Women’s Monthlies Suffer Widespread Sales Decline
The last six months have seen a significant decline in sales for most titles in this sector with 90% showing a decrease in circulation. Prima held its position as market leader in the sector despite its net sales falling by 46,098 (8.7%) to 485,580 on same the period last year.
Women’s Monthly Magazines ABC YoY Comparisons
| Title | Jan 98 – Jun 98 | Jan 99 – Jun 99 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| 19 | 172,104 | 160,237 | -11,867 | -6.9 |
| B | 212,444 | 235,941 | 23,497 | 11.1 |
| Bliss | 365,668 | 310,389 | -55,279 | -15.1 |
| Candis | 462,191 | 449,754 | -12,437 | -2.7 |
| Company | 290,065 | 242,087 | -47,978 | -16.5 |
| Cosmopolitan | 472,263 | 470,142 | -2,121 | -0.4 |
| Elle | 212,799 | 205,151 | -7,648 | -3.6 |
| Essentials | 290,324 | 290,542 | 218 | 0.1 |
| Harpers & Queen | 95,048 | 92,041 | -3,007 | -3.2 |
| J17 | n/a | 238,382 | n/a | n/a |
| Looks | 136,655 | 131,044 | -5,611 | -4.1 |
| Marie Claire | 416,239 | 437,642 | 21,403 | 5.1 |
| Minx | 154,321 | 126,883 | -27,438 | -17.8 |
| New Woman | 281,087 | 273,016 | -8,071 | -2.9 |
| Prima | 531,678 | 485,580 | -46,098 | -8.7 |
| Red | 190,136 | 170,101 | -20,035 | -10.5 |
| She | 242,024 | 211,031 | -30,993 | -12.8 |
| Shine | n/a | 120,968 | n/a | n/a |
| Sugar | 459,984 | 431,394 | -28,590 | -6.2 |
| Tatler | 87,549 | 85,873 | -1,676 | -1.9 |
| Vanity Fair | 83,743 | 79,215 | -4,528 | -5.4 |
| Vogue | 202,265 | 200,462 | -1,803 | -0.9 |
| Woman & Home | 302,430 | 293,847 | -8,583 | -2.8 |
| Womans Journal | 128,656 | 103,209 | -25,447 | -19.8 |
| Total | 5,789,673 | 5,844,931 | 55,258 | 1.0 |
Many titles suffered similar losses, Minx falling by 17.8%, Company and Bliss by 16.5% and 15.1% respectively. Woman’s Journal showed a decline of 25,447 just weeks after it was announced by IPC Southbank that the magazine would be revamped in the Autumn (see Newsline).
The only titles to show a marked increase were B which increased by 23,497 copies (11.1%) and Marie Claire, which continued to build on sales gained in the July-Dec 1998 period, showing an increase of 21,403 (5.1%). Emap’s Red lost over 20,000 sales but has fared better than its recently acquired Frank which was pulled back from monthly to quarterly circulation in May.
Women’s Monthly Magazines ABC Pd On Pd Comparisons
| Title | Jan 98-Jun 98 | Jul 98-Dec 98 | Jan 99-Jun 99 |
| 19 | 172,104 | 173,244 | 160,237 |
| B | 212,444 | 231,612 | 235,941 |
| Bliss | 365,668 | 337,188 | 310,389 |
| Candis | 462,191 | 458,773 | 449,754 |
| Company | 290,065 | 290,402 | 242,087 |
| Cosmopolitan | 472,263 | 476,288 | 470,142 |
| Elle | 212,799 | 200,436 | 205,151 |
| Essentials | 290,324 | 296,904 | 290,542 |
| Harpers & Queen | 95,048 | 93,863 | 92,041 |
| J17 | n/a | 242,516 | 238,382 |
| Looks | 136,655 | 136,340 | 131,044 |
| Marie Claire | 416,239 | 445,289 | 437,642 |
| Minx | 154,321 | 150,708 | 126,883 |
| New Woman | 281,087 | 261,681 | 273,016 |
| Prima | 531,678 | 510,142 | 485,580 |
| Red | 190,136 | 173,081 | 170,101 |
| She | 242,024 | 226,079 | 211,031 |
| Shine | n/a | n/a | 120,968 |
| Sugar | 459,984 | 451,696 | 431,394 |
| Tatler | 87,549 | 85,673 | 85,873 |
| Vanity Fair | 83,743 | 80,933 | 79,215 |
| Vogue | 202,265 | 202,321 | 200,462 |
| Woman & Home | 302,430 | 330,001 | 293,847 |
| Womans Journal | 128,656 | 110,762 | 103,209 |
| Total | 5,789,673 | 5,965,932 | 5,844,931 |
Overall results for the sector show a slight increase of 1.0% however it should be noted that this increase includes new audits for Shine and J17 showing sales of 120,968 and 238,382 respectively. Shine was launched in March by Attic Futura and J17 has not reported in this period since changing from fortnightly to monthly publication.
Prima and Cosmopolitan continue to lead the pack although Prima‘s lead is reduced to just over 15,000 and Marie Claire‘s gains have put Sugar into fourth place.
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