Below are statements about their ABC results from: Bauer Media, Condé Nast, DC Thomson Media, Dennis Publishing, Haymarket, Hearst UK, Immediate Media, The Economist and TI Media.
Bauer Media
Commenting on the results, Rob Munro-Hall, Group Managing Director, Bauer Magazine Media UK said: “It’s great to see so many Bauer brands leading their categories and demonstrating how they understand, entertain and delight their audiences every week and every month. This comes at an exciting time with new industry research (Magnetic’s Pay Attention research) reinforcing the effectiveness of magazines in providing a positive, relevant and trusted environment where consumer attention is at its most receptive meaning. Magazines deliver quality attention at exceptional value to advertisers. Our focus on curating the highest quality content continues to drive engagement on all platforms - with print remaining proudly at the heart of what we do.”
Highlights this period:
TV Listings
* TV Choice (weekly) remains the No 1 title in the UK –selling over 1.1million copies a week and increasing the gap in copy sales against its nearest competitor. TV Choice considerably outperforms the market trend YOY.
* Total TV Guide (weekly) is the best performing title YOY, selling 92,427 copies a week.
* Market share for both TV Choice and Total TV Guide has increased YOY, they are the only titles to see share growth YOY.
Real-Life
* Bauer continues its significant leadership and dominance in the Real-Life market. Take a Break and that’s life! have both shown market beating performances YOY and both have grown their market share over the same period.
* Take a Break (weekly) leads the real-life market, selling 463,495 copies.
* that’s life! (weekly) has shown a market beating performance both POP and YOY selling 190,553 copies a week
* Take a Break monthly delivers another superb ABC of 191,806 which +6.5% POP.
* Simply You posts its first ABC of 35.5k copies for the Jul-Dec 18 period.
Women’s Weekly Classics
* Bella (weekly) retains its No 1 position in the Women’s Weekly Classics Market, selling 173,017 copies each week and extending its leadership with a 1.8% increase in market share to 31.8%, total ABC.
* Bella has delivered both POP (+4.1%) and YOY (+5.5%) growth, against declines seen by all its competitors. The title sells on average nearly 40k more per issue than its nearest competitor.
Celebrity Weeklies
* Closer continues to hold its No 2 position within the celebrity weekly market with 178,806 copies. Closer outperforms the market POP (+1.2%) maintaining its market share YOY and increasing it POP at 17.8%.
* heat is the only title in the celebrity weekly market to see both a POP and YOY increase (+4.5%) and (+3.4%). The title has also grown its market share and out-performs the celebrity weekly market with 123,948 copies circulated every issue.
Glossies
* Grazia (weekly) has outperformed the Glossies market both POP (+0.6%) and YOY; it also increased market share both POP and YOY, circulating 102,585 copies a week.
* Grazia circulated over 5m copies in the past year.
Gardening
* Garden Answers (monthly) continues to grow at an amazing rate posting double-digit growth YOY at +16.2%, its 11th successive YOY ABC growth.
* Garden News (weekly) retains its position as the No 1 weekly gardening title posting a circulation of 34,881.
* Modern Gardens (monthly) continues to boost the Bauer Gardening portfolio posting a circulation of 29,472.
Maturity
* Yours (fortnightly) circulated 242,516 copies, growing POP.
* Yours circulated 6.3m copies over the past twelve months.
Parenting
* Mother&Baby (monthly) maintains its number 1 position in the parenting market.
Hobbies
* Practical Photography maintains its No 1 monthly photography magazine position with an ABC of 36,915.
* Country Walking magazine sees it third consecutive year of ABC growth at 6.5% up YOY to 32,505.
* Bird Watching has seen a third consecutive period of ABC growth, with an ABC of 15,243, up 7.5% YOY.
* Steam Railway has had a third successive period of growth Jan-Dec 18 ABC period and is up 0.3% YOY.
* Model Rail has outperformed the modelling market and has gained market share with an ABC of 24,125.
Motorcycling
* MCN, the weekly voice of British motorcycling, remains the biggest-selling title in the category with a circulation of 56,839. Bauer continues to dominate the Modern Motorcycling market. MCN, stablemates Bike and RiDE are the sector’s next biggest-selling magazines.
* Classic Bike consolidated its leadership of the Classic Motorcycling market with a circulation figure of 30,646, with Bauer’s Practical Sportsbikes taking the No2 position in the category with 15,678.
Motoring
* Influential, inspirational and internationally respected, CAR (monthly) has outperformed the market, averaging 49,629 copies per month.
* Classic Cars (monthly) has a unique content package that continues to resonate with readers. It outperforms the market, posting a 0.3% YOY growth
* Classic Car Weekly (weekly) is the UK’s biggest selling title within the classics market in terms of total copies, circulating nearly 1.2m copies (Jan-Dec 2018).
Bauer Media’s impressive ABC performance follows the launch last week of Magnetic’s (the PPA’s marketing agency for Consumer Magazine Media in the UK) Pay Attention research. The study found that magazines provide a high-quality advertising experience, a trusted environment and that readers of print magazines have an increased receptivity to advertising. And that magazine media has impressive ROI versus other media. To read the full report visit www.payattention.media
Condé Nast
Condé Nast Britain today releases its latest set of ABC figures combining total print and digital circulation for the period July to December 2018, with consistent performance over the majority of the portfolio.
"Even as our digital and events audiences expand, it is gratifying to still see a solid aggregate print circulation across the business, with subscription growth helping to offset a difficult newsstand environment. Readers continue to deliver the message - there is no substitute for a Condé Nast magazine," says Condé Nast Britain MD Albert Read.
Vogue
British Vogue posts an increased ABC of 192,152. Total print and digital circulation are consistent period on period and up 1.1% year on year.
GQ
British GQ posts an ABC of 110,063. Total print and digital circulation are consistent period on period and down 4.3% year on year. Whilst the newsstands remain particularly difficult for the men’s market, GQ’s website saw a +43% traffic increase in January 2019. British GQ remains the market leader in men’s magazines with strong performance relative to our peer group.
House & Garden
House & Garden posts an ABC of 112,065. Total print and digital circulation are consistent period on period and year on year.
Condé Nast Traveller
Condé Nast Traveller posts an increased ABC of 81,002. Total print and digital circulation are up 1.2% period on period and 3.7% year on year.
Tatler
Tatler posts an increased ABC of 79,029. Total print and digital circulation are up 1.2% period on period and year on year.
Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair posts an ABC of 70,080. Total print and digital circulation have decreased 2.7% period on period and year on year.
The World of Interiors
The World of Interiors posts an ABC of 55,091. Total print and digital circulation are consistent period on period and year on year.
WIRED
WIRED posts an ABC of 50,028. Total print and digital circulation are consistent period on period.
Brides
Brides posts an ABC of 30,061. Total print and digital circulation have decreased 14.20% year on year.
DC Thomson Media
Mike Watson, CEO of DC Thomson Media, said: “It’s heartening to see DC Thomson magazine titles outperforming the market, and in the case of Beano, increasing sales year on year by an incredible 10%. This truly is a stand out performance and one that we are incredibly proud of. Our magazine teams work extremely hard to deliver quality, engaging content that readers really enjoy. Testament to this is The People’s Friend which is this year celebrating 150 years of publication. This top selling women’s weekly title totals nearly 700,000 copy sales each and every month, reaching over 1 million readers. This is an incredible feat for the longest running women’s magazine, as recognised by Guinness World Record.”
Dennis Publishing
The Week Junior, Dennis’ current affairs magazine aimed at curious and smart 8-14 year olds, continues to go from strength to strength with a market leading ABC increase of 26.1%, from 48,017 to 60,542 YOY. Its specialist titles Land Rover Monthly and Fortean Times report an increase of 3.6% and 8.6% YOY respectively, despite challenging market conditions.
The Week Junior - up 26.1% YOY to 60,542
The Week Junior, Dennis’ current affairs magazine aimed at curious and smart 8-14 year olds, continues to go from strength to strength with a market leading ABC increase of 26.1%, with a 36.7% increase in paid-for print subscribers to 55,080.
The Week - ABC 186,232
The Week delivered a brand certificate figure of 186,232 for its print and digital circulation. The strategic decision to discontinue large scale bulk copy distribution saw 43,974 free and sample issues removed from its annual distribution. The magazine now reports 3,962 monitored free issues for the period.
Money Week - ABC 37,907
The latest edition to The Week’s portfolio, Money Week, also reported a lower ABC figure, with a weekly average ABC of 37,907, reflecting a focus on subscription yield.
Kerin O’Connor, Chief Executive of The Week, said: “These ABC results show a solid, sustained performance for the Dennis current affairs portfolio; demonstrating the continued power of our subscription model. I’m particularly delighted with The Week Junior’s continued accelerated growth - showing there is a real appetite for high quality, factual and informative content for young people. For The Week, we have rebalanced the circulation mix for future success, and Money Week is also in good shape to shine going forward.”
Viz up 4.3% YOY to 48,588 combined
As Viz enters its 40th year of publication, it reports an ABC combined increase of 4.3%, with 43,647 print circulation and 4,941 digital.
Dharmesh Mistry, Publishing Director, Lifestyle division, said: “Viz is a great example of how brands can stand the test of time and appeal to a new, younger audience whilst keeping their loyal fans. 2019, Viz’s 40th anniversary year, promises to be an exciting one with brand extensions and commemorative merchandise, all done in true Viz style.”
Fortean Times up 8.6% YOY
Dennis’ specialist title, Fortean Times, reports a strong ABC period, with a combined circulation of 14,816, up 8.6% YOY.
Computer Shopper and PC Pro up YOY
Dennis’ established technology titles Computer Shopper and PC Pro both report a YOY increase of 2.1% and 2.7% respectively.
Haymarket
Autocar, Britain’s leading weekly automotive magazine, has recorded a remarkable second consecutive rise in annual circulation, with figures up 5% in 2018.
The result bucks trends in both the magazine industry (-5% in 2017) and automotive specialist media (-5.9% in 2017) – and is even more remarkable as it is the second consecutive rise for the brand under the leadership of editor Mark Tisshaw. It also comes at a time when new car sales in the UK are declining.
Tisshaw, who became editor in February 2017, oversaw a relaunch of Autocar magazine following an in-depth survey of readers, with increased sales underlining the impact of the changes. His success was recognised when he was named in the Professional Publisher’s Awards (PPA) ‘30 under 30’ list in March 2018.
“The ABC numbers are a testament to the hard work of the whole Autocar team,” said Tisshaw. “It’s been another challenging 12 months for the print and car industries, but we continue to buck these trends by investing in what our readers asked for, from better paper quality to an improved subscription offering and the very best journalists and contributors. This is proof that investing in quality can pay off.
“Just as importantly, though, this strategy is also part of the reason our online and video channels are recording record growth. Without exception, our team now works across both our print and digital outlets, and I’m delighted to be able to see Haymarket Automotive’s investment drive significant growth in both.”
The Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figures show that Autocar’s circulation rose from 30,753 to 32,253 in 2018. In 2017 its ABC recorded circulation rise was 0.3%. The rise in 2018 was driven predominantly by growth in digital magazine subscriptions.
Rachael Prasher, managing director of Haymarket Automotive, said: “Mark and the team have worked incredibly hard to achieve these amazing results, and to post a second year of growth in such a tough market is remarkable.
“Our belief has always been that backing quality is the right strategy, and it is that principle that is driving the investment across our Automotive business, including the launch of an all-new What Car? website in September 2018 and our innovative New Car Buying platform, which puts in-market car buyers in touch with retailers through a secure online portal.
In March 2017 Haymarket Media Group announced an ongoing investment strategy for its automotive titles. Prasher added: “I couldn’t be more excited about the future, as we invest and unlock more potential over the next 12 months.”
Autocar’s sister titles, What Car? and Classic and Sports Car also recorded figures that outperform industry trends, according to the latest ABC figures. What Car?’s circulation was down by just 2%, boosted by a 23% rise in subscribers, while Classic and Sports Car was down by only 5% overall, buoyed by a 5% rise in subscribers.
Founded in 1895, Autocar has long been regarded as a global authority for automotive news, features and new and used car verdicts, with its expert, highly-regarded weekly road test at the heart of its offering.
Hearst UK
Hearst UK, the leading UK premium publisher, has released its latest set of ABC figures for the period Jul-Dec 2018. The robust set of results show nine brands in period-on-period (pop) growth and four brands in year-on-year (yoy) growth.
* Red is up 3.31% pop and 6.62% yoy with a combined ABC of 177,122. This is the second consecutive pop and yoy increase following Hearst’s strategic decision to realign Red under its Lifestyle Group. The thriving magazine celebrated its 20th anniversary last year with its most successful Red Smart Women Week event attendance to date
* Country Living is up 6.90% pop and 3.29% yoy with a combined ABC of 196,866. In addition to its successful performance in print, the Country Living brand engages consumers on multiple platforms including CountryLiving.com/UK which has seen traffic grow 51.4% yoy*, its Country Living Fairs, Country Living Hotels and its successful global TV series, Farmer Wants A Wife. Country Living was also named Specialist Consumer Magazine of the Year at last at last year’s PPA Awards and its Editor-in-Chief, Susy Smith, was crowned Editor of the Year (Homes & Interiors) at the 2018 BSMEs
* Women’s Health is up 0.01% pop and 0.55% yoy with a combined ABC of 133,463 – its 13th consecutive pop increase since launch. The magazine was named Consumer Magazine of the Year at the 2018 PPA Awards, and recently announced the launch of its new wellbeing and fitness festival, Women’s Health Live, which takes place in May this year
* ELLE is up 6.91% pop with a combined ABC of 162,243. In 2018, ELLE was the first mainstream women’s magazine to dedicate its landmark September issue to sustainability, encouraging a more environmentally-friendly fashion industry. The brand also launched its three-day consumer facing event, ELLE Weekender, which took place at London’s Saatchi Gallery last November
* Good Housekeeping is up 5.35% pop with a combined ABC of 451,716. In addition to its strong print product, the Good Housekeeping brand is thriving across its digital platforms, reader recommended accreditation schemes, portfolio of licensed products and the Good Housekeeping Institute
* Inside Soap is up 3.27% pop with a combined ABC of 94,673. The brand continues to deliver timely soap gossip and grow brand awareness through its popular, reader-voted Inside Soap Awards
* House Beautiful is up 0.59% pop with a combined ABC of 98,997. The magazine offers readers stylish inspiration and practical advice, and its website has increased traffic by 30.4% yoy. The brand also has a number of successful brand extensions, including a collection of contemporary sofas with leading retailer DFS
* Men’s Health is up 0.51% pop with a combined ABC of 146,785. Men’s Health’s #MendTheGap campaign continues to help redress the disparity between attitudes toward mental and physical health, whilst its range of home gym equipment is the best-selling premium gym range in Argos
* Prima is up 0.39% pop with a combined ABC of 227,014. The popular monthly women’s lifestyle magazine provides readers with the latest inspiration and advice across a variety of platforms
* Harper’s Bazaar is up 0.52% yoy with a combined ABC of 116,339. Premium publication Harper’s Bazaar had a highly successful 2018 with digital traffic increasing 227% yoy and the launch of its inaugural Bazaar Art Week and Bazaar Literary Salon
Hearst has also successfully retained market leadership position in each of its monthly magazine competitive sectors through Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Country Living, Men’s Health and Women’s Health, and has two of the top three luxury magazines with ELLE and Harper’s Bazaar.
Cosmopolitan continues to be the highest circulating monthly young women’s glossy. Its combined ABC shows a -20.55% pop decrease, predominantly due to a price increase from £1 to £2. The brand continues to break new ground, most recently partnering with SpareRoom to offer four individuals a month-long paid scholarship at Cosmopolitan with central-London accommodation included. Its Editor-in-Chief, Farrah Storr, was also named Editor of the Year at the 2018 PPA Awards and Editor of the Year (Men’s & Women’s category) at the 2018 BSME Awards.
James Wildman, CEO of Hearst UK, says: “These strong results, and the fact that several of our magazines are increasing their readership, highlight the extraordinary quality and continuing appeal of our print products. We are very proud to extend our market leadership position, and this best-in-class performance is testament to the creativity of our editorial teams and continued investment in our print products.
“Whilst our print ABC is positive for us, our total audience reach of 14.2m per month clearly demonstrates the enduring relevance and influence of our trusted brands across all platforms.
“I’m delighted that our total revenue is in growth and whether through print, our digital acceleration, events, brand extensions, accreditation or content publishing, Hearst continues to go from strength to strength.”
Full ABC results for Hearst UK are listed below:
Hearst UK Monthly Brands
Cosmopolitan: Total combined ABC of 240,351, -20.55% pop, -31.59% yoy
Country Living: Total combined ABC of 196,866, +6.90% pop, +3.29% yoy
ELLE: Total combined ABC of 162,243 +6.91% pop, -3.91% yoy
ELLE Decoration: Total combined ABC of 68,760, -8.20% pop, -2.56% yoy
Esquire: Total combined ABC of 59,002 -2.41% pop, -5.86% yoy
Good Housekeeping: Total combined ABC of 451,716 +5.35% pop, -0.84% yoy
Harper’s Bazaar: Total combined ABC of 116,339, -0.92% pop, +0.52% yoy
House Beautiful: Total combined ABC of 98,997, +0.59% pop, -8.95% yoy
Men’s Health: Total combined ABC of 146,785, +0.51% pop, -16.45% yoy
Prima: Total combined ABC of 227,014, 0.39% pop, -4.92% yoy
Red: Total combined ABC of 177,122, +3.31% pop, +6.62% yoy
Runner’s World: Combined ABC of 67,469, -8.80% yoy
Women’s Health: Total combined ABC of 133,463, 0.01% pop, +0.55% yoy
Hearst UK Weekly Brands
Best: Total combined ABC of 113,429, -3.45% pop, -10.59% yoy
Inside Soap: Total combined ABC of 94,673, +3.27% pop, -1.39% yoy
Real People: Total combined ABC of 111,872, -2.89% pop, -8.18% yoy
Hearst Content Studio
Asda Good Living: Total combined ABC of 1,971,667, +1.00% pop, +11.11% yoy
Immediate Media Co
Immediate Media Co, the special interest content and platform company, has posted a combined print and digital circulation of 2,244,751 up 27.8% period-on-period, for titles reporting July to December 2018.
* Immediate’s ABC-audited print circulation is 2,167,231 – up 25.6% period-on-period and down 3.2% year-on-year.
* Immediate’s ABC-audited digital circulation also continues to rise, reporting a total circulation of 77,520, up 143.2% period-on-period and up 0.4% year-on-year.
* With a total audience of 1.076 million subscribers, the company remains the leading magazine publishing company for subscriptions. *
Tom Bureau, CEO of Immediate Media, says: "In a tough market, our specialist interest brands continue to perform well, generating over £122m in Retail Sales Value on the newsstand in 2018. In addition to strong performances in print, our digital portfolio continues to break digital records. The Radio Times and BBCGoodFood brands have cemented their positions as having the highest total brand reach of all weekly and monthly magazines brands in the UK. Whilst BBC History magazine and our Youth and Children portfolio have performed phenomenally well growing market share and reach.
Elsewhere we continue to transform our business model to offer our highly engaged and growing audience content, products and services focused on their special interest passions, through print, digital, ecommerce, and now with our recent acquisition of Upper Street, in live events.”
Highlights for the ABC period July-December 2018:
* Radio Times remains the UK’s biggest-selling quality magazine, with a weekly ABC of 580,709, up 0.6% period-on-period. It retains its position as the most valuable magazine title on the UK newsstand, generating £50.4m in RSV in 2018, a 32.7% share of the total TV listings market RSV at newsstand.
Radio Times is also the UK’s biggest weekly subscription brand, with 253,504 weekly subscribers. RadioTimes.com continues to attract new readers to the brand, with a record-breaking 15.6 million unique visitors in January 2019, up 34% year-on-year.
* BBC Good Food, retains its position as the nation’s number one food media brand, reporting a combined ABC of 192,692, up 13.7% period-on-period.
Following Immediate’s acquisition of BBC Good Food in September 2018, the brand goes from strength-to-strength across multiple platforms, bbcgoodfood.com had a record-breaking December, securing a staggering 86 million global page views, an increase of 29% year-on-year, and over 25.5 million unique global users.
Immediate’s Food Portfolio, including BBC Good Food, Easy Cook and Home Cooking Series, alongside olive, continues to dominate the UK’s Food Publishing market, accounting for 75.3% share of the core market, outperforming the market in terms of both volume and value.
* BBC History Magazine remains Britain’s biggest-selling history brand delivering a combined print and digital ABC of 94,628, up 0.05% year-on-year.
Elsewhere, the brand’s portfolio of multi-platform products continues to serve a highly valuable, growing audience, including the launch of The Library, its digital subscribers zone offering a wealth of additional content, and a hugely successful podcast which recently celebrated its 500th episode and receives over 1million downloads a month.
* BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine delivered a combined ABC of 170,174 – cementing its position as the gardening market leader, accounting for 46.1% of the entire volume of sales in the market. The brand has also recorded an 8.4% growth in RSV in 2018 to £3.7million.
* Immediate continues to be the number one publisher in the Children’s market, reflecting the strength of its titles and breadth of portfolio, with a combined ABC circulation of 751,791 up 4.65% year-on-year and 9.78% period-on-period. Highlights include:
- CBeebies posting an ABC of 56,201 up 11.4% period-on-period and up 4.8% year-on-year.
- Toybox up 15.0% period-on-period and up 11.8% year-on-year to 32,341
- Andy’s Amazing Adventures recording a 3.2% increase period-on-period and a 5.5% increase year-on-year to 41,720.
The Economist
Today’s release of the ABC July to December 2018 certificates marks a change in the way The Economist’s circulation figures are reported and audited by ABC. Working in collaboration with ABC, The Economist has consolidated its reporting into one Print certificate and one Digital Publications certificate.
In cooperation with ABC The Economist has consolidated its six regional certificates into two: one Print certificate and one Digital Publications certificate. Each certificate will show data points and facts worldwide, including audited breakouts of circulation by Edition/Region. Under the new reporting methodology The Economist’s combined average global circulation is 1,657,795.
“Our audited reporting needed to reflect The Economist’s product neutrality - we allow customers to choose their preference between print and digital. A majority of our readers choose to purchase both together at a premium price,” said Marina Haydn, EVP and Managing Director, Circulation at The Economist. “That's why there was a need for a new ABC reporting approach that reflects our true digital market share; it had been challenging for clients who wanted to set up holistic programs across our platforms. Working with ABC, we now have verified data that meets industry standards and provides greater transparency into our circulation and our global reach.”
Global highlights include:
* Worldwide (print + digital) circulation is 1,657,795, up 19.1% yoy
* Global print circulation is 867,733 and Global digital circulation is 790,062
* The print vs digital split is 52:48
* Actively purchased rate 99% (print) and 100% (digital). Actively purchased copies are the sum of circulation from Paid Single Copies and Paid Subscription Copies - Individual. The actively purchased rate is a reflection of circulation profitability.
* Social audiences grew to 61,423,797, an increase of 10.4% yoy
UK highlights include:
* UK edition circulation (ex-Ireland) grew 20.7% yoy to 306,685
* Digital circulation is at 150,010, up 69.2% yoy
* Print is at 156,675, down 5.3% yoy
* UK circulation accounts for 18% of global circulation
* Actively purchased rate for print in the UK is 99.9%
* Print: Digital split is 51:49
The Economist joined ABC in 1949 and has been reporting transparent, audited and comparable trading information ever since. In 2016 The Economist worked with ABC to launch the very first worldwide brand report demonstrating their global reach using clear trusted data.
Simon Redlich, Chief Executive of ABC, said: “We’re delighted to have collaborated with The Economist to develop these new reporting options, which have been delivered through discussion and agreement with the industry. Our role is to provide impartial, transparent data that media buyers trust. The Economist’s proactive approach to working with us demonstrates their strong commitment to making trusted trading data available to their advertisers, and has enabled them to demonstrate their global reach with even greater clarity using ABC verified figures.”
For some time The Economist has been pursuing a commitment to growing profitable circulation and an engaged global readership that remains an important audience for marketers. According to The Economist Group’s 2018 Annual Report revenue from circulation was up 14% year on year, and circulation continues to be the largest contributor of profits to The Economist Group.
The Economist’s reader research into its premium bundle subscribers shows that they spend equal time reading the print edition and the digital edition – and in combination, spend more time with Economist products per week than a reader of either print or digital only.
TI Media
TI Media’s ABC results for Jul-Dec 2018 highlight the value of brand investment as titles across the portfolio outperform their respective markets. At the same time, the company’s refocussed promotional strategy for the women’s weeklies market is beginning to reap rewards.
Home Interest and Lifestyle
Angie O’Farrell, group managing director, lifestyle and women’s weeklies, says: “Quality editorial underpins woman&home’s success as it once again outperforms the market on both the year and the period, posting a total print ABC of 271,759. The brand refresh continues to yield results and the team has done a fantastic job at engaging its 40-plus female audience through print.
“With a combined print and digital ABC of 133,758 Ideal Home leads the mainstream homes market in terms of volume and continues to be the biggest selling title by far. Meanwhile in the modern sub-sector, Livingetc posted the best performance at the newsstand and has a combined print and digital ABC of 67,016. In the traditional market, both Country Homes & Interiors and 25 Beautiful Homes achieve robust newsstand performances, up 9.0% and 3.8% on the period respectively. The editorial proposition of our entire homes portfolio continues to be strengthened through ongoing redevelopment.”
Women’s Weeklies and TV
Mark Winterton, managing director, women’s weeklies and TV, says: “We are starting to see the benefit of our bold decision to go against the grain and remove our women’s weeklies titles from bigger packs. Significant growth in single copy sales at the newsstand can be seen for Woman and Woman’s Own which have climbed 10% and 4% on the year and period respectively. Despite removal from multi-packs, Woman’s Weekly has maintained its number one spot in the traditional weeklies market.
“While the overall ABC results reflect the initial impact of stripping out the bigger packs from our promotional activity, which inflates sales figures, these single copy sales are indicative of the rewards of doing so. Our investment in audience research and editorial redevelopment will continue across all titles in the portfolio.
“TI Media’s portfolio continues to lead the TV weeklies market in terms of RSV. TV Times outperformed the sector up 2.7% on the period, posting a print ABC of 161,397, while What’s On TV maintained its number two position and its ever-popular Christmas issue was once again the top seller in terms of volume.”
Special Interest
Continuing to buck the trend, Country Life posts its ninth consecutive annual increase. Highlights from the period for the quintessentially British title include the Prince of Wales guest edited issue, which in its third year generated Country Life’s highest-ever sales; the Royal Wedding special saw sales double that of the usual weekly edition; and the annual Best of British issue was once again hugely popular with readers.
Andrea Davies, group managing director, Specialist, says: “Country Life is renowned as the voice of the countryside and these results are testimony to the unique, highly engaging editorial content created week in, week out by the team. This trusted content delivers a premium audience for advertisers and last year we saw strong growth for this heritage brand with a high number of new customers. We believe we can continue to grow our newsstand sales and subscriptions in 2019 to make it a decade of circulation increases.”
Celebrating its 165th anniversary in 2018, The Field was the biggest-selling title in its sector, posting the best performance against its competitors and outperforming the market. This was its second consecutive ABC increase. In August, the title created its biggest ever issue at 216 pages and achieved record-breaking advertising for the title, with revenues up 25% from the corresponding issue in 2017.
Says Andrea Davies: “The Field has been delivering for both readers and advertisers for 165 years. It’s so pleasing to see this venerable brand continue to surprise and delight its audience with highly premium, super-engaging content. Authority, trust and quality rule in this market and that can only be built over many years.”
Other Highlights
Outperforming the music market and the best performing title in terms of total print ABC in its sector is Uncut which posts a total print ABC of 37,301. In the photography market, Amateur Photographer outperforms the sector and delivers a total print ABC of 11,675.
TI Media CEO Marcus Rich says: “Our ABC results tell a story of how investment in trusted editorial brands continues to win over the hearts of consumers. TI Media is home to some of the UK’s best-loved brands, with titles outperforming many of the markets we operate in. Our focus for 2019 will remain on creating quality content across all formats that engages, excites and fuels people’s passions.”
