ABC Jul-Dec 2002: Celebrity/Gossip Titles Continue To Boom

The figures listed in NewsLine’s ABC reports are those reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) as at Thursday 13 February 2003. Late submissions and changes may be made after this date, and will thereafter be amended in MediaTel’s Press database. For full notes on how NewsLine’s reports are compiled please see Important Notes: ABC July – December 2002

ABC figures for the six months ending in December 2002 reveal an impressive period for Celebrity/Gossip magazines, with the majority seeing circulation increase in year on year analysis.

Emap’s Heat continued to be the sector’s big success story, with a year on year increase in circulation of 56.1%. IPC’s Now also continued to be a strong contender, improving its circulation to reach 630,212. The title now bites at the heals of Richard Desmond’s heavy-weight OK!.

At the other end of the scale, Hachette Filipacchi’s All About Soap and Inside Soap recorded respective year on year loses. Meanwhile, IPC’s Soaplife fell by 2.7% year on year.

However, the current obsession with the rich and famous shows no signs of slowing and the Celebrity/Gossip magazines sector appears to be going from strength to strength.

Aside from Heat, which continues to boost the TV Listings sector, one of the best year on year performances came from H Bauer’s TV Choice. The magazine saw circulation rise by 15.3% in the six months to December. Sky The Magazine (formerly Sky Customer Magazine) continued to go from strength to strength and its recent rebrand under John Brown Citrus helped the complementary magazine for Sky subscribers to see circulation improve to 5,795,091.

Elsewhere, the sector’s more established titles fared less well. The BBC’s veteran Radio Times slipped by 3.3% year on year and despite a new look (see TV Times Gets New Look Following ABC Drop), IPC’s TV Times slipped by 13.6%.

IPC’s What’s On TV, which is the sector’s highest circulating paid-for magazine, had a less than impressive period, with circulation declining by 1.3% year on year.

Despite a number of key titles seeing circulation fall in the six months to December 2002, the TV Listings sector continues to look healthy, with circulation increasing overall.

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