Not Just The “Housewife’s” Choice
Publishing director of TVChoice, TVQuick and Total TV Guide, Julie Lavington, explains why television listings magazines have a unique demographic reach, which advertisers can capitalise on…
In a world of ever-increasing media fragmentation, it’s reassuring to note that there is still one medium that offers the savvy advertiser the opportunity to reach a family audience in a relatively cost-efficient manner. With sales of around five million copies per week, TV listings magazines are read and consumed by the entire family.
Research has shown that it’s not uncommon for readers of TV listings titles to have between three and five television sets per household. Frequently it’s the busy housewife who buys the magazine with her weekly shop, so that the family can use it to plan the week’s viewing ahead. With an ever-increasing number of homes in the UK having multi-channel TV, paid for TV listings have a bigger part to play in helping whole families decide their viewing than ever before.
That’s not to say that TV listings magazines don’t have the same emotional attachment and appeal for the consumer as other magazines. The TV guide or telly mag is seen as a treat by the woman who sits down with it in her coffee break to catch up on the soaps, read the latest gossip on her favourite celebs and the fashions they’re wearing, and to plan which programmes to watch. It’s only after she’s had time to digest it herself that it’s handed over to family members for their perusal.
Frequently the magazine is used as the focus for discussion, as families decide together which programmes to watch, or more importantly who is going to watch what and on which television set in the household. More often than not, readers keep their TV listings magazine in the living room. Referred to again and again, it is normally left open at that day’s page. So it stands to reason that an advertisement has a better chance of being seen in this environment.
Listings magazine readers are discerning, and know exactly what they are buying into. That’s why, despite massive competition from over 27 million free newspaper supplements, electronic programmes guides and the internet, around five million TV listings magazines have been sold every single week since de-regulation in 1991 and sales show no sign of declining. The TV listings reader sees the free newspaper supplement as a cheap throwaway product. The reader has made a conscious decision to buy a listings magazine and to them nothing matches the quality and editorial expertise that they get in their paid-for copy.
So how can advertisers capitalise on the unique role listings magazines play in the household? TV listings readers love spending time in the home with their family, this makes them powerful consumers of FMCG products, electrical and household goods. It goes without saying that advertisers should not underestimate the ability of TV listings titles to target whole families and engage with them time and time again, as readers return to their weekly listings title as a guide to what they’ll be watching on telly every day of the week.