Not one weekly magazine posts increase in circulation numbers

The quarter-year Audit Bureau of Circulation results show none of the weekly magazines audited posted increases in their circulation with Bauer Media’s Zoo Weekly taking a solid walloping, declining 36.4% year on year, the largest drop of any of the weeklies.

Other weekly titles weren’t hit quite as hard with Bauer’s Women’s Day dropping 5.3% year on year and rival Pacific Magazines’ New Idea showing the least amount of decline in the average net paid print sales of the weeklies, slipping 4.1% year on year.

According to Steve Allen at Fusion Strategy “it was no great joy in this weekly magazine audit, but the best in the audits with a slowing rate of decline”.

Table below provided by Fusion Strategy.

Turning over to the celebrity glossies, Bauer’s OK!, posted a 16.3% flop in the latest ABC results whereas competitor celebrity title from Pac Mags’ Who only fell 7% year on year.

Women’s Day is still the highest circulating weekly despite dropping back to 330,217 average net paid print sales compared to 348,531 copies this time the previous year (down 18,314 copies in total).

Pac Mags’ New Idea is the second highest in circulation with 282,206, down 11,959 hard copy sales since the previous year.

Women’s Day, OK! and Who all had 13 issues within the latest quarter audit, however New Idea had nine.

Pac Mags’ That’s Life! stumbled down 5% year on year with 11 issues audited, dropping to under 200,000 average net paid print sales (197,844), compared to 208,163 the previous year.

Another Pac Mags’ title Famous took a bit of a bashing posting a circulation decline of 21.8% year on year in the latest ABCs.

Bauer’s TV Week (with 13 issues audited) also flopped 5% to a circulation of 146,747 whereas last year the circulation was at 154,421, dropping 7674 hard copy sales in a year.

“Although people may not buy magazines as frequently in periods of economic uncertainty, we know they are consuming our brands through many formats,” Matt Stanton, CEO of Bauer Media, said.

“The latest AMAA audit shows weekly magazine circulation stabilising period-on-period, down just 1.7%, with 19.3 million weekly audited titles purchased in Australia between January and March, 2014.”

Peter Zavecz, director of magazines at Pacific Magazines, said: “Our performance in the weekly magazines sector has been particularly encouraging despite the challenges of the tough retail backdrop.

“Pacific has performed solidly to increase share, and we’re encouraged by the gains made against our competitors during the quarter.”

Stanton added: “Bauer’s recent launch of Yours further demonstrates our confidence in the market and the opportunities we see to reach highly engaged readers in multiple formats through vibrant, relevant brands.

“Indeed, the evolving ways in which consumers are interacting with our titles are yet to be fully accounted for in the AMAA figures, not to mention the millions of social media interactions that amplify our brand connections.”

Time will tell in the next audit how the monthlies are doing as they are audited half-yearly.

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