Specialist interest titles and brands that fuel readers' passions have delivered strong results for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Magazines in January to June 2008, according to the latest ABC figures released today (Thursday 14 August 2008).
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ÌýHighlights from ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Magazines' results include:
- Total circulation for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Magazines isÌýup 3.23%Ìýyear on year;
- Popular science title Focus delivers an ABC of 70,122, an increase of 14% year on year;
- Gardens Illustrated is at 30,753 a 13.5% increase year on year; Gardeners' World retains its market leading position and is stable at 303,622;
- Top Gear retains its market leading position at over 200,000, an increase of 3%;
- ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Magazines' food titles deliver a 4% increase across the portfolio year on year, with Easy Cook up 23% and olive up 4%; Good Food retains the top position among premium food titles and is stable at 340,057, up 0.5% year on year;
- Radio Times remains the best-selling quality listings title, out-performing the premium market, though sales are slightly down (-3.59%) year on year;
- ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children's titles are up 16% year on year overall, with pre-school titles showing an increase of 13% year on year. Top of the PopsÌýdelivers an ABC of 130,174, up 26% year on year; In the Night Garden continues to perform well at 103,644; Doctor Who AdventuresÌýremains the best-selling children's magazine in terms of retail sales value and volume, atÌý93,741 (it changed frequency from fortnightly to weekly in Jan 2008);
- Match of the Day (launched in March 2008)Ìýdelivers an impressive debut circulation figure of 85,707;
- Subscriptions across ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Magazines are up 11.1% year on year.
Peter Phippen, MD of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Magazines said: "I am delighted with these figures which demonstrate that if your titles connect with people's passions they can continue to perform well in a tough market.
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"All of our market leading titles continue to show good results and there are some particularly strong performances from popular science title Focus, Top of the Pops magazine and an excellent debut for Match of the Day, which has helped to grow the category since launch."Ìý
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³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Magazines: Publishers' Statements
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Top Gear
Simon Carrington, Associate Publisher of Top Gear, says: "Top Gear magazine has delivered another ABC in excess of 200k – our 11th consecutive increase. An ABC of 200,471 sees Top Gear extend its market leadership and it is also the only motoring monthly to record year on year growth.
"Subscriptions are always a benchmark of a magazine's quality, and our 58,496 subscriptions - a year on year increase of 19% - is a tremendous endorsement from our most loyal readers.
"In difficult trading conditions for men's magazines, it's great that Top Gear continues to grow its circulation and demonstrates the strength of the Top Gear brand."
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Homes
Alfie Lewis, Publishing Director, Good Homes magazine, says: "It's no surprise that the homes market is showing a decline because it's intrinsically linked to conditions in the housing market.
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"However, while Good Homes does show a decline, it's encouraging to see us enjoying subscriptions growth and holding share in a competitive advertising market. We're also reaching new audiences through innovative marketing including a collaboration with UKtv Style."
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Food
Alfie Lewis, Publishing Director, Food & Homes, says: "We're delighted with Good Food's brand performance that sees it remain the number one independent food magazine with steady year-on-year copy sales. We have also grown website traffic to double the unique users year on year, and we now have more visitors enjoying our live events than ever before.
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"Our food portfolio has grown 4% year-on-year fuelled by readers' continuing interest in Good Food, a healthyÌý4% increase from olive and Easy Cook's continued success."
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Gardeners' World
Gardeners' World Publisher Dominic Murray says: "Gardeners' World magazine posts its fourth consecutive period of year-on-year increases, demonstrating the continued loyalty of our readers and the strength of trust in the brand.
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"With a clear proposition of topical gardening advice and inspiration we have continued to invest in editorial content and added-value promotions, together with innovative marketing, to ensure we're the number one destination for gardeners in every segment of the category.
"Gardeners' World further strengthens its appeal across a wider range of users this period with a debut ABCe of 220,356 unique users and 2,145,817 page impressions for gardenersworld.com (ABCe, May 2008)."
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Radio Times
Radio Times' Publishing Director, Kathy Day, says: "Radio Times delivers an ABC of 1,009,028, increasing its share of the premium end of the TV listings market to 55%. Radio Times' distinctive editorial proposition delivers exclusive interviews, insightful guidance and the most detailed listings package available, ensuring that the title remains the third best selling magazine in the UK.
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"Combined with radiotimes.com's 18 million page impressions per month, the brand deliver a formidable vehicle for advertisers."
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Radio Times is now the second biggest selling weekly magazine by subscription, with 114,605 copies now sold on subscription each week.
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Children's titles
Jaynie Bye, Joint MD, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children's Magazines says: "I am delighted that the overall ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children's Magazine portfolio is up 16% year on year. It's testament to the creative team at ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children's Magazines and the fantastic content we have from the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳.Ìý
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"Doctor Who Adventures, which went from fortnightly to weekly in January this year, continues to be a star performer, remaining the best-selling children's magazine in terms of retail sales value and volume. And new launch Match of the Day shot straight into the premier league with an impressive ABC debut of 85,707.
"We have refreshed our pre-school portfolio and over the last year have sold an average of one million pre-school magazines every month. CBeebies Animals, which launched this year, has delivered a positive debut figure of 58,558; and In the Night Garden and Charlie & Lola also continue to sell well."
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Teen
Duncan Gray, Publisher, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Teen, says: "Since its launch in March this year, Match of the Day magazine has become a huge hit with its 8-14 year old audience. Research pre and post launch has enabled us to create an extremely popular title.
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"The combination of the most up-to-date news and results, facts, skills, humour and posters has been very well received, encouraging the audience to not only read more about football but also play it more.Ìý
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"Match of the Day magazine has helped drive the double digit growth which the youth football category has experienced since our launch.
"Top of the Pops magazine has had another very successful performance, achieving double digit growth year on year, with an increase of 26%.Ìý The magazine has built a strong relationship with its readers, who love the editorial mix of music and entertainment. We have every confidence that we can maintain this growth going forwards."
³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Magazines Bristol
(Publisher of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s specialist factual titles)
Andy Benham, Publishing Director, says: "³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Magazines Bristol continues to buck the trend across much of its portfolio. Specialist magazines appear to be standing firm in a turbulent market, and I'm confident that these strong niche brands will continue to hold their ground over the coming period."
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Andrew Davies, Publisher of Focus, says: "It's very exciting that as well as showing a ninth consecutive period of growth and a year-on-year increase of 14%, Focus has passed another milestone by achieving an ABC figure of over 70,000, its highest for 10 years.
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"To see significant growth both in subscriptions and on the newsstand is especially pleasing as it not only confirms reader loyalty, but also shows that Focus continues to attract armies of new readers with every issue. With a striking redesign planned for the October issue, we look forward to seeing continued growth and giving our readers even more of what they want."
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Andy Healy, Associate Publisher of Gardens Illustrated and Homes & Antiques, says: "Gardens Illustrated continues to grow, with a 13.5% increase and has now had four consecutive ABC increases seeing it step over the 30,000 mark for the first time since it moved to Bristol.Ìý
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"Our recent redesign has proven popular with readers and the ratio of new readers to the title is climbing steadily.ÌýWe're also firming our foothold abroad, particularly in the States, due to the strong international content and emphasis on leading garden design.
"Homes & Antiques sees a 15% drop in ABC this period, mainly due to a less buoyant home market this year, and becauseÌýthis is traditionally the quieter of the two 6 month periods. Also, as part of our publishing strategy we've begun taking out free copies that have up until now had targeted distribution in hotels and spas."
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Andy Benham, Publishing Director of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ History Magazine and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Wildlife Magazine: "³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Wildlife Magazine has seen a small decline this period, but with a strong editorial focus and wider brand activity I'm confident that this long-established title will continue to hold firm.
"³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ History Magazine continues to go from strength to strength, seeing its 5th consecutive rise and its highest ever ABC, up 5.4% year on year. This has largely been driven by overseas sales, up 47% year on year, confirming that there is still plenty of room for growth.
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"With a redesign earlier this year and hugely successful brand extensions such as its podcast, which receives over 100,000 downloads each month, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ History Magazine continues to look very healthy indeed."
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Sarah Williams
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