“IPC Media delivers ABC growth in key audience area
IPC Media unveils its latest round of ABC figures, highlighting strong brand performances in its three core audience areas: mass market women, upmarket women and men.
IPC Media chief executive Evelyn Webster (pictured) says: “These results once again demonstrate strong performances from a number of our key brands. We continue to invest in consumer insight and editorial innovation to deliver quality editorial for readers and a quality audience for advertisers – and we continue to grow both volume share and RSV in a number of sectors.
“Meanwhile our investment in digital continues to pay dividends, with brands as diverse as www.goodtoknow.co.uk, www.trustedreviews.com, www.whatsontv.co.uk, www.housetohome.co.uk, www.look.co.uk, www.whatdigitalcamera.com and www.nuts.co.uk all continuing to show excellent growth.”
ABC highlights
• woman&home, the PPA Consumer Magazine of the Year, reports its highest circulation figure in 14 years. It continues to set the pace in the Women’s Monthly sector – up 5.2% on the period and 4.3% on the year to 368,388.
• Look maintains its position as Britain’s biggest-selling fashion weekly, delivering an ABC of 313,013. Look outsells its closest weekly competitor by over 83,000 copies every week and delivers £24.4m in RSV annually.
• TVTimes is up 3.1% on the period with an ABC of 321,005. Its growth in RSV has risen even higher, up 8% to £18m.
• Essentials posts the biggest rise in the Women’s Monthly sector, up a massive 13.9% to 112,135.
• Reporting an ABC of 184,141, InStyle delivers its fifth consecutive ABC increase and outperforms the Fashion sector with growth on the year of 1.7%.
• Nuts, PPA Consumer Brand of the Year, posts an ABC of 176,835, increasing its share of the Men’s Weekly sector to 63.4%, up 1.8 percentage points year-on-year. On the UK newsstand, Nuts takes 63% share – a record for the brand – up 1.4 percentage points on the year.
• Now, in the highly competitive Celebrity sector, delivers its first increase in six periods following a major refresh in June. With an ABC of 394,130, Now is up 2.5% on the period, delivering £24.7m in RSV.
• Livingetc, the UK’s biggest-selling modern homes title, is a star performer in the Homes sector, up 5.8% on the year to 91,543.
• Uncut – the UK’s most authoritative music and movie magazine - shows stability with sales increasing by 0.4% at the UK newsstand and an overall ABC of 75,518.
• Cycling Weekly remains the biggest-selling cycling magazine in the UK in annualised volume terms, with an ABC of 29,029, up 6.7% year-on-year.
• NME magazine, with an ABC of 38,486, continues to sit at the heart of the brand, which reaches well over one million people every week across all its platforms.
• Wedding has outperformed the strong Wedding sector, rising a staggering 18.6% year-on-year to 46,602.
• Woman’s Weekly reports an ABC of 344,553, up 2.8% on the period and 1.2% on the year – widening its lead in the Traditional sector – and delivering £14.1m in RSV, up 2.8% on the period and 3.7% on the year.
• The UK's number one source of technology news and reviews, www.trustedreviews.com now reaches 2.69 million unique users, up 10% on the year, resulting in 13.8 million page views. (ABCe November ’09)
• 25 Beautiful Homes has grown 1.6% year-on-year and 1.2% period-on-period to deliver an ABC of 104,114.
• Country Homes & Interiors has risen 3.4% on the period to 87,326.
• TV & Satellite Week has outperformed the TV market, increasing by 1% both on the period and the year to 185,813. Its RSV has rocketed, growing to £12.3m, which is up 9.5% year-on-year.
• Chat continues to hold its number two position in the Real Life sector with a circulation of 440,093, up 1.2% on the period and delivering £17m in RSV, up 3.3% on the period.
• Pick Me Up retains its number four position in the Real Life sector, delivering an ABC of 329,943, up 2.1% on the period, and annualised RSV of £11m, up 4% on the period. This excellent performance follows a major new refresh unveiled last July.
• Amateur Gardening reaffirms its position as the number one weekly gardening title in the sector with a total ABC of 35,954, increasing its newsstand share of the UK weeklies Gardening sector by 1.4 percentage points – its fifth consecutive year-on-year increase in market share.
• Caravan is the only title in its sector to report three consecutive increases with an ABC this period of 16,057, up 1.3%.
IPC Media restructured its publishing divisions from 4 January 2010, organised around three audience groups – mass market women (IPC Connect, led by Fiona Dent), upmarket women (IPC Southbank, led by Jackie Newcombe) and men (IPC Inspire, led by Paul Williams).
IPC CONNECT – MASS MARKET WOMEN
Women’s Weeklies
• The Women’s Weeklies market remains the biggest category in magazine publishing. Total UK newsstand sales for the market averaged 8.7 million each week in the period, equating to annual copy sales of 436.9 million – delivering an annual RSV of £485m.
• IPC Connect’s share of the UK newsstand market in the period stands at 26.7%. The seven-strong portfolio of mass market women’s weeklies sells 116.3 million annually at the UK newsstand and generates £117m in RSV.
IPC Connect managing director Fiona Dent says: “I’m delighted with this set of results. Our continued focus on consumer insight and editorial innovation has allowed us to consistently produce premium brands, attracting a more discerning and less price-sensitive consumer who in turn is more valuable to our advertisers. IPC Connect has continued to deliver premium cover prices while some publishers have relied instead on unprecedented levels of discounted multi-packing – one title multi-packing 21 times in the period.”
Look
• Launched in February 2007, Look maintains its position as Britain’s biggest-selling fashion magazine, delivering an ABC of 313,013. Look outsells its closest weekly competitor by over 83,000 copies every week.
• Look sells more than 1.3 million copies every month, delivering £24.4million in RSV, up 5.9% year-on-year and ranking it as the tenth highest revenue- generating title on the UK newsstand.
• Look also continues to set the pace in terms of highly innovative experiential marketing – and next week launches The Look Show as part of the London Fashion Week calendar. This major catwalk show brings 14 of the most popular high street brands together for the first time in front of a consumer audience at London Fashion Week.
• The title continues to show an outstanding ad performance, with ad volumes up 12% year-on-year, against a total market down 15%*.
• Meanwhile www.look.co.uk, the hugely popular website, unveiled a new look this week.
Fiona says: “Look continues to set the agenda on every level. The brand is absolutely in tune with its readers, who continue to love it, in print, online and in person! And the Look Show next week underlines the brand’s fashion credentials, bringing 14 top high street retailers under one roof for a major catwalk event showcasing their current collections to consumers. It’s a first at London Fashion Week.”
Now
• With an ABC of 394,130, Now is up 2.5% on the period, despite intense marketing activity from competing publishers.
• The ABC success follows the unveiling of a comprehensive new look last June – including a complete refresh and brand new franchises.
• Now has maintained its focus on driving RSV, generating £24.7m in annualised RSV and ranking as the ninth highest revenue-generating title on the UK newsstand.
• www.nowmagazine.co.uk continues to go from strength to strength, delivering 763,973 unique users in December, up 28.9% year-on-year. It now generates over 4.9 million page views every month, complementing the magazine by serving up an addictive combination of celebrity glamour and news all day, every day.**
Fiona says: “Now has delivered a strong performance at a premium price, following an extensive programme of brand development, with 2.5% growth period-on-period, with readers telling us they really trust the Now brand.”
Chat and Pick Me Up
• In the Real Life sector Chat continues to hold its number two position with a circulation of 440,093, up 1.2% on the period. Chat generates £17m in annualised RSV, up 3.3% on the period, and sells over 22 million copies a year. Its success is due to the consistent delivery of a well-crafted and highly targeted editorial package.
• Pick Me Up retains its number four position in the Real Life sector, delivering an ABC of 329,943, up 2.1% on the period. This excellent performance follows a major new refresh unveiled last July. The title generates £11m in RSV on the UK newsstand, up 4% on the period, and sells 16.5 million copies a year.
• Combined, Chat and Pick Me Up represent a 27.7% share of the Real Life UK newsstand market, all the more impressive in a Real Life sector which has continued to see the effects of recession.
Fiona adds: “Chat and Pick Me Up have delivered fantastic circulation and copy sales revenue increases. This is testament to our innovation programme, with both titles able to drive copy sales and RSV due to their editorial quality and relevance to readers.”
Woman and Woman's Own
• On the UK newsstand Woman and Woman's Own continue to lead the Weekly Lifestyle sector, with a combined sector share of 52.3%.
• Woman and Woman's Own together outsell their rivals by more than 60,000 copies every week, despite continual bagging from competitors.
• Woman remains number one in the Weekly Lifestyle sector with an ABC of 316,216, generating over £14.5m in annualised RSV.
• Woman's Own delivers an ABC of 298,472. The brand sells in excess of 15.5% more at the UK newsstand than its cheapest rival – despite being priced at an 8.2% premium – delivering an annualised RSV of more than £13.7m.
Woman's Weekly
• The brand remains number one in the Traditional sector and delivers its first ABC increase in eight years building on the redevelopment work started in 2008. Reporting an ABC of 344,553, Woman’s Weekly is up 2.8% on the period and 1.2% on the year.
• Woman’s Weekly extends its lead over rivals to more than 37,000 copies, generating an annualised RSV of £14.1m, up 2.8% on the period and 3.7% on the year. Its overall volume share of the Traditional sector has increased by 0.9 percentage points period-on-period to 42.7%.
Meanwhile www.goodtoknow.co.uk – the site that connects women with the best recipe ideas, health tips and family advice – continues to deliver exceptional growth. Page impressions hit almost eight million in January, with over one million unique visitors enjoying the site. And January also saw the launch of an exciting new magazine brand extension from the site: goodtoknow Recipes, a monthly title targeting busy mums aged between 25 and 44.
TV Entertainment
• Total sales for the TV Weeklies market averaged 4.5 million copies each week in the period, equating to annual copy sales of 228 million.
• Connect’s portfolio is the market leader in sales volume, with 43.3% share. It is also number one in sales value, with 41.4% share, which is an increase of 1% year-on-year.
• Annually, Connect’s TV Weeklies portfolio now sells 96.5 million copies at the UK newsstand and generates £63.4 million in RSV per annum, an increase of 3.9% on the period.
• Connect’s TV portfolio has delivered strong results in both the Premium and the Value sectors. TV & Satellite Week is the only TV magazine to grow circulation both on the period and the year, while TVTimes is up 3.1% on the period in sales volume and up 8% in value. Value sector title What’s on TV has outperformed the Value sector in both sales volume and sales value.
• Connect is committed to driving both innovation and cover prices in the TV market, attracting discerning readers who are prepared to pay more for quality brands.
Fiona says: “IPC Connect remains the market leader in the important TV sector and our investment in quality editorial produces magazines that readers love. As a result, we’re able to consistently drive cover prices and increase our retail sales value.”
What’s on TV and TV easy (Value sector)
• What’s on TV delivers an ABC of 1,245,933, a reach that is increased with its website, www.whatsontv.co.uk, currently ABC audited at 613,832 monthly unique users.
• What’s on TV has outperformed the market in sales value year-on-year by 1.4 percentage points.
• Priced at a 22.5% premium to value sector rival TV Choice, What’s on TV generates over £4.5m more in RSV. What’s on TV’s RSV is £31.1m.
• In addition, IPC Connect’s value sector presence in the TV Weeklies market is strengthened with compact TV weekly TV easy, which reports an ABC of 180,798.
TVTimes and TV & Satellite Week (Premium sector)
• TVTimes & TV & Satellite Week have delivered strong ABC increases, each having benefited from a programme of editorial innovation and development.
• TVTimes records an ABC of 321,005, up 3.1% on the period. And it has recorded an even stronger RSV increase on the period, climbing by 8% to £18m.
• Meanwhile, with an ABC of 185,813, TV & Satellite Week has outperformed the market, increasing by 1% both on the period and the year. Costing £1.30, TV & Satellite Week is the highest priced TV Weekly. It has outperformed the market by far in sales value, up 9.4% period-on-period and 9.5% year-on-year to deliver £12.3m in RSV.
• In sales value, both TVTimes and TV & Satellite Week have outperformed the overall TV Weeklies sector both on the period and the year.
Soaps
• In the soaps sector, Soaplife delivers an ABC of 101,591 and it retains its crown of number one soap fortnightly.
* source: NMR
** source: Omniture
IPC SOUTHBANK – UPMARKET WOMEN’S GLOSSIES AND HOME INTEREST
Overview
• Southbank operates in the lucrative Women's Fashion, Lifestyle and Home Interest sectors and has once again delivered strong performances within each market.
• Southbank has grown its market-leading volume and value share position in the Homes sector; set the pace in the Women’s Lifestyle market with outstanding results from woman&home and Essentials; and reported growth for InStyle.
• From its 14 titles reporting this period, Southbank has six period-on-period increases and seven year-on-year increases.
• The Southbank portfolio generates more than £48.3 million in RSV each year.
woman&home and Essentials
• woman&home, the PPA Consumer Magazine of the Year, reports its highest circulation figure in 14 years and delivers one of the strongest performances in the sector.
• With an ABC of 368,388, the monthly magazine for women over 35 has increased its circulation by 5.2% on the period and by 4.3% on the year.
• woman&home is the biggest-selling monthly Lifestyle title on the UK newsstand, generating almost £9.8m in RSV, an increase of 10.6% period-on-period.
• In addition, Southbank’s Essentials posts the biggest rise in the Women’s Monthly market with a double digit increase on the year. Essentials soars to an ABC of 112,135, growing year-on-year by 13.9%.
• Since introducing a new look in 2006, Essentials has consistently increased its circulation. The magazine’s practical, inspiring content and well-regarded food coverage perfectly captures the mood of the moment.
IPC Southbank managing director Jackie Newcombe says: “Southbank’s Lifestyle titles are the absolute stars of the market, each providing superb editorial that caters perfectly to its readers’ needs. Having been named PPA Magazine of the Year in 2009, it’s testament to the exceptional talents of editorial director Sue James and her team that woman&home has built further on this success and delivered its biggest circulation in 14 years.”
InStyle and Marie Claire
• In the Fashion sector, InStyle secures its fifth consecutive ABC increase.
• Posting an ABC of 184,141, InStyle has outperformed the sector year-on-year with an increase of 1.7%.
• Led by new editor Eilidh MacAskill, InStyle’s unique take on fashion and beauty differentiates the magazine and gives it a loyal fan base. In addition, the brand is attracting many new readers both in print and online.
• Meanwhile, Southbank’s flagship glossy, Marie Claire, returns to stability this period after just five issues of its re-launch.
• Posting an ABC of 283,025, Marie Claire is the biggest-selling fashion monthly. The magazine has increased its subscriptions to more than 44,000, which is a rise of 2.5% year-on-year.
Jackie says: “During the recession, fashion, beauty and looking good have become even more important to British women. InStyle editor Eilidh MacAskill has tapped into this passion and enthusiasm and amplified these elements of InStyle and it is the buzz brand of the moment.
“With the Marie Claire relaunch, we have achieved exactly what we said we would do and brought the magazine back to stability. This period, during which we introduced the new Marie Claire, is just the beginning.”
Wedding
• Southbank’s Wedding reports an ABC of 46,602, which is up a staggering 18.6% year-on-year and is the magazine’s highest circulation in four years. Wedding has outperformed a strong Wedding sector, which is up 1.1% on the year.
• A revamp of the title under editor Catherine Westwood and an increased presence at retail have ensured Wedding outperformed the market.
Home Interest
• IPC Southbank’s portfolio continues to lead the market, holding constant market-leadership by volume at 40.7% and in RSV to 48.4%.
• There are encouraging signs of improvement in the UK housing market after a challenging 18-month period. And that is reflected in the performance of the Home Interest sector.
• Sales have stabilised and even started to increase year-on-year towards the end of the period as confidence returns in the housing market. Three of the five magazines in the Southbank Homes portfolio that release a period-on-period result are showing increases for the last six months.
• Southbank has titles in all key sub-sectors of the Home Interest sector. Ideal Home, Homes & Gardens, Country Homes & Interiors, Livingetc, 25 Beautiful Homes and Beautiful Kitchens make up its six-strong print portfolio.
• Delivering an ABC of 187,322, Ideal Home remains the biggest-selling homes title on the UK newsstand. The title has invested significantly in research in recent months, and so is well placed to deliver growth in 2010 as the market recovers.
• Livingetc, by far the biggest-selling modern homes title, delivers one of the strongest performances in the market. Posting an ABC of 91,543, Livingetc is up 5.8% on the year and 0.7% on the period.
• Meanwhile, 25 Beautiful Homes, under new editor-in-chief Deborah Barker, is up year-on-year by 1.6% and up period-on-period by 1.2%, reporting an ABC of 104,114.
• Country Homes & Interiors has also grown on the period, up 3.4% to 87,326.
Jackie says: “The performance of the Home Interest sector reflects that of the wider housing market. The early part of 2009 was very challenging for the whole market but we have seen the first signs of recovery in the second half. Within this, Southbank’s portfolio has delivered some really impressive results – increasing our market-leadership in terms of sales volume, sales value and advertising performance; once again demonstrating that we are number one by a very long way. We continually invest in our brands to ensure they provide the strongest editorial in the market, so they will be ideally placed to capitalise on renewed interest in the sector.”
IPC INSPIRE – MASS MARKET MEN, MUSIC, SPORT & LEISURE
Overview
Inspire is the men’s division of IPC Media, reaching 44% of UK men and over one in two of all 18 to 34-year-old men. Its 57 brands cover a huge spectrum of passions, and are split into two broad audience groups – Men & Music and Sport & Leisure.
IPC Inspire managing director Paul Williams says: “There have been some great performances in a number of key Inspire sectors across the period and, in a challenging economic environment, it’s particularly rewarding to see consumers look to our market-leading brands. We will continue to focus on our consumer insight and producing the best editorial products in the market to ensure we continue to outperform the competition. The results of all this work already show an improving trend so we’re well positioned in the current market, particularly against our competitors, and I am optimistic about the year ahead.”
Men & Music
IPC Inspire’s men and music brands are responsible for 48.6% of all men’s and music magazine sales at the all-important UK newsstand, generating £9.7m in RSV in the period. Its online portfolio – including www.nme.com, www.nuts.co.uk, www.loaded.co.uk, and hugely successful casual games site www.mousebreaker.com – now has a combined audited reach of over 10.5 million users each month.
Men – Nuts, Loaded and Mousebreaker
• UK newsstand magazine sales in the Men’s Market* overall during this period exceeded 8.6m, generating £18.6m in RSV. IPC accounts for 53.8% of all men’s magazines* sold at the all-important UK newsstand.
• Nuts and Loaded now sell 34.9% more copies than Bauer Consumer Media’s men’s titles on the UK newsstand, up from 33.9% last period.
• Nuts, PPA Consumer Brand of the Year, posts an ABC of 176,835, increasing its share of the Men’s Weekly sector to 63.4%, up 1.8 percentage points year-on-year. On the UK newsstand, Nuts takes 63% share, up 1.4 percentage points on the year – a record for the brand.
• Nuts accounts for one out of every two men’s lifestyle magazines* sold at UK newsstand.
• Annually, Nuts sells almost 3.5 million more copies than its weekly rival and 6.7 million more than FHM at the UK newsstand.
• Online, the hugely popular www.nuts.co.uk delivers an average monthly ABCe of 1,457,029 unique users, showing a 3.5% growth on the period and continuing to extend its reach among the UK’s mainstream men.
• Total Nuts weekly reach, across print and online, is now 1,215,753.**
• Loaded posts an ABC of 71,251, growing its UK newsstand sale by 3.4% period-on-period. Online, www.loaded.co.uk announces an ABCe of 323,233, up 2.2% on the previous period.
• Total Loaded monthly reach, across print and online, is now 962,233.***
• The Mousebreaker portfolio of casual games sites today unveils an ABCe of 4,537,697 unique users on average each month within the JD09 period.
* Men’s Market – Nuts, Zoo, Loaded, Esquire, FHM and GQ
** Based on the latest available data for NRS and Omniture. Data has been adjusted for weekly measurement. Please note this is the total number of hits and includes duplication
*** Based on the latest available data for NRS and Omniture. Please note this is the total number of hits and includes duplication
Paul says: “Nuts continues to be a power-house brand. Since launch it has sold over 80 million copies, generating £108.2m in RSV. And last year saw nine million sales alone. And the recent comprehensive design refresh unveiled in the magazine last month – with our new star signing, iconic soccer strip Striker – has already impacted on sales positively, leaving us well placed for the year ahead.”
Music – NME and Uncut
• Almost 5.5 million music magazines are sold each year. The Music sector• generates almost £17.2million of RSV on the UK newsstand each year, with £7.4million generated by the two weeklies (NME and Kerrang!) alone.
• More than 27.4% of all music magazines sold every year on the UK newsstand is a copy of NME (based on annualised JD09 figures). NME has performed in line with the market, delivering an ABC of 38,486.
• NME magazine continues to be an integral part of the brand. Across all platforms – including NME Radio, NME TV, www.nme.com and a raft of live events – NME has a weekly reach of well over one million.
• Exciting developments to the magazine will be unveiled in March under new editor Krissi Murison who took up her role in September 2009.
• www.nme.com was named PPA Interactive Consumer Magazine of the Year 2009, and delivers an average monthly ABCe of 4,229,326 unique users.
• In the monthly market, Uncut continues to show stability with sales increasing by 0.4% period-on-period at the UK newsstand.
Paul says: “NME remains the iconic music magazine brand reaching what is widely acknowledged as an unrivalled number of music fans every week across its various platforms. The next few weeks promise to be very busy indeed with the Shockwaves NME Awards on 24 February followed by the introduction of some exciting new editorial developments for NME magazine in March.”
• Music Market - NME, Uncut, Kerrang, Q, Mojo and Classic Rock
Sport & Leisure
Through Sport, Marine, Country, Equestrian, Shooting and other brands in its broad portfolio, Inspire delivers to an audience of 6.1million ABC1 men.
Sport
• Cycling Weekly remains the biggest-selling cycling magazine in the UK in terms of annualised volume, with an ABC of 29,029, up 6.7% year-on-year.
• The title now boasts over 1.5 million sales per annum and with the UK road cycling market in growth, Cycling Weekly is perfectly positioned for a successful 2010.
• Following strong sales in a growing sector, Inspire’s cycling special Cycling Active has increased to a monthly frequency as of its March issue which went on sale earlier this month.
• Golf Monthly consolidates its position as the number two golf title in the market with an ABC of 65,133, and is the only title in its sector to show period-on-period growth at the UK newsstand.
• Across the magazine and website, Horse & Hound now reaches an estimated 347,000 affluent committed riders each week. www.horseandhound.co.uk continues to go from strength to strength celebrating a record month in the period – September 2009 saw the site achieve 10 million page views (up 34.5%% year-on-year) and 375,000 unique visitors (up 34.5% year-on-year).
Leisure
• Amateur Gardening reaffirms its position as the number one weekly gardening title in the market with a total ABC of 35,954, increasing its newsstand share of the UK weeklies gardening market by 1.4 percentage points - its fifth consecutive year-on-year increase in market share. The brand will also be investing heavily in 2010 at newsstand with a particular focus on independent retailers.
• Caravan is the only title in its sector to report three consecutive increases. With an ABC of 16,057, up 1.3% year-on-year.
• Inspire's photography portfolio has performed very strongly in a competitive market, with What Digital Camera's circulation growing year-on-year to 24,034 and Amateur Photographer achieving a total ABC circulation of 21,146.
• Guitar & Bass – the only title in the sector to post year-on-year growth – sees its third consecutive year of increase, with an ABC of 12,175, up 1.5%.
• IPC's market-leading country and shooting portfolio – Shooting Times, Sporting Gun, The Field and Shooting Gazette – have all returned solid ABC performances, in line with the market trend. Every magazine has been refreshed editorially in the last twelve months, and they are well positioned to grow in 2010, consolidating their market-leading positions.
• The UK's number one source of technology news and reviews, www.TrustedReviews.com now reaches 2.69 million unique users, up 10% on the year, resulting in 13.8 million page views. (ABCe November ’09)
• September 2009 saw TrustedReviews recognised by Hitwise for the second consecutive year, taking the number one spot in the Hitwise Top 10 Awards Programme as the most popular electronics site.
Paul says: “There have been some great performances in the leisure portfolio against a very challenging backdrop – a result of the most comprehensive research and editorial development programme we’ve ever run. This, together with our detailed distribution and marketing work, puts us in an ideal place to benefit from the recovery we are already beginning to see in a number of our markets.”
For a full list of IPC Inspire brands, click here.
IPC Media is one of the leading consumer magazine publishers in the UK. Its three publishing divisions are: IPC Connect, IPC Southbank and IPC Inspire. IPC is wholly owned by Time Warner, one of the world's largest media groups.”
