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ABCs: Zoo Weekly continues to slide as weekly magazine market struggles

Zoo Weekly

Zoo Weekly continues to see its circulation numbers drop dramatically as declines in other weekly magazine begin to moderate with four of the eleven titles posting declines of less than 5 per cent

The Bauer media lad’s mag, which “retired” its online assets last month, saw its circulation drop by 27.9 per cent year-on-year, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) which take in the months of July to September 2014.

Last year the embattled title was shifting an average of 40,282 copies a week, which is now down to 29,035.

At the time of Zoo Weekly closing its website, associate publisher Ewen Page told Mumbrella young men were “still strong consumers of the content Zoo do”.

“Circulation is being managed. We have a very strong readership,” he said when quizzed if the decision to retire the website was connected to the title’s flagging circulation numbers. “If we look at the offerings we have our audience cell remains very strong.”

Pacific Magazines’ New Idea continues to hold up the best against the tide of declining circulation, posting a small drop of 2.2 per cent year-on year from 283,132 to 277,014.

However, Bauer-owned rival Woman’s Day continues to trump New Idea in circulation numbers despite experiencing a greater decline. The woman’s magazine saw its circulation drop by 5.9 per cent from 340,426 to 320, 398.

On the results Bauer Media director of sales Tony Kendall said in a comment: “Year-on-year, Bauer’s share of the weekly magazine market has increased 1.8%, to sell more than 10.8 million copies across a 3 month audit period. Combined with our brands constant digital and social evolution, weekly magazine brands are very much alive and connecting with Australian women.”

Pacific Mags’ Famous posted the greatest decline amongst the Pac Mag titles audited, with the celebrity title’s circulation dropping by 18.9 per cent from 74,220 to 60,211.

Rival celebrity title OK!, owned by Bauer Media, dramatically slowed its decline, posting a drop of 4.10 per cent compared to the last audit period’s decline of 13.40 per cent. The title shifts 72,024 copies a week, down from 75,135 copies a week at this time last year.

It is not as rosy at fellow Bauer celebrity gossip title NW, which posted a decline of 18.30 per cent year-on year. The title saw its sales numbers drop from 93,100 to 76,022.

Pacific Magazines’ glossy celebrity title Who saw its circulation drop from 116,708 to 102,996, a decline of 11.70 per cent.

That’s Life, owned by Pacific Magazines, once again held its ground against rival Bauer title Take 5 with the titles seeing circulation decline by 4 per cent and 4.90 per cent respectively. That’s Life sells 194,253 copies a week while Take 5 shifts 165,215.

Pacific Magazines director of magazines Peter Zavecz said: “While it is a challenging market, our weekly mastheads continue to perform well, and we remain committed to building audiences across platforms with high-quality engaging content”.

Bauer Media’s TV Week saw its circulation drop by 6.80 per cent, sending its circulation from 155,737 to 145,076.

An analysis of the latest figures by Fusion Strategy noted that circulation declines have been moderating for a year or so, however one of the biggest factors in this is the recent inclusion of Bauer-owned Yours, which targets women over 50, now in its second audit period and accounting for an additional 61,250 copies, 127 copies up on the last period.

“Circulation declines have somewhat moderated, and most beneficially for the magazine category, in the key mass women’s and reality titles, all of whom posted quite modest single digit declines, especially New Idea,” said Steve Allen, Pricipal for Fusion Strategy.

Allen noted the celebrity titles took “another hammering”, particularly the younger and more sensational titles such as Famous and NW.

“The more fact based titles, OK and Who, fared much better,” he said.

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