Below are statements from: Bauer Media, BBC Worldwide, Condé Nast, DC Thomson, Dennis Publishing, Egmont, Future, Grand Designs, H Bauer Publishing, Haymarket, Hearst Magazines UK, Immediate Media Co, IPC Media, PPA, Psychologies, Shortlist Media, Slimming World and Square Up Media.
ABC rule changes
In January 2014, ABC announced a package of important changes for Consumer Magazines reporting. These changes were made in the interests of greater clarity and transparency and were agreed by consensus from the ABC Board on the 29th January, affecting both this and the next reporting period.
Changes in this period (July – December 2013 and released on 13th February 2014):
* The introduction of combined print and digital edition totals on ABC certificates and the ABC Consumer Magazines report.
* The Issue by Issue/Monthly Consumer Magazines report will now be published on the same day as the Consumer Magazines report, rather than a month in arrears.
Changes in the next period (January – June 2014 and released on 14th August 2014):
* Reporting of month-by-month circulation figures will become mandatory.
* The monthly totals and the proportion which is actively purchased will appear on each Consumer Magazine ABC certificate and also in the Issue by Issue/Monthly Consumer Magazine report.
* The number of bundled subscriptions sold for a combined print and digital package will also be clearly stated on the certificate.
Bauer Media
Bauer Media’s consumer brands have delivered strong ABC performances with heat outperforming its rivals both period-on-period and year-on-year.
Its editors and content creators continue to focus on serving audiences with entertainment and inspiration wherever, whenever and however they want it, providing impressive reach and innovative engagement opportunities for commercial partners.
Bauer Media reaches valuable audiences across multiple-platforms, offering a premium environment for advertisers to engage with consumers. The heat brand now has over 7m consumer touch points across radio, magazine, TV, online and mobile.
During the June-December 2013 period Grazia published a new season collector’s issue in response advertiser demand and the brand’s reach was grown through its website Graziadaily, its award-winning tablet edition and by launching on to mobile devices. Grazia’s innovation extended to commercial partnerships such as a summer partnership with Starbucks and Blackberry’s sponsorship of the brand’s annual Fashfactor talent search.
Mother & Baby, the number one parenting brand, relaunched with a brand new fully device-responsive website, suite of apps and eBooks. FHM celebrated its first male cover star in decades and Unilever’s Pot Noodle partnered with the brand for an exclusive six-figure cross-media deal. Empire delivered four exclusive ‘first-look’ Hobbit covers while MOJO celebrated its 20th year.
Yours continues to expand into every aspect of its readers’ lives from events to retirement services to shopping to dating. Online fashion retailer JD Williams signed as headline sponsor for the 2013 Yours Grandparent of the Year Awards, targeting the over 50s market.
Last week saw the launch of The Debrief, a new digital-first brand for constantly connected, influential ABC1 20-something women. The brand delivers a distinct mix of tailored content that mirrors the consumer’s behaviour 24/7 and provides unique new opportunities for native advertising dialogues.
Paul Keenan, Chief Executive, Bauer Media, commented: “Bauer Media’s powerful portfolio of brands continue to focus on building engagement among valuable audiences by delivering relevant, world-class content through the right channels. This is evidenced in the performance and reach of our multi-platform heat brand and the recent launch of The Debrief, a genuinely different platform for engaging with young women.
Our ongoing commitment to product excellence is reflected in strong ABC performances from heat, which outperforms the celebrity weekly market both period-on-period and year-on-year, Yours which has had another strong period with continued stability, Garden News which delivers significant year-on-year growth and Classic Cars, which thanks to a fresh new look and new editorial franchises shows a growth of +6.05% on last period.
Commercial partners are increasingly looking for multi-platform reach and engagement, they fully understand, value and embrace the connection we have with our passionate communities of consumers. The ground-breaking neuroscience research we carried out across the heat platforms last year helped give advertisers valuable insight into the effectiveness of these cross-platform campaigns.”
CELEBRITY WEEKLIES
heat (w) – 241,328
heat has outperformed the celebrity weekly market both period-on-period (pop) and year-on-year (yoy), demonstrating its unwavering focus on delivering the very best in celebrity news and entertainment every week. The brand continues to grow across its multiple platforms. heat’s digital channels have demonstrated strong performances with heatworld consistently delivering more than 1.5 million UK unique users per month, as well as the social footprint engaging over 650K (Twitter, Facebook, You Tube and Instagram) users. heat’s unique multi-channel strategy is further cemented with heat radio delivering a solid RAJAR result of 714,000 weekly listeners. All of these channels have been brought together for the heat consumer housed within in the heat extra app, now totalling over 90,000 downloads.
Closer (w) – 337,190
Closer continues to be the highest selling full price standalone title in the celebrity weekly market. The magazine has achieved a massive market share of 19% for single issue in JD13 and the brand’s digital offering www.closeronline.co.uk is showing excellent growth following its re-launch in September 20113 showing triple digit growth, +200% from June to December 2013.
WOMEN’S LIFESTYLE
Yours (f) – 271,025
Yours has had another strong period with yet another market-beating performance and continued stability -1.1% (pop) and -0.4% (yoy). Crucial to its success is a deep emotional connection with its 50+ readers every fortnight. This connection has enabled the Yours brand to continue to expand into every aspect of its readers’ lives from events to retirement services to shopping to dating.
Grazia (w) – 160,019
Grazia continues grow its reach to upscale and influential women across multiple platforms with Grazia Daily showing significant growth year on year. Page views for the website are up +131% and monthly unique users up +13% during 2013. At the heart of Grazia’s success is a deep understanding of its audience, a commitment to keeping the consumer in the know and consistently delivering content whenever, wherever, however she wants it.
FILM
Empire (m) – 145,117
Empire dominates the film market outselling the nearest competitor by over two to one and is the number two in the wider men’s market. Over the last six months Bauer has continued to invest in global brand growth, and as a truly cross-platform brand we have further enhanced our digital properties engaging film loving audiences across the world via our many touch points.
MUSIC
MOJO (m) – 74,203
MOJO is the biggest title in the music market, engaging its upscale loyal audience with a quality, immersive music experience. In October 2013 the magazine celebrated 20 years of publishing excellence with a landmark, collector’s issue. The celebratory issue featured an exclusive cover hand drawn by Kate Bush which reinforced the founding MOJO principle of producing a magazine which transcends time, place and genre and simply celebrates the very best in music. The brand’s website www.MOJO4Music.com also underwent a successful relaunch in July 2013 bring compelling content to music fans 24/7.
Kerrang! (w) – 34,127
Kerrang! is the world’s largest weekly music magazine, attracting an influential, passionate young audience across its multiple platforms and engaging with over 5 million music lovers each month through online, radio, TV and print. The annual Kerrang! Awards attract the biggest names in rock and the Kerrang! Tour presents an amazing opportunity for readers to engage directly with the brand.
GARDENING
Garden News - 33,688
Following its February reinvention and record-breaking performance in the first half of 2013, Garden News continues to deliver outstanding results week-on-week, culminating in the reclaiming the number one spot in the highly competitive weekly gardening market. The brand has delivered significant growth in the July-December period with sales up a remarkable +24.21% (yoy) and +0.68% (pop).
Garden Answers - 17,807
Sister title Garden Answers has also performed strongly registering an impressive +7.06% year-on-year growth in the July-December period.
MOTORING
Classic Cars - 35,869
Classic Cars has delivered a fantastic ABC performance during the July-December period, showing growth of +4.91% (yoy) and +6.05% (pop).
MCN - 85,651
MCN strengthened its leadership of the UK motorcycling market, growing its share of newsstand sales to over 55% and subscription sales by 15% year-on-year. The MCN digital edition, launched in February, significantly increased the title’s overseas audience, while the brand continues to grow its reach online via motorcyclenews.com and social channels. The MCN brand now engages with over 1.9m consumers through its various touchpoints.
BBC Worldwide
According to the most recent ABC’s, BBC Worldwide’s magazine titles BBC Top Gear Magazine, BBC Good Food Magazine and BBC Easy Cook have outperformed the market and posted positive results despite tough trading conditions.
BBC Good Food Magazine - the UK’s leading food title - has grown its circulation in the market posting figures of 257,424 with the Christmas issue seeing newsstand sales growth of more than seven per cent year on year. Digital has also seen a huge increase with figures at 11,420.
Across its portfolio, the BBC Good Food brand story is stronger than ever with a redesigned and fully responsive website now reaching an audience of 12 million unique users per month. The BBC Good Food Show live events business continues to go from strength to strength with exciting new launches for 2014 including the BBC Good Food Show Spring in Harrogate and a new show at an iconic London landmark scheduled for the summer.
Nicholas Brett, Director UK Publishing at BBC Worldwide comments: “BBC Good Food Magazine has been a run-away success story this period, outperforming rivals and growing market share. Into its 25th year the magazine continues to be out in front and is engaging food lovers across a wide range of formats. The magazine app continues to post impressive revenue growth and our online presence has reached an astonishing number of unique users. With an established readership, rocketing digital growth, new live events and some exciting developments in the next 12 months, the future looks bright for this incredible brand.”
Budget food title BBC Easy Cook, successfully redesigned and repositioned as the UK’s best value food magazine, continues to grow its market share and lead the market. With circulation figures of 45,282, BBC Easy Cook has enjoyed a successful year demonstrating strong growth potential for the year ahead.
“BBC Easy Cook founded the budget cooking market place and still leads the way despite a crowded sector, with an impressive period on period performance. Digitally it is has seen impressive growth as it continues to evolve to respond to the needs of its readers” commented Nicholas Brett.
Leading motoring title BBC Top Gear Magazine continues to dominate the sector and remains the number one UK motoring title, selling twice as many copies as its closest rival with a circulation of 137,482. In fact BBC Top Gear outsells FHM and GQ, and is second only to Men’s Health in the UK men’s market. Digital remains a fantastic opportunity for growth, with figures up 136% year on year now accounting for 9% of combined circulation figures at 13,402.
Nicholas Brett added “2013 was BBC Top Gear Magazine’s 20th Anniversary and to have shown growth in our combined circulation numbers proves that the magazine and the brand remain as compelling to readers as ever. In print we’ve produced a series of very strong issues on the back of some incredible editorial exclusives, and with some huge car launches in the next 12 months we’re very confident that the magazine will continue to perform well throughout 2014, both in the UK and overseas where we remain the world’s number one motoring monthly.
Sales of our digital edition have been outstanding, doubling over the last 12 months. We are pleased that the magazine is such a hit with the audience and our advertisers, who we are also working with closely and delivering some fantastic results to back up their investment.
Top Gear’s social media reach continues to be a phenomenon with a global audience that now exceeds 26m, whilst online Topgear.com’s traffic is growing as a direct result of a renewed editorial positioning. All of which points towards continued success for this powerhouse of a global brand.”
Condé Nast
Condé Nast posts new ABC figures, combining print and digital sales, for the period July to December 2013. The quality glossy portfolio continues to perform robustly, with 7 titles displaying digital edition and subscription growth.
VOGUE
The fashion bible, Vogue announces a new ABC of 201,077, with UK actively purchased copies up 5% period on period and 2.1% year on year.* Digital edition sales have increased by 9.4% period on period and 124.5% year on year, while UK subscriptions have grown by 10.6% period on period.
HOUSE & GARDEN
With a new ABC of 120,008, House & Garden has increased UK subscriptions by 2.7% period on period, and is the pre-eminent quality magazine for design and decoration.
BRIDES
The leading quality bridal magazine, Brides posts an ABC of 53,073. UK subscriptions rise by 5.9%. Gross brand reach exceeds 1 million (1,032,392) for the first time.
TATLER
The original social media, Tatler announces a new ABC of 83,209, maintaining its position as the leading chronicle of Britain’s high society. Digital edition sales have risen by 2.6% period on period and 19.4% year on year.
THE WORLD OF INTERIORS
Announcing a new ABC of 58,008, The World of Interiors remains the go-to magazine for design professionals and opinion formers.
GQ
GQ continues to dominate the sector as the market-leading quality men’s monthly, announcing an ABC of 127,040, with an increase of 2.6% in UK actively purchased copies period on period. Digital edition sales continue to grow, with an increase of 3.3% year on year.
VANITY FAIR
An ABC of 90,018 is posted for Vanity Fair. UK actively purchased sales have increased 2.7% period on period, with digital edition sales up by 4.4% period on period and 12.2% year on year. UK subscriptions rise by 2.9% period on period.
CONDÉ NAST TRAVELLER
The world’s most discerning travel title, Condé Nast Traveller announces an ABC of 78,014, an increase in UK subscriptions of 2.4% period on period. The title is the leading luxury British travel publication.
GLAMOUR
The market leader, Glamour posts a new ABC of 415,258, an increase of 2.5% period on period. UK actively purchased sales have risen by 1.4% and total actively purchased copies are up by 2.8% period on period. Digital editions are up 4.4% period on period and 12.5% year on year.
WIRED
Wired has a new ABC of 57,497, level period on period. Digital edition sales continue to display growth, increasing 1.4% period on period and 18.1% year on year.
GQ STYLE, the definitive bi-annual guide to men’s fashion in the UK, continues to perform strongly, while edgy bi-annual LOVE sets the style agenda and has just published the ‘Fantasy’ issue.
Nicholas Coleridge, President, Condé Nast International and Managing Director, Condé Nast Britain, comments “It’s great to see a surge in sales for Glamour in the past six months, and our titles making similar progress in digital editions. This is a terrific time to be publishing quality magazines.”
* In each case Condé Nast’s period on period and year on year comparisons refer to total combined print and digital circulations, to allow for parity with this period’s ABC print and digital combined gross total.
DC Thomson
DC Thomson titles, The People’s Friend, Animals and You and Jacqueline Wilson celebrate year-on-year growth.
Following a January to June 2013 period-on-period increase of over 1%, The People’s Friend continues to grow its circulation figures with a 0.1% (average issue sale of 240,051 copies) year-on-year increase.
DC Thomson Head of Circulation (Magazines) Iain McKenzie explains, “This is a significant milestone for The People’s Friend and a great performance in what continues to be a challenging market place. Particularly pleasing is our fantastic growth in subscription sales which now accounts for almost 25,000 copies per week, an increase of over 29% on last year.”
The People’s Friend Editor-in-Chief Angela Gilchrist added, “I am absolutely delighted by this latest result – achieving a year-on-year circulation increase is every Editor’s dream. The ‘Friend’ is enjoying one of the most successful periods in its 145-year history, thanks to a truly magnificent combined effort involving the editorial, design, marketing, advertising and promotional teams – and, not least, the staff members responsible for our outstanding growth in subscriber numbers. It’s wonderful to see all our hard work resulting in such success.”
Two of DC Thomson’s children’s titles, Animals and You and The Official Jacqueline Wilson Mag, have also posted year-on-year increases. Posting its highest ABC figure since June 2008, Animals and You was up 15% (an average issue sale of 33,406 copies) year-on-year whilst, The Official Jacqueline Wilson Mag, posted its highest ABC figure in the title’s history, up 1.0% (average issue sale of 46,848 copies) year-on-year.
DC Thomson Publisher (Children’s Entertainment) Maria Welch said, “This is fantastic news for Animals and You and The Official Jacqueline Wilson Mag, a publication which has exceeded all expectations and in revenue terms is now the 10th largest children’s title in the UK. The Editorial teams of both titles work hard to maintain reader appeal making our girls’ magazines the success that they are.”
DC Thomson Head of Advertising (Magazines) Andrew Williams added, “To see sales increases across these three titles is extremely encouraging as it offers an attractive proposition for any advertiser, particularly in the current climate.”
Dennis Publishing
Dennis Publishing, one of the UK’s leading independent media companies, is pleased to announce its July to December 2013 ABC report, in-line with the bureau’s new digital inclusive guidelines.
Its flagship current affairs title, The Week, reports an impressive print circulation increase of 2.2% to 198,339. In line with the new ABC regulations, the report audits the digital editions for technology and imaging titles Computer Active, PC Pro and Web User for the first time. Digital editions are continuing to grow for Women’s Fitness and Men’s Fitness, reporting increases of 58.9% YOY and 3% YOY respectively.
James Tye, CEO of Dennis Publishing, said: “I’m delighted that The Week is showing such strong print circulation figures in the current market. The Week has shown an outstanding resilience to the print pressures publishers are facing as it rapidly expands its brand footprint across the digital map.”
“I’m also heartened that the new ABC guidelines are moving forward with the introduction of a new combined audit. This is an important first step but the guidelines also need to address the changing habits of consumers, mobile usage and the importance of user experience in general. If a digital edition is a simple replica of the print version, then the new ABC methodology works well. If it is an enhanced mobile edition – such as our HTML editions of Men’s Fitness (no longer covered by the audit since its update last month) and evo – then they can’t currently be measured. This is a shame as they both have a significant digital readership proving that a platform that extends beyond simple page turning, is what readers really want. We look forward to working with the ABC to help develop the audit to include cutting edge mobile products in the future.”
Dennis Publishing ABC in numbers:
* The Week Print– Up 2.2% to 198,339
* Web User Print – UP 0.9% to 28,739
* Digital editions increase for Men’s Fitness up 3% YOY and Women’s Fitness up 58.9% YOY
Egmont
Egmont Magazines, the children’s magazine division of Egmont UK, enjoyed a robust set of ABC results for the period July – December 2013, with titles Toxic and Go Girl leading the way.
The strength of Egmont’s magazines was demonstrated by the fifth consecutive period of growth for Toxic, which remains the UK’s number one tween boy’s magazine. The title reported a 12.8% growth yoy and 1% growth pop, by continuing to deliver exciting and relevant content for its target market.
For Toxic, 2013 was also a year of digital innovation, including its first interactive issue in partnership with ‘Aurasma’, the launch of its bespoke website and its first two apps in June.
Go Girl, Egmont’s title for pre-teen girls, also reported consecutive periods of growth, with circulation increases of 21.9% yoy and 11.4% pop. Continued investment in consumer insight has paid dividends in guiding and ensuring editorial freshness.
The combined success of Toxic and Go Girl demonstrates Egmont’s expertise in magazines across the pre-teen market.
The growth of the Disney Portfolio, with circulation increasing 11.2% yoy and 18.4% pop, was bolstered by new launch of Disney Stars. The title, which launched in July 2013, enjoyed a strong first set of ABC figures, with a circulation of over 45,000.
We Love Pop saw an increase of 5% pop, an impressive result in the current tough pre-teen girls market.
Circulation of Monster High also grew 11.2% yoy; part of the global Egmont magazine offering, this title is now published in 24 different territories.
Monster High Magazine also boasts a successful app which is formed from content from the magazine and features interactive stories, plus a design section for personalised Monster High creations. Fans can also visit the Monster Store in the app for additional stories, webisodes, pins and other features. The app has seen over 40,000 downloads, demonstrating Egmont’s ability to build a deeply engaged fanbase.
Following its relaunch at the start of 2013, Thomas & Friends also saw an enormous increase, growing 42.3% yoy and 28.4% pop – a great example of keeping a heritage brand fresh, exciting and in growth.
Another relaunch success is Hello Kitty Magazine with increases of 19.4% yoy and 6.4% pop.
Egmont plan to continue this growth with a range of new launches in 2014. Angry Birds Magazine will launch in July this year. Targeting 6-9 year-old boys and girls, Angry Birds will be packed with stickers, puzzles, games and things to make plus an exclusive pull-out comic book. Disney Infinity Magazine will launch in April, following the launch of the game in August 2013, and will be comprised of game news, upcoming product information, tips and secrets, as well as character information.
This continued investment in new titles demonstrates Egmont’s ambition to constantly evolve and grow.
Gillian Laskier, Managing Director, Egmont Magazines, said: “This is another strong set of ABC results for Egmont’s magazine portfolio. Our magazine sales continue to grow with a 5.7% year-on-year increase.
We are very proud of our expertise in both the pre-teen boys and girls markets, demonstrated by a fifth consecutive period of growth for Toxic and an increase of 21.9% yoy for Go Girl.
As a specialist children’s publisher we have an in depth understanding our market – and we continue to work closely with various parties who value a quality offering for children.”
Future
Future, the international specialist media group and leading digital publisher, today unveils its latest ABC circulation figures for the period ending December 2013. The results show that Future remains the number one publisher of digital editions in the UK, delivering 125,551 audited editions every month - more than twice as many as the nearest rival.
Future’s transformation into an international, digitally-led content business continues at pace, and its brand reach has never been greater. Focused on building brands across multiple channels, and innovating digitally, Future continues to grow its audience – and deepen levels of engagement - across its portfolio.
Future now attracts 58 million global monthly unique users to its online brands, and sold over five million copies of its digital editions last year, driving $1.2 million gross revenue a month.
In 2013 Future sold over 19 million print copies internationally, that’s 37 copies every minute of every day. Meanwhile our video content delivered over 132 million views last year, and Future has over 6.5 million followers across all major social networks.
Mark Wood, CEO of Future, says, “Our strategic transition towards becoming a digitally-focused content business continues and is clearly reflected in this set of ABC figures, which again underlines our position as the number one publisher of digital editions in the UK.
“Future’s mission is to reach and grow high-value global audiences with world-class content, and to be tireless innovators in the way we engage with consumers and generate value for our commercial partners. As well as strong digital edition growth, beyond the ABC audit our online brands such as TechRadar.com, BikeRadar.com, Cyclingnews.com and GamesRadar.com are setting the pace in their respective categories.”
Future’s ABC highlights
* T3 remains the UK’s best-selling digital edition
* N-Photo saw significant year-on-year increases in both print and digital circulation, of 19.3% and 36.6% respectively.
* Cycling Plus increases its circulation for the 14th year in succession, with a combined monthly increase of 2.3% to 51,155.
* Guitarist’s print and digital editions combined deliver a year-on-year increase of 1.6%.
* Mollie Makes reports an increase in both print and digital with 0.4% and 0.3% respectively, delivering 39,755 monthly audited copies.
* Future Music has the highest percentage of digital in its combined circulation across all reporting titles – 44%.
Grand Desings
Grand Designs Magazine recorded another strong combined print/digital ABC performance of 33,913, representing a 2.0% period-on-period and 1.0% year-on-year increase. This is the magazine’s fifth consecutive year-on-year ABC increase and its highest ABC for nearly six years.
Print subscriptions remained high achieving an average sale of 13,254 per issue. Grand Designs was one of the first home-interest magazines to successfully launch a digital version in 2011, with monthly digital sales now standing at 3,474 per issue. A new interactive digital version has just been launched further enhancing the magazines digital offering to readers.
The publishers attribute this ABC performance to effective subscription marketing activity and continued digital sales growth.
Editor Lisa Allen comments: “This is another great achievement for us.
Grand Designs Magazine always gives its readers the unique editorial content they expect, plus much more, and these results prove that the brand remains strong, credible and appealing.”
H Bauer Publishing
H Bauer Total ABCs: 2,911,662 UP +1.3% YOY
TV LISTINGS
TV Listings Market performance: 3,890,321 (YOY -4.1%, POP 1.8%)
TV CHOICE
“An additional 144,737 sales a week for Britain’s number one magazine!”
ABC: 1,374,813
YOY +11.8%
POP +7.2%
H Bauer’s TV Choice has added a staggering 144,737 sales a week to its headline ABC figure and with an ABC of 1,374,813, now outsells its nearest rival by an average of 323,684 copies a week. What’s more it is the only title in the listings market to show growth both year on year (up 11.8%) and period on period (up 7.2%) “The legacy of the ill-fated TV Pick launch has only been a positive one for TV Choice. Even as our cover price moved back up at the start of the Autumn our readers, both new and existing, stayed with us and continue to enjoy a great editorial product with the best value listings in the market” says Publishing Director, Liz Watkinson.
TOTAL TV GUIDE
“Bauer’s Premium Listings committed to enhancing the reader experience”
ABC: 109,741
YOY -9.4%
POP -0.5%
Sales of Total TVGuide, Bauer’s premium listings title have remained steady period on period. Improvements to the product have been introduced to deliver even greater detail and clarity on the 10 pages a day of detailed TV & radio programme information. Total TVGuide is already the best value premium magazine in the market. With an incisive & enjoyable editorial package alongside the best listings coverage of the vast array of digital channels now available, including information on subscription on-demand services such as Netflix and Love Film, Total TV Guide demonstrates an on-going commitment to enhancing the reader experience in today’s multi-channel environment.
WOMEN’S WEEKLIES – CLASSICS
Classic Market performance: 902,421 (YOY -3.8%, POP 0.6%)
BELLA
“Share gain in total copy sales moves Bella up a notch in the Classic Market”
ABC: 215,360
YOY -1.4%
POP 3.0%
H Bauer’s Bella has added over 6,000 copy sales a week to its ABC figure, and with a market beating performance both period on period and year on year, has increased share and moved up a notch in the rankings on total sales performance. Already number one in its market in fully paid UK newsstand sales, Bella now sells over 29,000 full price copies per issue more than its nearest rival.
WOMEN’S WEEKLIES – TRUE LIFE
True Life Market performance: 1,788,836 (YOY -7.1 %, POP -0.4%)
THAT’S LIFE!
“Share growth from Bauer’s value true life title”
ABC: 278,770
YOY -5.3%
POP 1.3%
Full House magazine closed during the first half of the year providing a small boost for the value end of the market. That’s life capitalised on this opportunity and increased sales and share period on period. That’s life has shown strong share growth from 14.3% to 15.6% YOY, and a sales growth of 1.3% POP.
TAKE A BREAK
“Despite tough market conditions, still miles ahead of the rest of the pack”
ABC: 696,507
YOY -7.1%
POP -3.3%
Market conditions remained challenging during 2013 for Take a Break. However, continued investment in editorial and TV advertising further increased market share from 36.7%, to 38.9% year on year. Take a Break’s commitment to reader prize values and quality UK stories have ensured its continued dominance of the market.
H Bauer’s Take A Break and That’s Life! Combined, account for an impressive 55% share of the entire true life market.
COOKERY
Cookery Market performance: 633,089 (YOY 3.7%, POP 16.8%)
Bauer’s figures do not include non-ABC or retailer’s own magazines
EAT IN
“Period on period growth in an active food market”
ABC: 20,307
YOY -12.7%
POP 2.6%
The latest ABC figures show that the food market has definitely benefitted from a revived interest in home cooking, with period on period sales having increased across the board. With steady sales of over 20,000 copies, Eat In is now firmly entrenched as the essential companion to affordable home cooking for food lovers in the UK, a remarkable achievement given that when the title launched just 4 years ago it was the only title to offer accessible home cooking in a market dominated by high end players.
SPIRITUAL
SPIRIT & DESTINY
“Spirit & Destiny celebrates its 11th year as market leader in the spiritual lifestyle sector”
ABC: 43,573
YOY -7.9%
POP 6.2%
With an ABC of 43,573, H Bauer’s Spirit & Destiny celebrates its 11th year as market leader in the spiritual lifestyle sector, with period on period sales up 6.2%. The monthly magazine has enjoyed redesign and added some new content and features to ensure it continues to remain vital and up-to-date. In an increasingly materialistic world, Spirit & Destiny has a uniquely engaging relationship with its readers, providing a forum in which like-minded individuals can share experiences and benefit from guidance. Spirit & Destiny is the number one magazine for developing a spiritual life, whether readers are newcomers to this, or seasoned explorers of all things alternative.
David Goodchild, CEO, H Bauer Publishing, said: “TVChoice’s outstanding performance this ABC period is testament to the power of print to attract new audiences by focusing on delivering a first class service to its readers. H Bauer’s strength is in understanding the uniquely engaging role our magazines play in our readers’ lives and in continuously striving to maintain editorial excellence and relevance in an increasingly diverse media landscape. As the power house behind some of the UK’s best loved brands, read in millions of households throughout the UK, H Bauer is the ‘home of everyday women’.”
Haymarket
Haymarket Media Group today announces the latest ABC results for its consumer magazines from the January - December 2013 period, with promising growth in sales of its digital editions.
The company has delivered a strong digital performance across its consumer portfolio, with a total digital circulation of 30,558. This represents a more than three fold increase in digital sales on the same period last year (January - December 2012 total: 9,774). Digital editions now account for 6.2% of combined circulation compared with the combined figure of 1.9% in 2012.
FourFourTwo, the UK’s leading authority on all things football, delivered a standout print performance with growth of 16% period on period and flat year on year. Additionally, FourFourTwo has experienced a strong digital growth increasing its digital edition circulation by 2,084. Digital editions now represent 3.4% of the 87,658 total circulation.
Stuff, the UK’s best-selling gadget brand, maintains its position as the market leader in the tech sector with a total circulation of 77,340, 19.3% of which now comes from its digital editions. The brand also retains its position in the top 10 UK men’s lifestyle magazines.
Other highlights across Haymarket’s consumer portfolio include:
* The decline in print sales, in line with market conditions, has been more than halved by promising digital growth across Haymarket’s consumer portfolio
* F1 Racing sold 2,937 digital editions compared to 839 in 2012, with digital editions now representing 6.2% of total circulation
* What Hi-Fi? Sound & Vision have increased their digital share to 11.5% of its total circulation
* Autosport sold 2,150 digital editions in 2013 compared to 134 in 2012, meaning digital editions now represents 9.3% of total circulation
Kevin Costello, CEO of Haymarket Media Group, said: “The ABC results have seen Haymarket’s consumer magazines both maintain their competitive position in print and deliver a strong digital performance, with digital editions accounting for a growing share of our total circulation.”
“Our brands, including the fantastic success story which is FourFourTwo, continue to lead in their markets. Thanks to Haymarket’s focus on delivering high quality and engaging content across multiple platforms we are connecting passionate audiences with our clients and continue to extend our reach both in the UK and internationally.”
“Testament to this is the success of Haymarket’s FourFourTwo. FourFourTwo is now a truly multi-platform brand with an award-winning app, a international website and a legendary magazine on the cusp of its 20th birthday. These factors plus the forthcoming World Cup means that we’re in a great position to build on this performance both in the UK and overseas.”
Hearst Magazines UK
Hearst Magazines UK, Hearst Corporation’s principal business in the UK, has today announced Jul - Dec 2013 combined ABC figures for print and digital editions.
The UK’s largest digital magazine publisher, which publishes 19 magazines and 26 websites, has released a solid set of figures with 12 out of the 19 titles audited, posting either period on period growth or year on year growth.
Hearst Magazines UK continues to assert its dominance of the Women’s Lifestyle sector with flagship brand, Good Housekeeping, delivering a market leading combined print and digital ABC of 414,542, up 3.6% period on period and 0.4% year on year, further confirming its success at reaching ABC1 women.
Sister title Prima posts an equally strong combined print and digital performance up 3.7% period on period and 1.6% year on year.
Women’s Health, launched in 2012, continues to deliver exceptional growth and its combined print and digital ABC is up a market-leading 7.6% year on year and 4.5% period on period. Its ongoing success has seen Women’s Health increases its frequency from 6 issues to 10 issues this year (2014).
In the Men’s Lifestyle market, both Esquire and Men’s Health achieved print ABC increases – Esquire +4.2% period on period, Men’s Health +0.2% year on year.
Hearst UK’s weeklies division has also grown print and digital total sales by 1.3% period on period. In the Real Life sector, Real People is up an impressive 6.7% period on period and in the celebrity sector, Reveal has increased by 2.4% period on period. Inside Soap continues to dominate the Soap sector increasing by 2% period on period.
Highlights include:
* Market-leading performance from Good Housekeeping and Prima both delivering year on year and period on period increases driven by an excellent performance on the UK newsstand.
* Women’s Health, launched in Feb 2012, continues to grows its combined print and digital ABC to 112,512 up 7.6% year on year.
* In the Men’s Lifestyle market, both Esquire and Men’s Health achieved print ABC increases – Esquire +4.2% period on period Men’s Health +0.2% year on year
* Signs of stability returning to the weekly market as Hearst’s weeklies division grows total print and digital sales by 1.3% period on period including Real People up 6.7% period on period, Reveal up 2.4% period on period and Inside Soap up 2% period on period
* Seven titles achieve year on year growth in digital edition sales
Anna Jones, Chief Operating Officer of Hearst Magazines UK, says: “We are delighted with our latest ABC results, in particular the fantastic performance from Good Housekeeping, which is testament to the strength and quality of the brand. It’s an exciting time for our business. Our magazines continue to dominate their respective markets, while our fantastic digital growth and innovative new product launches, from Esquire Weekly to ELLE’s new mobile proposition, enable us to deliver the highest quality content to our audiences and advertisers across every dimension.”
Immediate Media Co
Immediate Media Co, the special interest content and platform company, announces another strong ABC result. The company continues to lead the consumer magazine market with a combined print and digital circulation of 2,608,713, representing 17.9% period on period growth and -0.5% year on year. With magazines published on behalf of third party clients, including the BBC, total circulation is 3,099,923.
Immediate also retains its leadership position for managing subscriptions in the UK with 1,030,000. Building on the company’s broader cross-media strategy, Immediate’s digital edition portfolio shows growth of 108% year on year and digital subs are up 106% for the same period.
Immediate Media Co CEO, Tom Bureau said: “This is another strong set of results from Immediate. Our special interest brands continue to have very robust print businesses, with digital edition growth accelerating. With a combined print and digital ABC flat year on year, we have a great base to develop our business.
Having a strong print portfolio is a vital component to our strategy as we accelerate our investment in people, technology and platforms to create a content and platform company in growth.”
Star performers contributing to this strong ABC performance in July – Dec 2013:
* Radio Times remains the UK’s biggest selling quality magazine and the most valuable at the newsstand. It is also the biggest weekly subscription title with 232,076 subscribers, a growth of 5.3% YoY. RT continues to dominate premium TV listing sector with 62% market share and outperformed the listings market PoP. Its Christmas issue was the UK’s biggest selling magazine of the year with over 2 million copies sold.
* BBC History Magazine continues its remarkable growth. It remains by far the UK’s biggest history brand and posts its 16th consecutive ABC increase. Digital sales continue to significantly grow, up 73.21% YoY to 11,139 and total combined brand footprint at almost 90,000.
* Immediate’s Youth and Children’s portfolio maintains its market leading position with 7.6% YoY growth and continues to invest with five new launches in the past year and with more planned. Particularly strong performances by children titles Girl Talk Art, Octonauts, CBeebies Special, Mega and BBC Doctor Who Adventures. In addition, BBC Match of the Day in the youth category grows market share against its nearest rival by 1.7% in the weekly market for the 4th year running and is also now the leading sports title at the newsstand in the UK.
* Wedding Portfolio with two highly performing titles, Immediate is firmly established as the number one publisher in the wedding market. Perfect Wedding becomes the top wedding monthly in the country with 5.6% growth YoY. You and Your Wedding also increases market share to establish its place as second biggest title in the UK and the number one bridal website.
* Many other Immediate wholly-owned brands and licensed titles have also recorded key achievements, including:
* 220 Triathlon,the number one UK magazine for triathletes, sees a print and digital 3% YoY growth
* Prima Baby is the only title in growth in the sector, with increases both PoP 6.1% and YoY 5.3%
* BBC Focus Magazine significantly growing sales of its digital editions up 43.5% YoY
In addition, the two BBC-owned magazines that are contract-published by Immediate also performed well in latest ABC results:
* BBC Good Food Magazine remains the number one food monthly. It has outperformed the market and increased market share by 1%. BBC Good Food now has just under five times more subscribers than its nearest competitor at 147,098, more than all its rivals combined. Its app now has a circulation of 11,420, up more than 20% YoY and is the biggest digital edition within the food and drink and women’s magazine market.
* BBC Top Gear Magazine remains the number one UK motoring title, selling twice as many copies as closest rival and its digital editions continue to demonstrate strong growth up 137% YoY, which now account for 9% of overall circulation. It is also the 5th best selling digital magazine in the UK.
“Our ongoing commitment to growing our subscriptions base and digital audience is generating great results. We have equipped our editorial teams with the tools and capabilities to publish content in an engaging way on a variety of platforms.” concludes Bureau.
RADIO TIMES
July-Dec 2013: 831,591
* Radio Times is the UK’s biggest selling quality magazine and the most valuable at newsstand.
* Radio Times is the UK’s biggest weekly subscription title with 232,076 subscribers, up 5.3% YoY.
* It is the UK’s 3rd biggest selling magazine and continues to dominate premium TV listing sector with 61.6% market share.
* Radio Times outperformed the premium listings market, which was down 7.2% YoY.
* The Radio Times Christmas issue was the biggest selling UK magazine of 2013.
* Growth in digital, with 6 months of record breaking visitor numbers on the website, unique users increased by 44% YoY to 4million.
* Successfully launched DiscoverTV app in November.
Kathy Day, MD, Radio Times Group: “Radio Times is a brand in very rude health. It is the UK’s biggest selling quality magazine; the most valuable magazine on the UK newsstand and the biggest selling weekly magazine on subscription. And with 4million monthly unique users on RadioTimes.com and a ground-breaking new app, Radio Times DiscoverTV, launching to great acclaim, Radio Times’ combined brand reach is now over 3million consumers a week. This is a powerhouse of a brand that just continues to grow.”
YOUTH & CHILDREN’S TITLES
* Strong year on year growth helped by new title launches – five in the last 12 months and more planned for current year.
* CBeebies Special publications grew 16% on prior period.
* Octonauts’ popularity sustained with growth of 2% year on year.
* BBC Match of the Day Magazine remains market-leading youth football title.
* Increased sales for recently launched pre-school title MEGA with 10% period on period growth.
* Impressive period on period increase for BBC Doctor Who Adventures following successful coverage of 50th anniversary and new doctor regeneration story.
Andy Marshall, Managing Director,Youth & Children: “In a dynamic sector, Immediate has maintained its market leader position with overall year on year growth of 7.6%. We launched five new titles last year: Blossom, Lego Legends of Chima, MEGA, Mr Men Little Miss and Tree Fu Rom. At the same time we’re proud to highlight the continuing success of titles such as BBC Top Of The Pops, which will be publishing its 250th edition in April; Girl Talk, the longest running pre-teen girls’ magazine, which celebrates its 500th issue in March; and BBC Match of the Day which has increased its market share to 55%. We are currently finalising 3 new licensing deals with global brands, while continuing to explore digital opportunities and exploit alternative revenue streams.”
WEDDING TITLES
* You & Your Wedding now second biggest title in the market growing share to 20.7% up from 19.9% in 2012.
* Immediate Media is the leading wedding publisher with a share is 36.9% up 33.5% in 2012.
Steven Seaton, Managing Director Specialist Division: “The figures are extremely promising for Immediate’s wedding portfolio, firmly establishing us as the number one publisher in the wedding market – with Perfect Wedding becoming the number one wedding monthly in the country, with great growth both period on period and year on year, whilst You and Your Wedding has increased its market share to establish itself the second biggest title in the market overall and the number one bridal website. The success of both titles is a testament to our investment in quality editorial in our print products, including interactive issues and special editions, which readers are clearly responding to.”
PRIMA BABY
Prima Baby has had a strong performance as the only paid-for title in growth in the sector, with increases both period on period and year on year.
* Only title in growth on the newsstand
* Prima Baby is now the second biggest title in the parenting market with a 29.6% share up from 25.3% last period.
Dominic Murray, Publisher Prima Baby: “We are really pleased with the fantastic performance of Prima Baby over the last twelve months. Immediate Media have increased investment in our parenting portfolio across print and digital with really promising results for Prima Baby as the only title in growth across the sector with 6.1% increase in circulation period on period and 5.3% year on year. Prima Baby has grown its market share and once again established ourselves as the number two title in the parenting market.”
BBC GARDENERS’ WORLD MAGAZINE
* BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine delivers a strong ABC performance with an ABC of 197,390.
* It leads the paid-for consumer gardening magazine market by a huge margin, and has again performed very well in context of the wider, non-core competitive set. BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine continues to excel at engaging a mainstream, mass-market audience with a specialist subject.
* It is the 9th most popular title in the UK for subscribers.
* It is now seeing significant positive growth in digital edition sales, coinciding with its first fully interactive issue, January 2014. Overall digital edition sales are up 191.6% year on year.
Dominic Murray, Publishing Director, BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine: “BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine continues to both lead the paid-for gardening category, with a market share of 57.6% and perform well in the context of wider lifestyle and general interest brands. We maintain investment that helps to build trust and loyalty with the audience and we continue to innovate. This year we have been pleased with the level of engagement with our new digital and interactive content. As we gear up for the key Spring period and the season ahead this is an exciting sign of things to come.”
BBC MATCH OF THE DAY MAGAZINE
* BBC Match of the Day Magazine is the market leading youth football title, having increased its market share against rival Match by 1.7% (from 53.7% to 55.4%) in the weekly market.
* BBC Match of the Day Magazine is also now the leading sport title at the UK newsstand.
* Successful campaign with Blippable interactive cover which produced the most interaction of any Blippar magazine collaboration.
* Writers Paz and Bez are firm fixtures on television, presenting on Match of the Day Kickabout.
* Regularly gifted with kids’ favourite Match Attax cards.
Jaynie Bye, BBC Match of the Day: “We are delighted to have increased our market share against our rival, Match. Footy-mad kids are voting with their pocket money for our winning mix of a strong brand, top interviews, brilliant design and innovative editorial, as well as our access to Match Attax cards. With a circulation of more than 180,000 per month we are also now the leading sports in the country and THE place for young football fans as we approach the World Cup.”
BI-ANNUAL AND ANNUAL TITLES
* BBC History Magazine remains by far the UK’s biggest history brand - the BBC History Magazine brand posts its 16th consecutive increase.
* BBC History Magazine’s digital sales continue to impress, up 73.21% year-on-year to 11,139.
* Gardens Illustrated has seen growth of+0.74% year-on-year. Steady digital growth has helped achieve this increase.
* 220 Triathlon posts another year-on-year increase, up 3% combined, reaffirming its position as the number one UK magazine for triathletes.
Dave Musgrove, Publisher, BBC History Magazine: "BBC History Magazine continues to be a great story. We've seen increases across the board, in both print and digital editions, and now with digital sales at a fantastic 11,139, we're knocking on the door of a total circulation of 90,000. That's phenomenal for a history magazine. Clearly the title's redesigned new look, coupled with our continuing focus on authoritative yet accessible content, strikes a chord with our audience. We've invested in online and digital and expect to see further growth there, particularly as history will continue to be big news in the year ahead, with the First World War anniversary set to stoke passion for the past yet further."
Andy Healy, Publishing Director, 220 Triathlon: "220 Triathlon continues to impress, reporting a 3% combined increase year-on-year. It is hugely encouraging to see further growth in the title’s subscriptions numbers and digital readership in a period that has seen us invest in extending 220’s brand footprint with the launch of the first Triathlon Show under Immediate’s ownership at the end of this month."
Andy Healy, Publishing Director, Specialist: "We are delighted that our specialist brands have remained resilient in a challenging period for the newstrade market. Our ongoing commitment to growing our subscriptions base and digital audience is paying off with Gardens Illustrated and BBC Countryfile Magazine posting combined increases for their respective auditing periods, and BBC Focus Magazine, BBC Music Magazine, BBC Wildlife Magazine, Homes & Antiques, Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine and BBC Sky at Night Magazine all recording significant growth in the sales of their digital editions."
IPC Media
IPC Media today unveils highlights from the latest round of ABC figures for its brands reporting in the period July to December 2013.
Charlie Meredith, managing director, IPC Advertising says: “We welcome the ABC’s inclusion of combined print and digital data in this period’s ABC report and the opportunity it affords us to demonstrate the overall reach of our market-leading brands. Our brands can be found on every tablet storefront, and we continue to expand our range of products and build our audiences.
“This period’s ABC results see healthy growth from some of our monthly and weekly women’s titles in both the lifestyle and real life sectors, once again demonstrating that IPC’s women’s brands continue to be a trusted source of advice, inspiration and escapism for both premium and more mainstream consumers. Our home interest titles consistently perform well - and this report is no exception - with six titles posting growth.
“Whether in print, digital edition, web, social media, live experiences or retail, IPC’s brands inspire consumers and start conversations. We continue to expand and look for new ways to engage with our audiences and ensure that our brands are everywhere our consumers need and want them to be.”
IPC’s ABC results include:
In the women’s market, key brands in both weekly and monthly sectors posted market-beating performances or circulation increases. IPC Southbank’s monthly lifestyle title woman&home reports substantial print growth of 3.8% on the period and 0.2% on the year to deliver a combined print and digital ABC of 356,282. The brand has stayed true to its core values and is consistently delivering a stylish mix of informative and enjoyable content reflecting the way women live and work today.
In the weekly market, IPC Connect’s Woman’s Own was once again the best performing title in its sector, outperforming the market both period-on-period and year-on-year for the second consecutive ABC period. Posting a combined print and digital ABC of 226,116, this ABC performance reflects a year-on-year print circulation increase of 1.3% and a period-on-period print increase of 2.2%. This strong performance is attributed to on-going editorial development producing a consistently high quality product.
Also in the women’s weekly sector, IPC Connect’s real life portfolio outperformed the print market on both the year and the period, with both Chat and Pick Me Up reporting period-on-period print ABC uplifts. Pick Me Up reports a 5.5% print uplift, posting a combined print and digital ABC of 183, 662 and Chat posted a 0.7% print uplift reporting a combined print and digital ABC of 331,102. The success of both titles this period confirms that consumers of real life titles are prepared to spend money on quality editorial products that offer real value for money.
IPC Southbank continues to be the clear leader in the home interest sector with a 49% share of the market. Six titles in the portfolio - which caters to every interiors enthusiast, from country to urban, modern to traditional and budget to upmarket -posted either period-on-period or year-on-year print increases.
Ideal Home retains its number one spot as the biggest home interest magazine and reports a steady year-on-year print increase of 0.4% to deliver a combined print and digital ABC of 193,101. Style at Home has cemented itself in the value sector and reports one of the biggest print circulation increases in the whole magazine sector, up 1.0% on the period and 10.1% on the year to deliver a combined print and digital ABC of 97,890.
Livingetc posts growth on the year taking its ABC to 94,728 and retains its position as the biggest-selling modern homes magazine, which continues to appeal to affluent, design-savvy readers. 25 Beautiful Homes, the inspirational homes glossy, achieved period-on-period and year-on-year print growth and outperforms the market with its unique offering of featuring more homes each month than any other title. Period-on-period it saw circulation growth of 0.1% and year-on-year growth of 1.6%, taking its combined print and digital ABC to 101,566.
Country Homes & Interiors builds on a very successful refresh in October 2013 and grew period-on-period sales by 7.6% on the UK print newsstand, taking its combined total print and digital ABC to 95,823. The title is one of the UK’s top 10 home interest titles and is dedicated to country style, providing perfect inspiration for the increasing number of people dreaming of a different kind of life. Homes & Gardens saw its total ABC increase by 0.1% on the period to post a combined print and digital ABC of 122,230. Homes & Gardens remains one of the UK’s best-selling and iconic homes titles and continues to expand its reach through new digital channels and the development of exciting new franchises.
IPC Inspire’s Country Life delivers a total print ABC of 38,275, up 0.1% year-on-year, marking the weekly’s fourth consecutive annual ABC increase. The hugely successful Prince Charles guest-edited issue and high performing Christmas issue meant that 2013 was another outstanding year for Country Life.
Finally, in the TV sector, IPC Connect’s TVTimes saw newsstand sales rise by 2.9% period-on-period taking its total print ABC to 254,376. TVTimes continues to be at the heart of British television and each week talks to the biggest stars and goes behind the scenes of the nation’s favourite shows.
PPA
The Professional Publishers Association (PPA) has welcomed today’s Consumer Magazines Report from ABC, which for the first time combines print and digital edition circulations into a single combined figure.
Barry McIlheney, CEO of the PPA, said: “Today’s ABC release marks a significant development in the evolution of measurement for magazine brands. The industry has long pushed for an appropriate metric that reflects the growing diversity of platforms and audience touchpoints, and this combination of print and digital edition circulations is a very positive step forward.”
Under the new reporting rules, ABC has today also published the Issue by Issue/Monthly Consumer Magazines report alongside today's bi-annual Consumer Magazines Report, rather than a month in arrears as before. In addition, from the January to June 2014 reporting period, all ABC Consumer Magazine titles will now be required to report monthly data every six months.
The figures released by ABC for the six-month period between July and December 2013 underline the continued positive impact felt by magazine brands from the ongoing growth in the tablet market. Several brands posted large rises in consumers accessing magazine digital editions, with digital edition circulations up 61 per cent year-on-year overall and the number of digital editions audited increasing by 52 per cent to 185 (excluding international editions).
Print circulations held firm during the period, declining just 1.0 per cent overall amid continued challenging conditions on the newsstand and an uncertain wider economic background.
In tandem with today’s ABC report, the PPA has also released the latest version of its Combined Circulation Chart (CCC). The CCC draws on ABC-audited print and digital edition circulation data to provide a single circulation figure identical to the single circulation figure now published by ABC. Importantly, however, it can illuminate trends through year-on-year like-for-like comparisons.
Given the introduction now of a combined figure from ABC and thus ABC's ability from this point on to do like-for-like comparisons, it is anticipated that the PPA will discontinue the CCC for future ABC release dates.
Psychologies magazine
Kelsey Media is pleased to announce an ABC increase for Psychologies magazine for the period July to December 2013. The new figure at 75,472 is a 3% increase on the January to June 2013 period. It is the first increase for Psychologies since the licence for publishing the magazine moved from Hearst Magazines to Kelsey Media and the first increase in ABC since July to December 2010.
Kelsey Media Chief Executive Steve Wright said, “This is a great result for the Psychologies publishing team and for Kelsey Media. In particular it is a great achievement for new editor Suzy Greaves who joined early last year. Suzy has overseen a remarkable transformation for Psychologies. She has emphasised the distinctive Psychologies ‘life coach’ editorial positioning and created a warm and inviting style in design, graphics and use of photography that has paid dividends in sales. Psychologies has seen a massive increase in its social media presence with 373,000 Facebook likes. Digital sales have grown substantially”.
Shortlist Media
Shortlist Media Limited today unveils its new weekly ABC figures for the period July-December 2013. These results, compiled by the Audit Bureau of Circulation are released concurrently with the rest of the UK magazine market.
In the period, both ShortList and Stylist recorded year on year increases, significantly growing their ABC market share. The highlights are below.
ShortList
New ABC: 534,692
0.6% year on year
0.04% period on period
ShortList underlines its market leader status with a sixth consecutive year of ABC growth. At 534,692 copies per week, ShortList outperforms its nearest competitor by 230,508 copies or 76%. This new ABC sees its audited market share grow to a record high of 41%.
Publisher Darren Singh says: “ShortList’s continued growth in the men’s magazine market is proof that the right magazine, with the right distribution, can still reach a quality audience. It’s clear that the modern, urban man wants a weekly title that he can relate to, be inspired by and read with pride in public. ShortList’s authoritative, intelligent and accessible tone offers the service these men are looking for to advise and entertain them.”
Away from the core print product, the ShortList brand continues to grow rapidly. ShortList.com is the UK’s largest men's lifestyle website with recent months topping 1.6m unique users and upwards of 18m page impressions. Mr Hyde, the daily email from the ShortList team, is at 60,000 active and engaged users and growing quickly. ShortList MODE, the brand’s biannual glossy fashion title is set to publish its biggest ever spring edition in March. And ShortList will soon launch its fully responsive weekly tablet edition, bringing its award-winning editorial content to an even wider audience.
Stylist
New ABC: 435,975
0.6% year on year
0.05% period on period
Stylist continues to lead the women's fashion and lifestyle market with its fourth year on year ABC increase. At an audited 435,975 copies every week, Stylist outperforms its nearest weekly competitor by a factor of more than 2:1. Stylist even beats its largest monthly rival by 25,495 copies per issue.
Stylist's new ABC figure sees the title achieve a new all-time high market share of 23%.
Publishing Director Glenda Marchant says: “Stylist has had a fabulous six months not only celebrating its 200th issue but creating some amazing commercial solutions. An exciting partnership with Ford saw the phenomenal feat of creating an entire issue of Stylist in 24 hours from a pop-up office – to a social media audience of over 74 million people. On top of this, Stylist produced its biggest issue yet with our glossy September fashion issue hitting 196 pages and attracting advertisers from Chloé to MaxMara. The imminent launch of our free tablet edition makes it a very exciting start to the 2014 for Stylist!”
Alongside another award-winning six months for Stylist in print, the brand continues to grow its influence on other platforms. Stylist.co.uk has grown over 19% in the year to January 2014 and now reaches 600,000 monthly unique users. Its social media following has rocketed, with a record 285,000 followers on Twitter. Emerald Street, Stylist's daily email now has in excess of 100,000 active users. Internationally the brand has successfully launched in France with an OJD (the continental equivalent to ABC) of 419,632.
Tuesday 25 February sees the launch of an exciting new weekly tablet edition of Stylist which has been in development for six months. Designed on a fully responsive platform it will provide a rich, accessible and convenient service to affluent, stylish women on the move.
Slimming World
In an extremely tough period for the women’s slimming and health sectors, new figures show Slimming World magazine has continued to buck the trend and posted a year-on-year increase in circulation for its 8th consecutive year.
According to the latest ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) figures for consumer publications, released today (Thursday 13th February, 2014), Slimming World magazine now boasts a combined print and digital circulation of 458,517. This sees the title retain its position as the best-selling in the sector, a spot it has now held for eight years, and keeps it in 6th position in the actively purchased magazine charts. Slimming World magazine also remains the number one UK glossy magazine, ahead of stalwarts like Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping.
The new figures, which relate to sales between July and December 2013, come on the back of news last week that competitor title Rosemary Conley Food and Fitness Magazine has gone into administration. Its troubles follow the closure of Hearst’s Zest magazine, which published its last edition in December 2013.
In stark contrast Slimming World magazine, which has been produced in-house by UK weight-loss organisation Slimming World since its launch in 1998, continues to go from strength to strength. The title supports members of Slimming World’s 11,000 weekly slimming groups, which are celebrating their 45th anniversary in 2014, as well as introducing new people to the club via the newsstand and is published seven times a year. It features real-life success stories sourced from group members, a food section that rivals the best-selling food titles, practical and emotional features, and shopping and fashion pages.
The figures recorded for July to December 2013 show a period-on-period increase of 4.6% and Slimming World magazine’s circulation is also up by 2.5% year on year for print and digital sales. This means it has widened the gap between itself and other magazines in the sector, and now outsells closest rival WeightWatchers magazine by 315,682 copies per issue. (WeightWatchers recorded a circulation of 142,835 in these ABCs and has moved down one place to be ranked 51st in the actively purchased magazine charts).
Editor Elise Wells, who has been at the helm since 2007, says she feels very lucky to still be attracting new readers in such a difficult and changing publishing climate: “People might expect us to be celebrating recent competitor news but, in fact, that’s far from the truth. It simply serves as a harsh reminder of the challenges that we, as an industry, face.
“Undoubtedly, some of our continued growth can be linked to the growth of Slimming World as a whole – as more members join our groups, they discover our magazine and become regular readers. However, I think the quality of the magazine deserves credit, too, and that’s reflected in our strong newsstand sales. I’m hugely proud that we have some of the best talent in the business and recent key appointments to both our art and subs teams have only served to bolster that. The whole team works hard to ensure that every aspect of the magazine, from design and photography to features writing and food, is of the utmost quality, and I think that shows on the page.”
For the first time, these latest ABC figures have combined print and digital circulations to give a cross-platform number. Elise says digital content is a focus for Slimming World magazine in 2014. She explains: “It has always been our aim to give readers what they want whether it’s the type of recipes they want to see or the success stories that they’d like to read, for example, when readers told us they wanted to see more men in the magazine we pledged to feature a male slimmer in every issue and have done so ever since. Digital is an extension of this; more and more people are reading newspapers and magazines on tablets and smartphones so it’s our job to translate Slimming World magazine across to these platforms. And we know – more keenly than ever – that if we don’t move with the times, we could easily be left behind.”
The March/April 2014 issue of Slimming World magazine is on newsstands today. The digital edition can be purchased from Pocket Mags, the Apple App Store, Google Play, Amazon Kindle Fire and Zinio.
Square Up Media
Escapism magazine has been officially named the UK’s largest independent travel title according to the latest set of ABC figures released this morning.
With a total circulation of 81,988, the monthly magazine has secured the top spot in its category, surpassing other titles including Conde Nast Traveller, The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and National Geographic Traveller.
Having only launched in May last year, this is the magazine’s first ABC certification and an impressive milestone for a relatively new title.
"We're obviously delighted that Escapism has become the country's largest-circulating independent travel magazine less than a year since launch," says editor Jon Hawkins. "We set out to create a magazine that took a fresh, exciting and different look at travel, and these circulation figures prove that's exactly what readers were looking for."
Tim Slee, CEO of Square Up Media, the publishing house behind Escapism, shares the excitement: "We couldn't be happier with the success Escapism has achieved in its first year – it has surpassed all our expectations. Publishing the largest magazine in its category was always our intention from launch, and now our aim is to ensure it continues to kick ass. We’re up for the challenge."
In addition to this the magazine has reported strong digital figures, with more than 20,000 subscribers to its weekly newsletter and in excess of 270,000 entrants to its monthly competitions since June 2013.
The free title is distributed monthly alongside the London Evening Standard at Zones 1 and 2 London Tube stations as well as select venues and local airports.
Continuing the company’s success, Square Up Media’s flagship title, Square Mile magazine, has reported a 4% increase in its ABC figure with a total circulation of 50,860..This is the fifth consecutive rise from the title and comes in the wake of the magazine’s most successful ever edition: Issue 86 included an exclusive interview with The Wolf of Wall Street star Leonardo Di Caprio, and alongside its print run it was read by more than 12,000 people online – a record for the title.
