The CDS Global Analysis:
Subscriptions once again performed strongly with a 1.5% year-on-year increase, despite total sales overall decreasing by 3.4%. The majority of titles performed well with 71% of all magazines displaying a year-on year increase in subscriptions, despite the fact that there was just a 39% increase in total sales - potentially reflecting increased loyalty to titles and an increasing shift towards subscriptions.
Share of Total Sales
Excluding subscription-only titles such as Candis and Saga, volume as a percentage of sales showed a general increase from 19.4% to 20.6% across all titles.
There was no change in the top performers in terms of subscriptions as a percentage of total sales, with Money Week levels at 96.3% and Reader’s Digest - 87.7%.
Subscription Highs and Lows
Women’s Interest Magazines show continuing growth in subscription levels with OK! Magazine reporting the largest period on- period increase of 106% to 6,820 despite an overall decline in total sales of 12.6%. Rival Hello! Magazine also fared well with a 14% subscription increase period-on-period.
Within the Women’s Interest sector Celebrity weeklies showed the largest volume increase of 19%, indicating the trend for celebrity gossip shows no sign of decline. The largest volume increase was reported by Women’s Lifestyle and Fashion magazines, with an increase of 40,000 representing half of the overall increase of the entire Women’s Interest sector.
Only three sectors have shown a decline in subscription levels – General Interest (7%), Home Interest (2%) and Puzzle Magazines (1%). The largest decline in General Interest publications is primarily due to a 17% decline in Reader’s Digest subscription volumes.
Every TV Listing title once again showed an increase in subscription levels, with Radio Times reporting the largest volume increase period-on-period of almost 14,000 or 8.1%. Yet, once again overall sales levels were down by 92,000 or 5%, perhaps indicating that consumers are becoming more savvy by taking advantage of subscription offers or an increase in brand loyalty.
The General Election may have also sparked an increased interest in Domestic News & Current Affairs, with The Economist, The Spectator and Private Eye all showing increased subscription levels.
Publisher Performance
The Publishers showing the strongest percentage increased sales of any significant volume include The Economist and Condé Nast with 9% and 8% respectively.
BBC Worldwide retained the largest volume increase subscriptions once again, followed closely by Condé Nast Publications Ltd, Bauer Consumer Media and The National Magazine Company. Single-title publishers didn’t perform as well with Kelsey showing a 34% decline in subscriptions and Time Out Magazine figures also indicating a decline in performance.
And the Future...
The trend for consumers to move towards subscriptions is still increasing, with no signs that the trend will desist in the near future.
