January - June 2017 Consumer Magazine ABCs Summary
MEC Manchester
The latest Consumer ABCs for Jan-Jun 2017 were recently released. Here is a summary of the highlights.
John Lewis Edition leads the Women’s Lifestyle sector. The freebie title enjoyed a strong ABC boasting a circulation of 487,075. This is up +6.5% POP and +2.3% YOY. Other key titles who enjoyed POP increases include Glamour and Hello up +5.8% and +2.2% respectively. But unfortunately, the increases for Glamour and Hello were not sufficient to deliver a positive YOY figure (down -8.2% and -8.8% respectively). The biggest losers in the sector were Red, Grazia and Look who all suffered significant POP and YOY declines (Red: -9.6% POP & -14.2% YOY, Grazia: -10% POP & -13.4% YOY, Look: -34.2% POP & -35.4% YOY)
The Women’s Weekly sector suffered a particularly poor ABC with almost every title recording POP and YOY declines. The biggest losses were recorded by Now (-17.3% POP & -20.8% YOY), Closer (-12.2% POP & -19.8% YOY), Woman (-11.7% POP & -17.6% YOY), Heat (-11.9% POP & -16.6% YOY), Star (-12.1% POP and -14.3% YOY) and New! (-10.7% POP and -15.2% YOY). The only titles to produce a positive ABC this time around were H Bauer Publishing’s Take A Break Series (their special editions) up +11.8% YOY and Love It Magazine, who despite being the smallest circulating title in the sector, secured a +3.5% increase.
The Men’s Market remained reasonably stable in this round of ABCs and is led by Shortlist who boast a circulation of 503,089. This was only down -0.3% POP and +1% YOY demonstrating the popularity of the free distribution model remains. In second place, Men’s Health recorded a circulation of 174,672 (-4.0% POP and -3.0% YOY). GQ completes the top 3 with a circulation of 114,035 (-1.3% POP & -2.6% YOY).
The Home Interest sector enjoyed mixed success this time around. Most titles in the top 10 posted positive POP increases but still suffered YOY declines. Country Living retained top spot with a circulation of 187,394. Bucking the trend of those around it, the title suffered a minimal POP decline (-0.8%) but boasted a YOY increase of +3.6%. Ideal Home secured second place with a circulation of 162,110, but like many of those around it, the POP increase (+2.3%) wasn’t enough to deliver a YOY increase (-9.5%). The only titles in the top 10 to suffer both POP and YOY declines were House & Garden (-1.8% POP & -1.9% YOY) and House Beautiful (-6.6% POP & -4.4% YOY).
In the TV Listings market, TV Choice, What’s on TV and Radio Times make up the top 3 circulating titles. All still boast strong circulation figures of 1,200,487, 885,595 and 622,773 respectively. But the simplicity and widespread availability of EPG’s continues to damage this market with declines recorded across all but 1 title. TV Times suffered the greatest decline (-11.8% POP & -10.3% YOY). The only title to record an increase was Soaplife (+15.2% POP & +3.7% YOY).
Finally, the News and Current Affairs sector had a very strong ABC. Most titles saw POP and/or YOY increases and where decreases were recorded, these were only minimal. Private Eye was up +8.6% YOY, The Economist was up +5.0% YOY, The Spectator Group were up 10.8% YOY and Prospect was up 37% YOY. The Week was one of the only titles to suffer a YOY decline, but this was only modest at -1.1%. This certainly suggests that in these times of economic uncertainty, people continue to turn to quality journalism to help stay updated, and with Brexit repercussions continuing for years to come, the outlook is positive for publishers in this sector.
Written by: John Morton
Source: Mediatel