ABCs: Weekly magazines struggle as OK! drops below 50,000 copies a week
Bauer Media’s glossy celebrity magazine OK! has seen its print circulation slide below the 50,000 mark, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
OK! Posted a circulation decline of 21.5% from March to June 2015 to the same time this year, with the celebrity magazines’ circulation going from selling, on average, 61,401 copies a week to 48,181 copies a week.
Nick Chan CEO Bauer Media, ruled out transitioning any of the Bauer Media celebrity mastheads to digital-only, similar to what Pacific Magazines’ did with Famous.
“Not at this stage,” he said. “They are down, there’s no avoiding the facts. For us, they’re still profitable and while they are, there’s no reason to consider a digital-only future.”
Rival glossy celebrity magazine, Who, owned by Pacific Magazines, also had it rough with a decline of 18.5% – with the title posting a March to June circulation of 82,985, down from 101,845 in the same period last year.
Who also saw its subscriptions to its digital replica decline from 1,361, in the March to June 2015 period, to 888 in the same time period this year.
Overall, the number of print weekly magazines sold fell from 1.322m per week in the March to June period of 2015 to 1.1153m in the same period this year – a drop of 168,626 or 12.75%.
Nick Chan: “We haven’t been innovative enough in our editorial coverage”
On the state of the weekly market, Chan admitted Bauer “haven’t been innovative enough in our editorial coverage”.
“If you have two similar magazines, there’s no differentiation and the consumer won’t be excited enough,” he said.
Bauer Media’s NW posted the second-greatest decline, with its sales dropping 18.7%, year-on-year, from 65,014 to 52,833.
On NW, Chan said: “The sales of NW have been strong and that might be partly from Famous [going digital only] but I think the team on NW are doing a strong job.”
NW saw its digital subscriptions slide by 17.4% from 803 to 663.
New Idea continues to boast the second largest weekly magazine circulation, behind Woman’s Weekly, despite posting a decline of 14.4%.
The magazine, owned by Pacific Magazines, shifted on average 258,407 copies a week in the March to June quarter of last year; however, this year only sold on average 221,176.
Zavecz: “We’re very competitive with our competitors Bauer in the weekly category”
Peter Zavecz CEO Pacific Magazines, said: “That figure is in-line with the market, it is still challenged in a print capacity. Our focus is total audience, we’ve only just got our websites back in the last quarter. It is the leader in total audience in its category – it’s the number one magazine in the weekly market.
“Our mobile strategy is starting to get big results for New Idea. SoMoVoCo is our strategy – social, mobile, video, commerce in digital and that’s complementing our legacy in print, that’s the way we’re going and we’re starting to get really good results.
“That’s our strategy, we’re sticking to it. We’re very competitive with our competitors Bauer in the weekly category.”
New Idea’s digital subscriptions slipped by 23.4%, year-on-year, from 1,558 to 1,053.
Bauer Media’s Woman’s Day continues to hold its position as the weekly magazine with the biggest print circulation, despite a double-digit decline of 12.4%.
The magazine was selling, on average, 302,634 copies a week in the March to June quarter of last year, with that figure sliding to 265,228 in the same time period this year.
On Woman’s Day, Chan said: “We still see strong sales when we do good issues, when we have a good subject matter, good marketing – we still see strong sales, so it’s a matter of doing that 52 weeks of the year.”
Woman’s Day grew its digital subscriptions by 16.8%, year-on-year, from 2,298 last year to 2,684 this year.
In the real life category, Pacific Magazines’ That’s Life continues to hold the lead over rival Bauer Media’s Take 5.
That’s Life posted a March to June print circulation of 163,801 – a decline of 9.3%, from 180,676 – while Take 5 holds just above the 140,000 circulation figure selling, on average, 140,014 copies a week, a drop of 11.1% from the title’s March to June 2015 circulation of 157,483.
Bauer Media’s TV Week saw its print circulation dive by 9.2% from 134,356 to 122,044.
Bauer Media’s Yours had the smallest decline, with its print circulation sliding by 5.1% from 60,146 to 57,074.
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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topics
Audit Bureau of Circulation
Bauer Media
magazines
New Idea
Nick Chan
OK
Pacific Magazines
Peter Zavecz
Woman's Day
