InPublishing: ABC Results: publisher reaction

Below are statements about their ABC results from: Bauer Media, Dennis, Future, Hearst, Immediate Media, London Review of Books, New Statesman, Redan Publishing, The Spectator.

(Click here for more information about ABC’s temporary standards changes, introduced as a result of the coronavirus.)

Bauer Media

Bauer Media UK Releases Audited Circulation Figures For Full Uninterrupted Period

One in five of Bauer Media UK’s titles experiences year on year growth
Digital circulation has doubled YOY
Garden Answers and Garden News capitalise on the increased interest in gardening with high growth in subscriptions and newsstand sales (YOY)
Trusted TV listings bible TV Choice continues to sell over one million copies each week

Commenting on the July-December 2020 results, Chris Duncan, Bauer Media UK’s CEO of UK Publishing, said: “These ABC results cover a period of extraordinary disruption for readers and retailers across the UK, during which we have worked tirelessly to produce and distribute great products. Across the Bauer Media UK audited range to have one in five of our titles in year on year growth and the overall portfolio in only single digit decline is something we should be very proud of. We thank our readers for their extra efforts this year to get their hands on our titles despite the restrictions and hope we have played our part in keeping the nation entertained and inspired during this period. We look forward to a strong 2021 performance in all sectors as we get back to normal trading.”

Highlights this period:

TV Listings

TV Choice 1,041,826; Total TV Guide 84,030

TV viewing remained high in the second half of 2020 and Britons turned to trusted TV listings bible TV Choice (weekly) for guidance. The title continues to sell over one million copies each week, up 0.2% POP.
Total TV Guide (weekly) records an ABC of 84,030, up 0.02% POP with print subscriptions rising by a huge 20.4% POP and 46.2% YOY.

Real-Life

Take a Break 369,449; Take a Break Monthly 172,724; that’s life 156,454

Take a Break (weekly) sells an impressive 369,449 copies on average every week.
Take a Break Monthly delivers another strong ABC figure of 172,724, with print subscriptions up an incredible 312.7% POP.
that’s life! (weekly) has continued to perform well and is selling 156,454 copies a week.

Gardening

Garden Answers 58,289; Garden News 39,613; Landscape 37,289; Modern Gardens 25,391

Garden Answers (monthly) achieved its 15th consecutive YOY ABC increase to 58,289 average copies circulated, up 14.5% POP and 34.6% YOY. Subscriptions increased to 43,634, up 28.6% POP and 42.7% YOY.
Garden News (weekly) also increased ABC to 39,613 average copies circulated, up 4.9% POP and 18.2% YOY. Subscriptions increased to 17,723, up 18.7% POP and 22.0% YOY.
Landscape also saw stellar growth in subscriptions to increase overall average circulation to 37,289, up 25.2% YOY. Subscriptions increased by 79.5% YOY to 23,598
Modern Gardens subscription figures are up 51.2% YOY, the title records a total figure of 25,391

Women’s Weekly Classics

Bella 141,758

Bella (weekly) remains number one in the Women’s Weekly Classics market delivering another strong performance, selling an average of 141,758 copies each week, up 3.1% POP.

Celebrity Weeklies

Closer 106,308; heat 73,455

Closer (weekly) continues to report a six-figure circulation of 106,308 retaining its position as number two in the celebrity market.
Closer saw print subscription growth +12.1% PoP and +39.7% YOY and digital growth of +10.8% POP; +42.0% YOY.
heat (weekly) has also benefitted from digital growth, recording +24.1% POP and +86.1% YOY.

Glossies

Grazia, 85,606

Grazia (fortnightly) saw significant circulation growth with an ABC figure of 85,606, an increase of +5.6% POP. The title also saw digital growth showing an increase of +52.2% POP and +136.2% YoY.

Maturity

Yours 179,802

Yours continues to be the UK’s best-selling fortnightly lifestyle magazine for women over 50, with an average circulation of 179,802 copies per issue.
Yours has increased its focus on celebrating kindness and community – supporting and reassuring our readers – who have been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic.
Readers loyalty to the brand meant that subscriptions have grown significantly for the title 11.0% up POP and 19.4% YOY. The title has also increased its digital circulation with increases of 9.8% POP and 41.4% YOY.

Music & Film

MOJO, 54,856; Empire, 72,538

MOJO continues to lead the market, both in the UK and overseas with a total ABC of 54,856.
MOJO has seen huge digital growth up +102.3% YOY with an emphasis on Apple News+ and digital subscriptions.
MOJO saw home delivery grow as a channel with a +21.8% YOY increase in print subscriptions.
Empire is the biggest circulating film magazine with a total ABC of 72,538, continuing to lead the market both in the UK and overseas territories.
Empire has seen huge digital growth up +104.3% YOY.

Motorcycling

MCN 44,421; Bike 31,191; RiDE 24,831; Classic Bike 26,213; Practical Sportsbikes 15,637

MCN (weekly), the UK’s biggest-selling motorcycling publication maintains its market-leading position delivering a circulation of 44,421. The MCN brand enjoys huge reach among UK motorcyclists together with the motorcyclenews.com website and a nationwide portfolio of events.
Bike magazine (monthly) remains the biggest motorcycling monthly with a circulation of 31,191 copies.
RiDE remains the biggest-selling modern motorcycle magazine at UK newsstand, with a total circulation of 24,831.
Classic Bike remains the top performer in the classic motorcycling market, with a circulation of 26,213.
Retaining the number two position in the classic market is Practical Sportsbikes, the ultimate magazine for sports bike enthusiasts, with a circulation of 15,637.

Motoring

CAR 51,890; Classic Car Weekly 20,340; Classic Cars 27,279; Practical Classics 32,623; LRO 19,723.

CAR (monthly) has delivered a strong performance in 2020 with circulation increase of 15.9% to 51,890 copies. Growth has been delivered via a strong print subscription performance +14.5% YOY and accelerated digital growth to over 14,000 copies per issue.
Classic Car Weekly (weekly) circulated over 1m copies in total in this period and has delivered a market beating UK newsstand performance YOY.
Practical Classics retains its No 2 position within the Classic Car market, circulating 32,623 copies.
Classic Cars (monthly) continues to deliver a unique content package for its readers with a circulation of 27,279.
Land Rover Owner International (LRO) retains its No 1 position in the 4 x 4 motoring market, circulating 19,723 on average per issue.

Hobbies

Trout & Salmon 18,483; Country Walking 37,972; Bird Watching16,932; Angling Times 18,497; Improve Your Coarse Fishing 17,870; Today’s Golfer 36,898, Trail 17,937; Model Rail 21,631; Steam Railway 31,226; Rail 17,876

Trout and Salmon (monthly) magazine has been the voice of Game-Fishing for over 60 years. Significant subscription growth helps the title post a figure of 18,483, up 8.6% YOY.
Country Walking (monthly) circulates an average of 37,972 copies per issue. Print subscriptions have grown by 13.7% YOY. Digital growth sees the title post a digital subscription figure of 3,384 delivering 489.5% growth YOY.
Trail magazine (monthly) continues to be the UK's biggest and best-selling hillwalking magazine and has been for over 30 years. Print subscriptions have grown YOY (up 1.2%). Digital growth sees Trail post a digital subscription figure of 2,673 delivering 35.5% growth YOY.
Bird Watching (monthly) circulates an average of 16,932 copies per issue, up 9.7% YOY and print subscriptions have grown for the title by 15.5% YOY.
Angling Times’ (weekly) print subscription figures are up +4% YOY to 4,705 and the title has seen a 48.0% increase in digital editions.
Improve Your Coarse Fishing (monthly) achieved strong growth in subscriptions to 9,138 +9.9% YOY.
Today’s Golfer (monthly) print subscription figures have increased 4.7% YOY. The title delivers an ABC figure of 36,898, including a 103.9% increase in digital editions.
Digital growth amongst the UK audience sees Model Rail (monthly) post a digital subscription figure of 2,541 a 37.3% increase YOY. Print subscriptions have grown by 3.7% YOY.
Rail magazine (monthly) records a figure of 17,876, with digital issues showing a 13.5% YOY increase.

Dennis

The Week Junior Celebrates Seventh Consecutive ABC Increase to 98,246

Increase of 36% YoY cements The Week Junior’s position as UK’s number one children’s magazine
Cyclist magazine sees 3.1% increase YoY
New subscriber acquisitions across Dennis titles up 20% YoY

The Week Junior continues its upward trend with a 36% increase in circulation year on year, taking its average weekly circulation to 98,246. The Dennis portfolio as a whole stood strong with impressive increases in subscriptions; new subscription acquisition performance in 2020 was up 20% on 2019.

James Tye, CEO, Dennis said: “Our strategy is a simple one: create content that really matters to people. Whether it is providing an open and balanced view of the news agenda, helping people grow and protect their wealth, fuelling their passions or simply helping them to do their job better, what we do is valued by our readers.

“Dennis has been a subscription business for many years and continues to place forming a direct relationship with our customers right at the centre of our business model. Our fundamental subscriptions strength has allowed us to grow and maintain circulations during the past 12 months and as such we have declined to take the ABC Covid Exemption Certificate in order to provide full transparency.”

Current Affairs

The Week Junior - 98,246 print only

The Week Junior saw its average circulation increase to 98,246 - an astounding 36% YoY and 14.8% PoP. The editorial strength of the product keeps retention rates high. Campaigns such as the Summer of Reading and the 12 Days of Kindness, and the recently launched Wellbeing section keep readers engaged and entertained; paid subscriptions now stand at 90,273, an increase of 35% YoY, with 91% of copies actively purchased.

Anna Bassi, Editor in Chief of The Week Junior said: “I’m delighted that our magazine continues to engage new readers. Its success is testament to the excellent editorial team, and their commitment to creating a superb publication every week. Our circulation has soared over the past year – The Week Junior is now the UK’s most successful children’s magazine. It’s clear that our engaging, inspiring and trusted content is exactly what curious young readers are hungry for.”

MoneyWeek - 33,993 combined

MoneyWeek saw a combined increase of 19.3% PoP, which is a clear reflection of the demands of the market with consumers seeking out a trusted voice in the wake of the financial crisis. Digital subscriptions to the magazine increased 5,905 YoY taking the total combined circulation to 33,993.

The Week - 161,597 combined

The Week Magazine has held its own in a tough market during a year when trusted news sources became ever more important to consumers. The newsstand was heavily impacted but subscriptions stayed strong, in both print and digital.

Kerin O'Connor, CEO Current Affairs said: “We saw dramatic rises in subscriptions to our stable of current affairs titles during the Covid Crisis. The quality of our products meant people turned in increasing numbers to find out what was going on, and what really mattered.”

Automotive Division

Auto Express - 35,192 combined

Auto Express retains its position as the UK’s number one weekly automotive magazine with a decline of only 4.3%. An impressive 99% of copies are actively purchased. It’s seen a 6% growth in combined subscriptions in the last 12 months, while its digital circulation has grown 56% YoY. The shift to digital can also be seen in the growth of web traffic, which is up 69% YoY.

Evo - 30,820 combined

Newsstand sales were impacted by the lockdowns, however evo’s strong and loyal subscription base has grown a further 5.5% YoY. Despite its overall decline of 10.8% YoY evo remains ahead of competitors in terms of actively purchased copies which stand at 96%. Digital circulation is up by more than 35% YoY, and the re-platformed website will continue to support this digital growth in 2021.

Octane - 29,634 combined

Despite difficult market conditions, Octane has reported growth in combined subscriptions of 14.8%, and increased its digital circulation by 74.9%, and UK print subscriptions by 6.19%. Highstreet newsstands have been repeatedly challenged, resulting in an overall decline of 8.8%.

Nicola Bates, CEO of Automotive Media said: “In a year like no other our automotive titles have performed well, further reinforcing us as the biggest Automotive publisher in the UK. The various lockdowns and shopping restrictions throughout the last 12 months has led to our readers shifting the way they consume our content. As a result we’ve gained many more loyal subscribers, and have seen unrivalled reach and engagement across our websites and social media platforms. On Auto Express alone web traffic is up 69% year on year, and had over 800,000 unique users in the last week.”

Specialist Division

Cyclist - 21,353 combined

Cyclist magazine saw an increase of 3.1% YoY, taking its circulation to 21,353, with digital subscriptions up 72.5% YoY.

Viz - 42,722 combined

Viz saw an impressive 37.3% increase in digital edition subscriptions, it now stands at a combined circulation of 42,722.

Dharmesh Mistry, MD of Specialist said: “Cycling experienced an incredible boom on all fronts during 2020 due to the multiple lockdowns, so it’s really pleasing to see ABC growth on Cyclist magazine driven by a strong subscriptions performance and inspirational editorial on cycling in the UK.

Viz, meanwhile, provided consumers with some much needed humour during difficult times, and remains a solid performer in our portfolio.”

Digital Edition Subscriptions Up Across Portfolio

Dennis’ portfolio of digital editions saw an impressive uptake in subscribers in the last twelve months. Many customers added digital editions to their subscription packages during the first lockdown, and have extended them past the trial periods. The automotive division saw the most increases; Octane’s digital subscriptions rose by 74.9%, evo 35.9% and Auto Express 56.7% showing readers were desperate for the quality content despite not being able to get their hands on the printed products.

Future

ABC data reveals strong performances in the Homes and Entertainment sector for Future in 2020

Future plc, the global platform for specialist media behind brands such as Country Life, Decanter, and MarieClaire.co.uk, saw substantial digital growth and resilient newsstand performance in two key verticals for the January to December period.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) 2020 figures reveal:

An overall increase in newsstand market share and year-over-year growth for multiple titles -- 25 Beautiful Homes, HBR, Period Living, Real Homes, Style at Home.
Style At Home takes the lead for newsstand circulation, seeing 3.1% growth.
Country Life sees strong increases in paid for distribution.
What’s On TV retained its place as the most read title during the festive season and in December saw a record-breaking 80% increase in traffic, equal to 1.5 million users.

Commenting on the findings, Angela O'Farrell, Chief Content Officer at Future, says: “The results show that Future’s brands and content continue to delight our audiences and help connect them with their passions. We are celebrating great overall results across our portfolio, with subscription and digital growth driving an excellent set of numbers and demonstrating that — even in the midst of a pandemic — our customers still seek out our brands.”

“These figures are a direct reflection of the dramatic shift in wider consumer behaviour and shopping patterns over the last 12 months which Future was well placed to lean into. As pandemic restrictions reduced opportunities for outdoor activities, audiences have increasingly turned to titles that help them make the most of their indoor spaces; be that through home improvement, cooking and decorating, or simply relaxing with engaging lifestyle content. In recognition of the shift towards staying local, we identified key sources of demand and closely tracked central points of purchase, such as local supermarkets, grocery and convenience stores, so that our brands were never out of reach of our audiences.”

The results show overall readership volumes only experienced minor losses, declining by just 10% for the October to December non-lockdown period when adjusted for frequency.

Hearst

James Wildman, CEO of Hearst UK, says: “We are pleased to have seen a number of our brands post a robust set of figures in spite of these unprecedented times, but our business has no doubt felt the impact that Covid-19 has had on our routes to market. Whilst we continue to be encouraged by the significant increases in our magazine subscriptions and digital editions, as well as seeing newsstand trends recovering, we have particularly been affected by our dynamic distribution channels and through travel point sales. This is something which we had anticipated and were prepared for.

“I continue to be exceptionally proud of the way our business has tackled the current climate and the large number of successes we recorded throughout 2020. Digitally, unique users to Hearst UK sites were up 22% year-on-year as our audiences turned to us for positive, trusted and life-affirming content. We also saw e-commerce revenues increase materially, launched many initiatives designed to super-serve the needs of our valuable clients and successfully pivoted from large-scale live events to virtual iterations.

“As a truly diversified, modern media business, we remain resolutely focused on building loyal audiences and delivering premium content wherever they are in order to help them get more out of life.”

Immediate Media Co

Specialist Consumer Magazine Resurgence Sees Immediate Post Strong Year-On-Year Circulation Growth

9% year-on-year growth for portfolio in latest ABC release
Double digit growth for food, gardening and youth & children’s titles
Reader loyalty evidenced by subscriptions growth of 14%
Exponential multi-platform growth, digital editions up by almost 150%

Immediate Media Co, the special interest content and platform company, posted strong year-on-year circulation growth confirming the resurgence of the consumer magazine sector.

In these extraordinary times consumers chose to turn to our highly trusted, inspirational, special interest titles that enhance their passions, promote well-being and, inspire happiness.

Circulation for Immediate magazines was 2,421,514, a 9% year-on-year increase, for titles reporting July to December 2020.

Loyalty also increased substantially, with changing consumer habits and a desire to secure regular access to valued content, saw Immediate subscribers grow to over 1million, a 14% increase year-on-year. These continue to grow with the file approaching 1.2million as of January 2021.

Many of Immediate’s brands recorded significant growth across all platforms, key highlights include:

BBC Gardeners’ World magazine posted a 33% increase in circulation across print and digital
BBC Good Food increased circulation by 10% year-on-year
olive magazine recorded annual growth of 38%
Radio Times, the UK’s biggest-selling quality magazine, recorded its most positive performance since 2014, with a weekly combined ABC of 497,852, up 6.2% period-on-period.
Youth & Children’s portfolio cemented position as UK’s number one publisher in the sector, posting 20% year on year growth

Tom Bureau, Immediate CEO, says: “These results demonstrate the enduring appeal of Immediate’s brands, both in print and digital. Our special interest brands, in these extraordinary times, have become more important than ever to our audiences, helping them get the most out of their passions and hobbies, whether that be cooking, gardening, cycling or watching the latest streaming sensation. In the last year we have grown our paid and premium reach across all platforms, a testament to our commitment to consistently deliver world class content and create a platform for further growth.”

Detailed Highlights:

Headline Circulation

Immediate’s ABC-audited print circulation is 2,277,373, an increase of 36% period-on-period and 5% year-on-year.
Immediate’s ABC-audited digital editions circulation recorded a total circulation of 144,141, up 178% period-on-period and 148% year-on-year.
With 1,018,420 subscribers, a 14% increase year-on-year, Immediate remains the leading magazine publishing company for subscriptions. (Includes print and digital editions of Immediate Media Co brands, and BBC Top Gear Magazine, published under contract for BBC Studios, plus titles not audited in this period.)
Immediate’s digital website portfolio also saw record growth in 2020, almost doubling its audience, in December 2020 we attracted 74m global users, up 40% year-on-year.

Radio Times

Radio Times, the UK’s biggest-selling quality magazine, has recorded its best annual performance since 2014, with a weekly combined ABC of 497,852, up 6.2% period-on-period.
The magazine generated over £39.5m in Retail Sales Value in 2020, retaining its position as the most valuable brand on the UK newsstand.
It remains UK’s biggest weekly subscription brand with 2,64,197 subscribers, up 9% year-on-year.
Radio Times Christmas issue, the largest revenue generating single issue magazine in the UK, grew its sale by 2.4% in 2020 to 1.47m copies and generated almost £6m in RSV.
Radio Times has the highest reach of any general weekly magazine brand (PAMCo) and RadioTimes.com, continues to attract new readers to the brand, reaching a record breaking 23.5million users in November, up 40% year-on-year.

Food

Immediate remains the UK’s leading Food publisher, with a combined circulation of 291,089, accounting for 84% of the core food market.
BBC Good Food magazine is the leading food magazine in the UK, with a combined circulation of 200,039, up 27% period-on-period and 10% year-on-year, maintaining market share of 58% in the food category.
BBC Good Food’s Christmas issue in November sold over 258, 818, up 4% and delivered over £1.1million in RSV, up 4.4% year-on-year.
Good Food now has 130,936 subscribers, up 26% year-on-year
BBC Good Food magazine has the biggest brand reach of any UK magazine title (PAMCo), and in 2020 bbcgoodfood.com, delivered a 1.4 billion page-views, up 69% year-on-year.
olive magazine grew its circulation by an impressive +19% period-on-period and +38% year-on-year to 40,580, driven by a 73% growth in print and digital subscriptions.
olivemagazine.com has seen an incredible digital growth year-on-year, delivering 94.8 million global page views, up 89% year-on-year, and delivered 38 million global users in total in 2020.

Gardening

BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine delivered a combined ABC of 226,806 up 33% year-on-year.
BBC Gardeners’ World magazine has the highest monthly print readership and brand reach amongst all general interest monthlies (PAMCo), in January 2021, the brand reached its highest ever number of subscribers (179,878), up 52% year-on-year
Gardens Illustrated was up 10% with a combined circulation of 42,123.

Cycling

Boosted by the growing interest in cycling during the pandemic, both Cycling Plus and Mountain Biking UK, have reported healthy increases in joint print and digital circulations.
Cycling Plus maintained its lead as the UK’s number one road cycling magazine with a combined circulation of 28,952, up 5% year-on-year.
Mountain Biking UK saw an annual increase of 6% with a combined circulation of 21,465.

Youth & Children’s

Immediate continues to be the number one publisher in the Youth and Children’s market, with a combined ABC circulation of 891,704 up 20% year-on-year and 11% period-on-period.
Immediate remained the no.1 pre-school publisher. The Cbeebies portfolio has the greatest share of the pre-school market; with fortnightly Cbeebies Magazine selling 46,792, up 17% period-on-period, CBeebies Art selling 38,309, up 14% period-on-period and Cbeebies Special posting an impressive 49,681, which is up and 14% period-on-period and 3% year-on-year.
PJ Masks delivered the highest increase in the market, posting an ABC of 38,132, up 25% period-on-period and 24% year-on-year.
Frozen Magazine is the best-selling title in the primary sector with an ABC of 57,939 copies, up 0.3% year on year.
The top 5 boys’ magazines are all published by Immediate with growth from LEGO brands such as LEGO Star Wars (up 14% period-on-period), LEGO Specials (up 1% period-on-period and 19% year-on-year) and new launch LEGO Superhero Legends with ABC of 34,572.
Established brands such as Pokemon also saw growth, 1% period-on-period and 3% year-on-year plus Immediate’s own brand MEGA, up 1% period-on-period and 3% year-on-year.
Girl Talk posted growth of 16.3% period-on-period and 5% year-on- year, posting an ABC of 38,008.

London Review of Books

London Review of Books Secures 10,000 New Subscribers In Strong Year For Print Magazines

New data released today (Thursday 11th February) by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) has revealed that subscribers to the London Review of Books rose by 12.7% in 2020, with over 10,000 new readers signing up to receive the fortnightly magazine of ideas.

The LRB’s average circulation now stands at 88,421, following twenty-one consecutive years of steady subscriber growth unmatched by any other literary magazine. It continues to significantly outperform many of its competitors in the ‘high-brow niche' category, including the New Statesman and Prospect which recorded circulations of 36.6k and 32.3k respectively for the year.

In 2020, the LRB provided agenda-setting opinion and insight on the issues that dominated the year, from regular reportage from Wuhan to clinician scientist Rupert Beale’s updates on the development of Covid-19 vaccines, to Pankaj Mishra, Ferdinand Mount, Adam Tooze and Eliot Weinberger on the politics of the crisis, Brexit, and Trump. Patricia Lockwood wrote about her experience of contracting Covid-19, Meehan Crist asked is it OK to have a child in an age of climate crisis, and Amia Srinivasan reflected on the politics of pronouns, while Katherine Rundell considered creatures including the Greenland shark, and Lauren Oyler took issue with Jia Tolentino.

In addition, the magazine offered readers welcome distractions from the news via its ‘escapist newsletter’ Diverted Traffic, a daily read from the LRB archive ‘chosen for its compulsive, immersive and escapist qualities, and also for its total lack of references to plague, pandemics or quarantine’. Further lockdown initiatives included the ‘Screen at Home’ events programme, in which curator and producer Gareth Evans hosts conversations about films with a line-up of special guests from the LRB’s stable of writers and beyond. The third season of ‘Screen at Home’ began on 3rd February 2020 with guests including Geoff Dyer, Marina Warner and Sir Willard White.

Reneé Doegar, Commercial Director of the London Review of Books, commented: “I am incredibly proud of what the company managed to achieve in this unprecedented and unpredictable year: from strong and relevant marketing to the right new audiences, to maintaining advertising spend against the odds, to making downloadable PDF issues for our readers who were having postal issues, through to an incredibly quick pivot to monetise online events, bringing in e-commerce bookselling (practically overnight!), and turning our Bloomsbury café into a takeaway. It’s been a company-wide triumph, against the odds, and we are delighted to have been able to offer so much to our readers during this difficult time.”

The LRB recently announced that Mary-Kay Wilmers was stepping down as editor and will be succeeded by deputy editor Jean McNicol and senior editor Alice Spawls. Mary-Kay Wilmers will continue to be closely involved with the paper as consulting editor.

New Statesman

New Statesman enjoys digital subscription growth of 75% alongside a rapid rise in paid-for subscriptions as it pivots for future expansion

New Statesman has announced digital subscription growth of 75% in just one year, with subscription revenues also up 77% in three years following significant investment in its journalism and the launch of new brands and associated digital services.

New Statesman Editor-in-Chief, Jason Cowley adds: “At this time of multifaceted crisis, our response has been to accelerate investment and invest in journalism. In recent months, Philip Collins, John Gray, Chris Deerin, Rachel Cunliffe and Louise Perry have joined the team as exclusive NS writers and we are planning to hire even more outstanding writers. The New Statesman has successfully rebuilt from a low base over recent years and we are now in a position to accelerate our expansion – which includes international expansion under the leadership of Jeremy Cliffe and the launch of a new website. I am delighted by our organic growth and that, across all of our platforms, we are reaching more engaged readers than ever before. I would like congratulate the whole team on all their efforts.”

New Statesman has successfully managed to reduce controlled free and bulk copies by 49%, with actively purchased copies now accounting for 86% of its circulation, up from 70% in 2019. Its multi-platform publishing model has ensured the newly revamped offering is conquering the digital space.

Redan Publishing

Remarkable Circulation Results for UK’s Leading Independent Children’s Magazine Publisher, Redan Publishing Ltd

With over 30 years’ experience in publishing high quality, award-winning children’s magazines plus a reputation of excellence in the industry, Redan Publishing is proud to report outstanding ABC results.

The most recent ABC results places the Redan portfolio in a leading and enviable position in the tables. All four of Redan’s Fun To Learn titles appear in the Top 10 of Pre-school magazines with Fun To Learn Peppa Pig Bag O’ Fun taking top spot for the 5th consecutive year. This unstoppable magazine also climbed back to #1 across All Children’s magazines with an excellent circulation of over 67,000 per issue.

Fun To Learn Peppa Pig comes in at #2 for the Pre-school category with very impressive year growth of 24% since the last reporting period. The very popular pre-school multi-character title Fun To Learn Friends increased by an outstanding 25% on the previous six-month period to a circulation of just under 45,000 per issue and came in at number #5. Fun To Learn Favourites also grew through 2020 and placed at #9 in the ranking.

Redan’s multi-character title, Sparkle World performed strongly finishing up in second place in Primary Girls and saw the largest year on year growth in the category with a 10% increase. Overall, a hugely encouraging set of results for the Shrewsbury based publisher.

Julie Jones MD said, “Following on from a year like no other, it is really joyous to see such remarkable results across all of our titles. Reflecting on this performance, I’m relieved that the market as a whole has stood up to an incredibly challenging time and feel extremely proud of the Redan team for their dedication, continued innovation and fresh creative ideas, and for everyone excelling at what they do.”

The Spectator

The Spectator Achieves Record Sales In A Declining Market

The Spectator today recorded its highest ever jump in paid circulation, with the announcement of the latest ABC results.

In an otherwise declining news and current affairs sector, The Spectator boasts a year on year increase in actively purchased sales of 18.6% from 83,020 for H2 2019 to 98,486 for the whole of 2020.

Our H2 2020 figure (no longer recorded by the ABC) is 106,115, therefore a more accurate representation of our year on year growth is 27.8%

Spectator Editor, Fraser Nelson said: “When we packed up for lockdown last year, we feared the worst and furloughed staff. But we found the demand for our journalism had only increased.

“We were badly hit (newsagent sales and events especially) but saw we had a way out. In 2019, we sold an average 80,455 copies globally. We set a goal of hitting 100,000 (which would mean overtaking the weekday sales of two newspapers). We returned our furlough money to the taxpayer, and asked people who liked our journalism to pay for it. I’m delighted to announce that this goal has now been met.”

In addition to this achievement, The Spectator will this week surpass the 100,000 subscriber milestone for the first time in its 193 year history. The world’s oldest magazine is now also Europe’s fastest growing politics and current affairs publication.

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