music magazine in the market and remains the definitive magazine for music explorers. 2017 saw the brand embark on an innovative cinema event that brought a new David Bowie film to 180 cinema screens in the UK, with each ticketholder receiving a bespoke copy of MOJO. Exciting plans are underway for the brand in 2018 under the new Editor, John Mulvey.
Q (m) – 37,073 (print + digital)
Q magazine performs in line with the market and this period delivered world exclusive interviews with both Noel and Liam Gallagher during 2017 as well as printing iconic cover treatments showcasing the breadth of contemporary music, from Paul Weller to St Vincent.
Gardening
Garden Answers (m) – 34,688 (print only)
Garden Answers has recorded its ninth consecutive YOY increase of 24.1%, as well as a 3.5% rise POP, unusual in the highly seasonal gardening market. The magazine continues to grow its loyal subscription base as well as sales on newsstand.
Garden News (w) – 36,055 (print only)
Garden News has led the weekly gardening market in 2017 with a YOY increase of 2.3%. It continues to increase its lead over weekly competition by maintaining its commitment to delivering brilliant and practical gardening advice alongside a tactical cover mounting strategy.
Modern Gardens (m) – 30,888 (print only)
Modern Gardens has continued to grow on the success of its launch year with a YOY increase of 6.2%. The magazine provides entertaining and inspirational content to the ‘lifestyle gardener’ and has added growth to the gardening market by bringing in these new readers.
Maturity
Yours (f) – 244,754 (print + digital)
Yours has outperformed the market YOY. By continuing to develop its mix of star chat, heart-warming real life stories, shared memories and health and beauty tips as well as delivering timely content, it continues to inspire its loyal 50+ readers.
Hobbies
Practical Photography (m) – 39,289 (print + digital)
Practical Photography is the fastest growing monthly magazine in the UK, up 55.8% year-on-year, maintaining its position as the number 1 monthly photography magazine. A passionate audience of photo enthusiasts enjoy the magazine’s inspirational images, expert hands-on advice, tips and ideas, as well as the most authoritative equipment reviews out there.
Country Walking (m) – 30,524 (print only)
Country Walking Magazine is one of the fastest growing magazines in the UK, up 21.7% YOY. This impressive growth has been driven by an improved and refocused product, along with the successful sampling, awareness and conversion of new readers via subscription partnerships and the award winning #walk1000miles social media campaign, which over 50,000 people have signed up to take part in.
Motoring
Motorcycle News (w) – 60,719 (print + digital)
MCN remains the market leader with a 41.6% share of the modern motorcycling market and 31% of the total motorcycling market. It has no direct competitors in print. In addition, motorcyclenews.com is the UK’s biggest motorcycling website with a 32% market share according to Hitwise, while more than 75,000 visitors attended MCN events last year. As a result, the MCN brand enjoys unrivalled reach among UK motorcyclists.
CAR (m) – 50,811 (print + digital)
CAR magazine has had an outstanding year with strong sales growth resulting in an ABC of 50,811, up 6.8% YOY. CAR has performed strongly in digital and subscription channels. CAR reaches an affluent, discerning audience who value its heritage, design and progressive editorial content package.
BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide’s food portfolio, Good Food, Easy Cook and Home Cooking Series has delivered an outstanding performance in the latest round of ABC circulation figures, July-December 2017. The three-brand strong portfolio continues to dominate the UK’s Food Publishing market, accounting for 68% share of the core market*, outperforming the market in terms of both volume and value.
BBC Good Food, retains its position as the nation’s number one food media brand, reporting a combined ABC of 212,619, 14% up period-on-period and 1% year-on-year.
The brand continues to go from strength-to-strength across multiple platforms attracting millions of readers each month across print and digital. In addition to the monthly print circulation and a successful book series, the BBC Good Food brand reaches over 22m unique users a month on bbcgoodfood.com, 250,000 visitors to the BBC Good Food live shows throughout the year, and 1.7m followers through social media.
Publishing Director, Simon Carrington says: "This is a fantastic round of results for our food print portfolio. All the magazines have performed phenomenally well on their own but combined the results really speak for themselves and to grow market share in this climate is something to be proud of.
"BBC Good Food continues to dominate the market and delivers content to a broad audience of food enthusiasts in the UK and overseas. Elsewhere, BBC Good Food’s portfolio of multi-platform products continues to serve a highly valuable, growing audience through understanding their needs and meeting their passion points. Innovation and quality are the two key factors driving this growth, making it the food media brand of choice.”
* BBC Good Food is the UK’s No1 food magazine in the core market, with a combined ABC of 212,619.
* BBC Good Food has more subscribers than its next two rivals’ total audience combined.
* BBC Good Food has the largest reach across print and online of any magazine media brand in the UK. (source: NRS PADD)
* bbcgoodfood.com’s traffic is at a record high with 22m monthly unique users a month, in addition to over 1.7m followers on social media.
Beano
Beano comic has posted an incredible 7.9% year-on-year increase in the recent ABC release, recording weekly sales figures of 37,542 copies.
Celebrating its 80th anniversary in July, Beano has long been a hugely important part of DC Thomson Media portfolio, and loved by hundreds of thousands of readers. This latest ABC release shows that the comic hasn’t lost its shine, selling 1.86 million copies in 2017.
This increase in sales shows consistent long term growth for the title with three successive yearly increases posted. A copy of Beano is sold every 17 seconds in the UK!
Maria Welch, Head of Publishing for Magazines at DC Thomson Media, said, “To see a publication perform so well in an extremely challenged market is hugely positive. The children’s magazine sector is characterised by frequent launches and closures and it is testament to the enduring appeal of Beano that today’s readers are still being entertained every week by the nation’s favourite comic.”
Within this figure Beano has seen remarkable growth with subscriptions, exceeding 20,000 for the first time, doubling subscriber numbers over the last 5 years.
Mike Watson, Managing Director of DC Thomson Media, said, “We’re thrilled with the performance of Beano. To see a title grow in this sector, which is on average down -7.8% year on year, is great, but Beano’s increase of nearly 8% is exceptional. We’re thrilled to be able to continue to provide readers with a weekly dose of mischief, mayhem and fun!”
The Big Issue
The Big Issue, the magazine sold on the streets by people affected by poverty, has recorded a lift in the number of copies sold for the third year in a row. The magazine now sells 83,073 copies every week.
The latest figure, released today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), covers the period from January-December 2017, represents a 1% increase on the previous year, and marks the THIRD consecutive year of growth in the magazines sales. It also means that Big Issue sales have increased to their highest since 2012 – a 7% increase in three years.
The Big Issue’s Editor, Paul McNamee, said: “The Big Issue is totally unique. We exist to give the poorest in society, those who may feel society has left them behind, a means to earn a living and pull themselves back up. It’s a community – of vendors, of readers and supporters, of staff. We’re woven into the fabric of Britain’s high streets and in its hearts and minds. It’s incredible that this sense of identity continues to grow, in our 27th year of existence. It’s wonderful that our readers have stayed with us, that they have found the words, and the identity and the attitude they love in the pages we produce. It’s testament to the incredible work of everybody in the organisation.
“So long as we are needed, we will be here. And we’ll continue to work to buck all received notions of what people will pay. We’ll continue to produce quality, must-read journalism. On we go.”
Russell Blackman, The Big Issue’s Managing Director of Publishing & Business Development said: “The latest ABC figure is testament to the hard-work of our talented and award-winning editorial team who produce a great read, week in, week out. However it’s also reflective of the difficulties and challenges that befall an increasing number in our society. The Big Issue is here to meet that need, both by providing anyone who needs it with the opportunity to earn an income, and also by using our distinctive editorial voice and campaigning agenda to push for positive change.”
Launched as a business solution to a social problem, sales of the magazine are also seen to provide a barometer for levels of poverty. Indeed according to official figures, the number of people rough sleeping in England has risen for the seventh consecutive year in a row. There were 4,751 people counted or estimated to be bedding down outside in autumn 2017, a 15% rise on the year before and more than double the figure recorded five years ago.
Condé Nast
Condé Nast Britain today releases its latest set of ABC figures combining print and digital sales for the period July to December 2017, with period on period actively purchased growth for seven titles in the portfolio.
Vogue
British Vogue posts a new ABC of 190,032. The first issue under new Editor-in-Chief Edward Enninful was the December issue, included in this period. Total print subscriptions are up 2.3% period on period. Traffic to the website has grown 48% year on year.
House & Garden
In its 70th anniversary year, House & Garden announces a new ABC of 112,049, up 1% period on period. UK actively purchased copies are up 1.9% period on period and 3.6% year on year, and subscriptions have grown 13.2% and 11.8% respectively.
Brides
The UK’s number one bridal media brand, Brides has an ABC of 35,034. Reaching readers via multiple touchpoints including Brides The Show, and with an ever-increasing digital audience via the website and social media, Brides is the authority on all things wedding related.
Tatler
The original social media, Tatler announces an ABC of 78,082, up 2.1% period on period in UK actively purchased copies and up 4% in total actively purchased copies. Its online audience currently stands at 374,917 unique users, an increase of 20% year on year.
The World Of Interiors
Posting an ABC of 55,085, up 0.4% period on period in total actively purchased copies, The World of Interiors delivers a consistent performance as the go-to source for design professionals and style arbiters. Total subscriptions have grown by 8% period on period and 3.6% year on year.
GQ
The UK’s preeminent men’s lifestyle media brand and recipient of 72 major awards, GQ announces an ABC of 115,006, up 1% in total circulation and retaining its market leader position. UK actively purchased copies are up 2.9% and total actively purchased copies have risen by 5.2% period on period. Meanwhile on social channels the GQ brand has grown its reach by 21% year on year.
Vanity Fair
The biography of our age, one month at a time, Vanity Fair unveils an ABC of 72,038. UK subscriptions are up by 4% period on period. Recognised as a cultural catalyst the world over, the brand provokes dialogue and debate.
Condé Nast Traveller
In its 20th anniversary year, leading luxury travel publication Condé Nast Traveller posts a new ABC of 78,141. Total actively purchased copies have risen 2.4% and 2.5% period on period and year on year respectively, and total subscriptions have grown by 5% period on period and 2.1% year on year.
Wired
Wired posts a new ABC of 50,024, with actively purchased copies level period on period. The online audience continues to grow, up 39% year on year, with Wired.co.uk currently receiving 2,875,393 unique users. These audiences, together with social, Wired events and the Consulting business reaches and influences a significant audience of thought-leaders.
The LOVE 19 issue has just been published, celebrating the women and girls of 2018, and continues to redefine the edgy high-end sector. Britain’s essential bi-annual male style bible GQ Style published the A/W’17 issue last Autumn, with its next issue out in March. Glamour is relaunching as a beauty first, digital first, social first media brand at the beginning of March, when the first of its bi-annual print editions will hit newsstands.
Albert Read, Managing Director of Condé Nast Britain, comments “With seven titles in our portfolio showing increases in actively purchased numbers, it is clear to us that the demand for high quality journalism is still strong, and indeed gets stronger. It’s encouraging to see such resilience at the top end of the print market, alongside the tremendous growth across digital and social platforms.”
Dennis Publishing
Dennis today reports a strong ABC performance across its current affairs titles The Week, The Week Junior and MoneyWeek, for the July to December 2017 period.
The Week Junior
The Week Junior grew its print circulation with a rise of 4.6% POP to 48,017 ABC, with over 37,000 paid-subscribers.
The Week Junior is setting new records for rapid subscription growth. Its rapid growth saw three audits in 2017. The first for Jan-March period showed a strong debut ABC of 37,640, the April-June 2017 period saw the the title grow again by 21.9% to 45,895. The magazine has demonstrated continued growth in this Jul-Dec 2017 period, showing an ABC increase of 4.6% to 48,017. Single copy subscriptions hit 40,306.
MoneyWeek
Steady sales at MoneyWeek with market beating ABC of 46,081 - up 0.3% POP.
MoneyWeek continued its top billing as the UK’s best-selling financial magazine. Since Dennis acquired the title in July 2017, it has shown a steady increase in circulation with an average POP rise this quarter of 0.3%. With 44,111 UK subscribers, MoneyWeek is a vital component of the Dennis current affairs pillar.
The Week
Dennis’ flagship title The Week reports print circulation increase of 0.3% POP and paid-for digital circulation growth of 5.5% to 38,800.
James Tye, Chief Executive, Dennis said “I’m pleased to see continued print and digital growth in the Dennis Current Affairs portfolio. The Week continues to dominate the current affairs marketplace with its ever increasing portfolio of brands. The Week Junior has shown extraordinary growth since launch with a 48,015 ABC. Its rise, almost all subscription driven, is truly remarkable. MoneyWeek has proved a perfect addition to the growing current affairs portfolio, and these circulation increases further cement Dennis as the leader in the sector.”
Dennis ABC Headlines
In its 39th year, Viz maintains its market presence and loyal subscribers continue to grow.
The award winning Dennis subscriptions team has ensured that Viz single copy subscription sales have risen from 15,484 to 15,644, with a 1% subscription increase year on year.
Fortean Times bucks ABC trend with slow ABC decline of only 266 copies YOY
PC Pro maintains circulation of 22,056, despite tough market conditions in sector
Haymarket
Haymarket Automotive:
Haymarket Automotive, the division of Haymarket Media Group behind iconic motoring brands What Car?, Autocar and PistonHeads, today announces ABC results which show the brands significantly outperforming the Motoring (General) category.
Haymarket Automotive launched last year to develop the company’s motoring portfolio, with a major investment in digital and ecommerce infrastructure to better serve new and used car buyers, dealers and manufacturers. The two reporting brands, What Car? and Autocar, have each significantly outperformed the category, which as a whole is down 5.9%.
What Car? is the UK’s leading and most trusted brand for new car buyers looking for reviews, advice and data. The brand’s ABC of 55,459 for the reporting period is down a marginal 1.3%, but What Car? increased its market share and remains the top performing monthly on the UK newstand in the motoring category. At the same time, whatcar.com delivered significant digital growth - it had more than 20m unique users in 2017, a 9.4% increase on 2016, and generated more than 157m page impressions, a 21.7% increase. The brand has seen major investment in its digital infrastructure as it develops a new ecommerce platform, allowing users to act on the trusted advice What Car? offers.
Autocar reports an overall ABC of 30,753, an increase on the previous year, marking a return to growth. This has been spearheaded by a major 46% increase in digital editions alongside robust newsstand and subscription performance. As with What Car?, Autocar has seen stellar online growth with unique users up 17.2% year-on-year to 21.9m and page views up 20.1% to 105.7m, and the print edition has been revitalised, delivering even more of the content its readers have loved for 123 years.
Meanwhile digital-only brand Pistonheads has seen growth, with more than 47m unique users (+21.3%) and 533m page views.
Haymarket Automotive MD Rachael Prasher says: “We launched Haymarket Automotive with significant investment in the business. This has allowed us to rapidly accelerate our product development, so we can seize the opportunity afforded to us by changing consumer habits in the Automotive sector. We have seen steep digital audience growth since the investment, as well as strong print performance based on our investment in world class content. We’re still at the start of our journey but our performance in this first year has already proven that careful investment in existing media brands can yield amazing results.”
Overall, Haymarket Media Group’s reporting brands recorded an audited circulation of 310,017 for the period, while Retail Sales Value stood at £17.3m on the year. Other Haymarket brands reporting include Haymarket Consumer Media’s Stuff, What HiFi?, FourFourTwo, Classic & Sports Car, Practical Caravan and Practical Motorhome.
Haymarket CEO Kevin Costello says: “Haymarket’s consumer brands are leaders in their specialist sectors, connecting with millions of affluent consumers. Print remains an important platform for our brands to engage with their communities, but it is one of a number of brand platforms through which they entertain and inspire. In the round, our consumer brands continue to grow both reach and engagement, as our passionate and loyal specialist audiences trust them to get more from the things they love.”
Haymarket Consumer Media:
Haymarket Consumer Media today announces ABC results against a backdrop of major brand growth for its reporting titles.
Haymarket Consumer Media brands include Stuff, What Hi-Fi?, FourFourTwo, Classic & Sports Car, Practical Caravan and Practical Motorhome.
Consumer technology and lifestyle bibles, Stuff and What Hi-Fi?, remain the number one brands to access the best information for deeply engaged tech buyers and enthusiasts. Stuff is the leading actively-purchased title in the technology sector - with an ABC of 54,492 - and has seen UK online users grow 15% year-on-year in 2017, with sessions up 12% year-on-year. Stuff global site users are also up 7% year-on-year, with sessions up 4.5%.
What Hi-Fi? delivered a solid circulation performance with an ABC of 28,027 and a 26% uplift in digital editions. What Hi-Fi? has also focused on diversifying its revenues and building its ecommerce and affiliate offer online, with web users and sessions growing an extremely healthy 30% year-on-year and achieving record revenues in the crucial November Black Friday trading period.
As the international football community prepares for this year’s World Cup, FourFourTwo remains the UK’s best selling adult football magazine, with an ABC of 48,620. The brand is more powerful than ever, delivering content across an array of platforms - from daily news, interviews and analysis via www.fourfourtwo.com to the incredibly successful FourFourTwo Films, capitalising on the access afforded to a media brand at the heart of international football.
Classic & Sports Car remains the best-selling classic car magazine in the UK, with an ABC of 60,102. This is a testament to its depth of knowledge and credibility with a very discerning audience. The brand goes from strength-to-strength, with the launch of a new digital platform and the announcement of a very special partnership with Flywheel to create a new landmark live event this summer at Bicester Heritage.
Practical Caravan retains its position as the UK’s best-selling caravan magazine, with an ABC audited circulation of 19,874. Meanwhile sister brand Practical Motorhome delivered an ABC of 12,690, a growth of 0.5%. The brands are also driving growth online: unique users have grown 38% on www.practicalcaravan.com and 23% on www.practicalmotorhome.com year-on-year. TV and video also remain vibrant channels with BARB ratings reaching 450K+ and YouTube subscribers in excess of 62,000 for Practical Motorhome.
Haymarket Consumer Media Group Director Alastair Lewis says: “Specialist audiences are some of the most demanding there are. They don’t give their loyalty lightly. But when they do, the levels of engagement across all our brand touchpoints are phenomenal. Our specialist consumer brands continue to drive new opportunities to engage with highly affluent consumers who are prepared to pay to indulge in their passions.”
Overall, Haymarket Media Group’s reporting brands recorded an audited circulation of 310,017 for the period, while Retail Sales Value stood at £17.3m on the year. Other Haymarket brands reporting include Haymarket Automotive’s What Car? and Autocar.
Haymarket CEO Kevin Costello says: “Haymarket’s consumer brands are leaders in their specialist sectors, connecting with millions of affluent consumers. Print remains an important platform for our brands to engage with their communities, but it is just one of a number of brand platforms through which they entertain and inspire. In the round, our consumer brands continue to grow both reach and engagement, as our passionate and loyal specialist audiences trust them to get more from the things they love.”
Hearst UK
Hearst UK, the leading premium publisher, has released its latest set of ABC figures for the period Jul-Dec 2017. The results show that Good Housekeeping, Country Living and Men’s Health have retained market leadership positions in each of their respective monthly magazine competitive interest sectors, and Cosmopolitan has reaffirmed its position as the highest circulating monthly young women’s glossy.
Hearst has recorded a solid set of results with six titles in period-on-period (pop) growth:
* Good Housekeeping is up 4% pop with a combined ABC of 455,552 – its highest circulation in 10 years. The magazine celebrated its 95th anniversary last year and was featured in the top 10 most trusted brands, alongside the BBC and John Lewis, in Magnetic Media’s A Matter of Trust research conducted by MediaCom
* Harper’s Bazaar is up 4% pop with a combined ABC of 115,742. The brand celebrated its 150th anniversary last year and launched its Bazaar at Work Summit to bring together inspiring female leaders for a day of empowering talks, panel discussions and networking opportunities
* Country Living is up 2% pop with a combined ABC of 190,593 to cement its position as the number one Homes Interest title
* Women’s Health is up 1% pop with a combined ABC of 132,728 – its 11th consecutive pop ABC increase since launch
* Men’s Health is up 1% pop with a combined ABC of 175,683 to retain its position as the number one monthly Men’s Lifestyle magazine
* Esquire is up 1% pop with a combined ABC of 62,677. The brand continues to engage readers via multiple touchpoints, such as its four-day luxury Townhouse event with Dior, which returned in 2017
For the first time, Esquire, Men’s Health, Women’s Health and Runner’s World have utilised optional analysis in their ABC certificates to demonstrate how each brand is targeting new readers using innovative routes to market. Cosmopolitan, ELLE and Harper’s Bazaar have, for the second consecutive ABC period, continued to report in this way. The optional reporting table details the different dynamic distribution routes to market, which puts these magazines directly in the hands of their audiences through a tightly targeted mix of channels. Independent research carried out on behalf of Hearst in 2017 shows engagement levels among consumers who receive dynamically distributed copies is just as high as those readers who paid for a copy of their magazine.
For Cosmopolitan this is via gyms, cinemas, shopping centres and through partner marketing programmes. In the period, Cosmopolitan retained its position as highest circulating monthly young women’s glossy. Its combined ABC shows a 13% pop decrease due to Hearst’s strategic decision to reduce the number of traditional ‘bulk’ copies in circulation, which advertisers have previously expressed concerns about.
James Wildman, CEO of Hearst UK, says: “Our trusted print magazines can engage and inspire readers in a way that other media struggles to do. We proudly circulate over four million magazines a month, and I’m thrilled to see such a robust set of numbers. We have invested heavily in print and to be rewarded with market leaders in each of our monthly competitive sectors, alongside six period-on-period increases is a fantastic achievement.
“We continue to build loyal audiences through paid-for channels and our dynamic approach to distribution, both of which deliver strongly to advertisers. We are experts at curating professionally produced content and remain focused on delivering this wherever our audiences are – in print, digital, or at one of our iconic events.”
Full ABC results for Hearst UK are listed below:
Hearst UK Monthly Brands
Cosmopolitan: Total combined ABC of 351,338, -13% pop, -14% yoy
Country Living: Total combined ABC of 190,593, +2% pop, +1% yoy
ELLE: Total combined ABC of 168,850, -2% pop, 0% yoy
ELLE Decoration: Total combined ABC of 70,565, -2% pop, -4% yoy
Esquire: Total combined ABC of 62,677, +1% pop, -4% yoy
Good Housekeeping: Total combined ABC of 455,552, +4 pop, 0% yoy
Harper’s Bazaar: Total combined ABC of 115,742, +4% pop, +4% yoy
House Beautiful: Total combined ABC of 108,727, -1% pop, -8% yoy
Men’s Health: Total combined ABC of 175,683, +1% pop, -3% yoy
Prima: Total combined ABC of 238,753, -1% pop, -8% yoy
Red: Total combined ABC of 166,128, 0% pop, -10% yoy
Women’s Health: Total combined ABC of 132,728, +1% pop, +1% yoy
Hearst UK Weekly Brands
Best: Total combined ABC of 126,862, -3% pop, -9% yoy
Inside Soap: Total combined ABC of 96,012, -2% pop, -7% yoy
Real People: Total combined ABC of 121,842, -2% pop, -13% yoy
Reveal: Total combined ABC of 95,018, -6% pop, -15% yoy
Hearst Made
Asda Good Living: Total combined ABC of 1,774,500, -1% pop, -4% yoy
Hello!
HELLO! demonstrates an increase of actively purchased copy sales in the ABC July – December 2017 period - and outperforms its competitors.
HELLO! magazine announces a UK & Eire actively purchased figure of 178,169 in the circulation data released today for the ABC July - December 2017 period.
Once again, HELLO! has proved stronger than its competitors with a period-on-period increase (PoP) of 1.32% and a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 6.06% - the only celebrity weekly magazine to see an actively purchased PoP and YoY increase. A result made more impressive bearing in mind that the Women’s Lifestyle fashion market is down 8.5% PoP and down 13.5% YoY.
A further demonstration of HELLO!’s continued strength and consistency and its ability to grow and retain a loyal readership buying in to the magazine’s consistent high-quality editorial offering is the growth in UK and Eire subscriptions by 5.2% YoY.
Once again in this ABC period HELLO! is the top exported UK title in the women’s magazine sector, being the No.1 UK title in key territories including Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong and Germany.
HELLO!’s global success is partly due to the brand’s reputation for unrivalled royal reporting, with issues in the period celebrating Prince George starting school, Princess Charlotte starting nursery, Duchess of Cambridge announcing her 3rd baby news and of course Prince Harry and Meghan’s engagement
Despite a very challenging period for women’s monthlies, HELLO!’s sister title HELLO! Fashion Monthly (HFM) has showed an impressive performance with its UK & Eire actively purchased figure up a fantastic 18.62% PoP and an impressive increase of 7.30% YoY, proving readers are buying into the brand.
Kevin Petley, HELLO! Business Director, commented: “HELLO!’s continued success demonstrates the consistency and reader loyalty, which brands, PRs and advertisers want to witness with magazines. For HFM, our progress here proves there is thirst for the product and our retail and marketing strategy will help to enhance the magazine’s visibility during 2018. We are also very aware, as a publisher, of the importance of exciting and unique multi-platform content, which our editorial teams continue to develop and innovate, including across Video and Social media. With Rosie Nixon our Editor in Chief, taking a wider brand development role as well as an increased digital focus, designed to enhance our existing credentials, providing even more fantastic content for consumers & commercial partners.”
Immediate Media Co
Immediate Media Co, the special interest content and platform company, has posted a combined print and digital circulation of 2,130,656 up 29.0% period-on-period and down 0.5% year-on-year, for titles reporting July to December 2017.
The company has also recorded a 1.1% growth in Retail Sales Value (RSV) year-on-year to £122.59m.
* Immediate’s ABC-audited print circulation is 2,073,529 – up 26.4% period-on-period and Down 0.6% year-on-year
* Immediate’s ABC-audited digital circulation also continues to rise, reporting a total circulation of 57,127, up 3.6% year-on-year.
* With a total audience of 1.17 million subscribers, the company remains the leading magazine publishing company for subscriptions. *
Tom Bureau, CEO of Immediate Media, says: “Immediate’s focus on special interest brands and high quality content continues to pay dividends. Our market-leading print brands continue to perform well and drive revenue growth on the newsstand and in subscriptions.
Alongside our growth in print, we are making significant investments in our digital platforms where TV shopping, digital marketplaces, e-commerce, live events and innovative subscription models are transforming our business model as we develop our multi-platform strategy. Immediate now reaches over 22million consumers a month.”
Highlights for the ABC period July-December 2017:
* Radio Times remains the UK’s biggest-selling quality magazine, with a weekly combined ABC of 631,960, up 1.5% period-on-period. It retains its position as the most valuable brand on the UK newsstand, generating £52.4m in Retail Sales Value in 2017, a 34.9% share of the total TV listings market RSV at newsstand.
Radio Times is also the UK’s biggest weekly subscription brand, with 267,622 weekly subscribers. RadioTimes.com continues to attract new readers to the brand, with a record-breaking 11.8 million unique visitors in January 2018.
* BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine has had another strong performance, with a combined ABC of 175,947, up 0.1% year on year. In addition to continued success on Subscriptions, with 1 in 3 subscribers highly engaged with Secret Garden - the exclusive Subscriber Club area of gardenersworld.com, BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine continues to attract new readers and has delivered UK newsstand sales growth of +16% year-on-year this period.
* Immediate is once again the number one publisher in the Children’s market, reflecting the strength of its titles and breadth of portfolio. It posts a combined ABC circulation of 824,555, up 12.1% year-on-year and 4.6% period-on-period.
* Immediate’s LEGO titles have had a particularly strong ABC performance, with Nexo Knights posting an ABC of 54,350 up 2.3% year-on-year and Lego Ninjago up 6.5% year-on-year to an ABC figure of 79,767 and Lego Friends recording a 14.1% increase year-on-year to 43,877.
Media 10
ABC January figures reveal solid performance from Media 10’s consumer magazines Good Homes, Grand Designs and Gurgle.
Commenting on the latest set of ABC results, Publishing Director Yvonne Ramsden says: "With two of our three consumer titles showing ABC growth, and one taking over market leadership, this has been a period of transformation for the Media10 portfolio as our editors have rejuvenated and invigorated our already strong brands. We have driven print sales through a customer focused strategy at both retail and through subscriptions as well as showing strong growth in digital subscriptions as consumers look to access their favourite brands across all platforms. We enter 2018 with our magazines in sparkling form, outperforming our competitors by a significant margin. The focus is now on increasing copy sales still further and continuing to drive retail revenue”.
Positioned in the mainstream sector of the home interest market, Good Homes magazine, delivered a rock solid performance with a total ABC of 46,365, an increase of 0.4% period-on-period and outperforming its two main competitors, Ideal Home and House Beautiful by some considerable margin – a fantastic achievement in a competitive market. Alongside the monthly edition, Good Homes brand extension Good Homes Ultimate Christmas posted an ABC of 37,732, making it the 4th highest selling Christmas title, up a very healthy 6% year-on-year. Under editor Karen Walker, Good Homes further extended its brand profile by taking advantage of Media 10’s award-winning Ideal Home Show, showcasing 6 stunning room sets to give readers face-to-face inspiration.
Meanwhile in the same market, Grand Designs Magazine climbed a very impressive 5.0% period on period posting a total ABC of 28,539, and maintaining its market-leading position over Home Building & Renovating. Under the new editorship of Karen Stylianides, Grand Designs will continue to go from strength to strength as we start to implement further editorial developments in the coming months and take advantage of reaching new audiences in the premium DIY sector through exposure at Media 10’s Grand Designs Live event.
Elsewhere in the Parenting Sector, Gurgle magazine posted an annual January to December ABC of 17,005. Whilst this was down (9.0%) year-on-year in the face of challenging market conditions Gurgle significantly outperformed direct competitor Mother and Baby and making it the new market leading title in this sector. Following extensive consumer focused research editor Scarlett Brady will be revealing a major re-design in the spring to help drive copy sales growth.
Monocle
MONOCLE is reporting another set of outstanding ABC figures today, with year-on-year sales of its flagship current-affairs and lifestyle magazine up by 5%. The total circulation of the magazine now stands at 84,268 – an all-time high. Newsstand sales are up 14%. Subscriptions have risen by 8%.
MONOCLE’s continuous growth stands in stark contrast to the wider magazine market, which remains in decline.
Tyler Brûlé, MONOCLE’s editor in chief and chairman, said: “Today’s ABC figures are a wonderful confirmation of MONOCLE’s way of doing things. We have always believed in making our own rules and, with more and more people joining the global family of MONOCLE readers, we are better placed than ever to play with unconventional ideas, invest in new projects and expand where we are most excited to be.”
Anders Braso, MONOCLE’s publisher, said: “MONOCLE’s expansion comes with a significant investment, both in people and in products. With additions to our advertising and news teams around the world and a whole roster of new products in the pipeline, MONOCLE is ready to push print to new heights this year.”
Motor Sport
Motor Sport magazine has bucked the national magazine sales trend to deliver an increase in its annual Jan/Dec 2017 ABC circulation figure.
Motor Sport Magazine has grown its market share, by posting a year-on-year increase of 0.2% to 31,541, significantly outperforming the motoring market, which was down on average by 6% YoY.
At the same time, 2017 saw the digital platforms including social, app and podcasts increase its audience reach by over 25% year-on-year. YouTube subs have increased by 86% and podcasts listens are up by 34%.
Traffic to the Motor Sport magazine website grew by over 35% year-on-year.
It has been a year of ongoing successes for the brand fuelled by a print redesign and the appointment of a new editor. Motor Sport Magazine won both Best Use of E-commerce and Commercial Partnership Of The Year at this year’s prestigious PPA awards.
“We’re delighted with this news”, said Marketing & Operations Director Gerard O’Brien. “As we continue to transform our business, the focus for 2018 remains on creating quality content that entertain and connect people to their passion ensuring the Motor Sport brand continues to deliver a trusted and engaging experience across all platforms for our advertising partners to target engaged readers.”
Nick Trott, Editor added, “Every other comparable classic and motor racing title has shown a slight decline, which doesn’t make us happy (far from it) but does give some context. Motor Sport magazine has rubbed tyres with some seriously powerful rivals, and come off pretty well”.
He added, “That we’re truly independent too, with no other editorial brand in our portfolio to rely on for cross-selling or promotion, makes us doubly proud.”
Prospect
Figures released by the independent Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) today, show that Prospect’s new circulation figure is 44,670. That represents a seventh successive ABC increase for Prospect, and a fifth successive record.
Prospect’s subscriptions grew in the second half of 2017—the seventh successive half yearly subscription increase. Sales on the newsstand grew too from the previous six months—by 3.8%.
77% of copies of Prospect distributed in the first half of 2017 were actively purchased and paid for—Prospect’s best performance on this measure for nearly a decade.
Tom Clark, Editor, said: “These are another terrific set of results for Prospect. As politics descends into tribalism and finger-jabbing, we are discovering a real hunger for the depth of our coverage and fierce independence of thought. We set the world’s sharpest minds on the great challenges of our time, and then ask them, without fear or favour, to probe behind the headlines. And, it would seem, the thinking British public is proving receptive to that.”
Redan Publishing
Redan Publishing is delighted to report that FTL Friends has seen an impressive year on year increase in circulation of 7.12% to its new ABC of 48,001, whilst sister title FTL Favourites has seen a period on period rise of 10.02% to 38,735 which sees the title’s return to the Pre-school Top Ten.
The Pre-school specialist is also celebrating that in the ever competitive pre-school sector Fun To Learn Peppa Pig Bag-O-Fun has retained its top spot with an ABC of 79,399, with Fun To Learn Peppa Pig remaining in second place with an ABC of 62,554.
Sparkle World continues to be the best-selling multi-character magazine in the Primary Girls sector posting an ABC of 46,656, a slight increase from last year which is all the more impressive, considering the pace at which this category is expanding.
Shortlist Media
ShortList announces a new ABC of 502,773 for the period July to December 2017. This is a negative variance of 0.1% period on period. Stylist reports a July to December 2017 ABC of 400,359, which also represents a 0.1% negative variance period on period. These new figures reflect continued growth of market share for both titles from Shortlist Media, the media platform for the metropolitan audience.
The new ABC result means that ShortList magazine remains, once again, number one in its sector capturing 58.7% of the men’s market and the most powerful way of reaching professional, urban men every week. A market share of 29.2% for Stylist reinforces the magazine’s brand strength in the upmarket women’s sector.
Shortlist Media’s titles are the UK’s only freemium titles to be distributed by hand merchandisers nationwide – in 8 major UK cities – and through a direct network into workplaces, retailers and airport lounges.
Georgina Holt, Group Publishing Director, Shortlist Media says: “The performance of Stylist and ShortList clearly show the continued brand love the Met Set have for our products. In a media environment dominated by conversations around audience trust and engagement ShortList and Stylist guarantee both. Our brand portfolio provides a powerful and credible platform to reach influential consumers at scale.”
Time Inc UK
Time Inc. UK today announces its ABC results for the Jul-Dec 2017 period. CEO Marcus Rich says: “Our brands have an enduring ability to connect with their audiences in print. We remain focused on evolving this hugely important part of our business, where we continue to deliver a trusted environment and effective platform for our advertising partners to target engaged readers.
“At the same time, 2017 saw traffic to our sites grow by 29% on the year and we also saw growth in our digital advertising revenues. We’ve continued to grow our events portfolio and affiliate revenues and have seen early success in our TV production arm. As we continue to transform our business, our focus for 2018 remains on creating quality content and experiences that entertain and connect people to their passions.”
Special Interest
Country Life delivers another trend-bucking performance, celebrating its eight consecutive annual increase. During its 120th anniversary year, the weekly title achieved a combined ABC of 41,314, a 3% increase. Country Life celebrated its milestone birthday at the end of May 2017 with a bumper special edition that achieved a 33% uplift on the corresponding issue in 2016.
Weeklies
In the TV sector, Soaplife has seen a significant rise, posting a combined ABC of 42,200, up 9% year-on-year. From this month the title ups its frequency from fortnightly to weekly publication. There’s proof yet again that, when price parity is in play, What’s on TV remains the clear Christmas favourite, with its festive double issue outselling competitors over the crucial Christmas and New Year period. Elsewhere within the Weeklies portfolio, an ongoing major transformation programme includes a focused redevelopment process across all the print titles. The coming weeks will see the culmination of refreshes for all the weekly brands as the portfolio continues to be redeveloped and invigorated.
Women’s fashion
Marie Claire outperforms the fashion sector and continues to engage upmarket, stylish affluent women across print, digital, social and events. Benefitting from joint distribution activity with beauty business Fabled by Marie Claire, its combined ABC of 157,412 is up 2% year-on-year. During 2017, Marie Claire hosted double the number of industry and customer-facing events compared to 2016, bringing the brand to life for thousands of consumers.
Other highlights
In the competitive photography market, Amateur Photographer achieves double-digit growth with a combined ABC of 14,573, up 11% year-on-year. Time Inc. UK’s oldest title The Field’s combined ABC of 24,432 is up by 3% on the year, while marine monthly Yachting World’s combined print and digital circulation is up 0.4 to 14,030 over the period. In the Music sector, Uncut’s combined ABC of 43,804 is up 1% year-on-year.
