ABC Results Jul-Dec 2007: Men’s And Women’s Magazines Record Significant Declines

BSkyB’s customer magazine continued to be the most widely circulated consumer magazine in Britain, with an ABC of over 7.2 million for July to December 2007.

This represented an upturn from just over seven million copies for January to June 2007 for the title, which is mailed out to Sky subscribers.

Today’s ABC release for the second half of last year shows a generally depressed market for the women’s weekly, women’s monthly and men’s lifestyle sectors, with some exceptions.

Notable declines in the women’s weeklies were recorded for H Bauer’s Bella, which shed just under 95,000 copies year on year for the period, taking its total to 221,661.

Closer and Heat, which now belong to Bauer Consumer Media following the acquisition of Emap’s magazines and radio divisions for £1.14 billion in December (see Media In The City: Emap Sells Magazine And Radio Arms To H Bauer), the titles have reported falls of over 65,000 issues each.

Following Bauer’s recent axing of weekly First (see Bauer Suspends Publication Of NW And First), Closer and Heat have reported totals of over 548,500 and around 533,000 respectively.

OK! and Grazia bucked the trend in the women’s weeklies, rising by 9.5% and 8% year on year respectively. Meanwhile, IPC’s Look saw a 4.2% period on period decline.

In the monthly market, Bauer has recently suspended publication of women’s monthly NW, and has reported significant declines for More! and Yours. More!‘s circulation was down by over a quarter whilst Yours dipped almost 15% year on year.

IPC’s woman&home and Essentials were up around 20,000 copies each year on year, whilst Psychologies and She rose over 24,000 copies each.

Free men’s mag ShortList, which hit the streets in September (see New Free Men’s Mag Arrives Today), has reported a figure of 462,731 for the period, whilst paid-for title FHM has a total of 315,149, following a 15% downturn year on year.

Other significant losses for the sector were reported for Loaded, Maxim, Nuts and Zoo.

Digital only men’s mag, Monkey, has announced another rise in its ABCe figure, of almost 30% year on year. For July to December 2006 it reported 209,612 users, rising to 271,667 for the same period in 2007.

It was a more mixed picture for the teenage sector amidst a tumultuous year, with the most significant real term decline seen by Sugar at a loss of around 43,300 copies year on year. Meanwhile, Top of the Pops magazine’s total grew by 19% year on year.

TV Listings titles also had a tough time overall, with What’s On TV down by almost 51,000 copies year on year, and TV Easy slipping more than 13%. However, TV Choice added around 51,500 copies to its total taking it over 1.4 million, making it the market leader.

Detailed analysis of the major sectors to follow throughout the day…

ABC: 01442 870 800 www.abc.org.uk