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ABCs – women’s: sales slump could hit budgets for exclusive stories and pics

Bye-bye celeb exclusives?

Mass market weekly women’s magazines could cut their budgets for buying exclusive stories and photographs – both local and international – following declines in ABC circulation across the five major weekly titles.

New Idea, Women’s Day, Who, Famous and NW all pay hefty sums, sometimes in the hundreds of thousands if the story is strong enough, to drive circulation. They also bid against each other, driving up the price.

But Pacific Magazines chief Nick Chan – who oversees New Idea, Famous and Who – told Encore that a tough advertising and circulation market means those budgets will drop. Competitor Bauer’s Women’s Day and NW will be similarly affected.

“From our side we’re more economically rational about this, and will be in the next 12 months,’’ Chan told Encore. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to stop spending – we’re still going to deliver our readers good solid stories and exclusives, but we’re all making less money these days so we’re not being silly about things.”

Executives at Bauer issued a statement but would not be interviewed.

Bauer’s main release focused on the more market friendly readership figures, and not actual sales. The publisher’s biggest weekly seller Women’s Day suffered the largest drop of the five weeklies, down 5.8 per cent to 350,495 – while easily maintaining top spot over New Idea’s 293,031 copies, a drop of 4 per cent. Chan was frank about the declines for all three of his weekly women’s titles.

“I think it’s an acceptable result, but we’re not cheering from the rooftops,” he said. “For Who, it’s an okay performance, and there wasn’t a blockbuster story for us last year compared to the Kardashian wedding the year before. But we’re the number one celebrity magazine, and it has been a really consistent performance.

“It is 10 years younger than New Idea in demographics, and it’s pitch is celebrity with integrity. It’s audience is more upmarket and AB, so it’s a valuable brand.”

New Idea had a tough December, he said, but had picked up in January.

He also took a shot at Women’s Day.

“A lot of the things we’ve done at New Idea in the last 18 months have been emulated by our competitor,” he claims. “That’s tough, because our competitor keeps copying us.”

Pacific Magazines title Marie Clare fell 9.6 per cent to 90,519. Chan defended the fall. “It’s been highly competitive. You could say it’s crowded. Marie Claire is the number one circulating women’s fashion magazine,” he said.

Matthew Stanton, CEO, of Bauer Media, said in a statement that his company maintained its faith in the market.

 “Consumers are still buying and reading magazines in their millions,” he said.

“People are prepared to pay for quality, compelling content. Even in a period of ongoing consumer caution, five magazines are sold every second in Australia.”

WOMEN’S MONTHLY TITLES

WOMEN’S WEEKLY TITLES

There will be a full breakdown and analysis of the ABC figures in Encore later today.

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