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Pacific Magazines sees biggest growth, while indie publisher Morrison wins with Frankie

Pacific Magazines saw the largest circulation increase among the major publishers, while the independently-owned women’s title Frankie enjoyed the biggest growth among all magazines.

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations’ figures for the six months to December, market leader ACP Magazines maintained its leadership position, but its share fell by 2.6 per cent to 51.7 per cent in the total magazine sector.

It follows Unilever’s recent decision to sign a three-year advertising deal with Seven Media Group’s Pacific Magazines, in a major blow to ACP.

In contrast, PacMags saw its share rise from 27.5 per cent during the same 2008 period, to 29.2 per cent. Meanwhile, News Magazines saw a slight increase from 12 per cent a year earlier to 12.3 per cent in the six months to December 2009.  

Morrison Media’s Frankie saw the biggest growth among individual titles, up 31.6 per cent to 38,343 year on year (YOY). ACP’s Dolly also saw a strong rise, up 17.9 per cent to 140,382 YOY. However, PacMags’ Girlfriend suffered with a 9 per cent fall to 100,061.

The food and entertaining category remained strong, led by Healthy Lifestyle Media’s Healthy Food Guide which rose 18.6 per cent YOY to 40,038 and Kockout Media’s Recipes+ which rose 16.6 per cent to 133,876. ACP’s Australian Good Food also rose 13.46 per cent to 80,838.

There were many gains among the health titles despite a 17.4 per cent drop experienced by Text Pacific Publishing’s Weight Watchers.

PacMags’ Diabetic Living saw a strong rise of 16.33 per cent YOY to 54,183,  while ACP’s Good Health & Medicine lifted 6.8 per cent to 64,216.

Among the fashion titles, ACP’s Harper’s Bazaar saw the biggest increase, up 15.6 per cent YOY to 55,130, while News Magazines’ Vogue rose 7.5 per cent to 54,000. Independent publisher, Rush Magazine & Publications also saw a 7.1 per cent YOY growth for its title Russh.

Home and lifestyle magazines saw growth across the board, led by ACP’s Belle with a 13.4 per cent YOY rise to 33,049 and Real Living with a 10.4 per cent rise to 61,124.

Meanwhile, among the independent publishers, Yaffa Publishing Group saw four of its titles experience double digital falls, with its advertising, media and marketing magazine AdNews down 10.13 per cent YOY to 5,180.

Yaffa’s other titles which saw falls included Australian Flying, down 17.8 per cent YOY to 7,763 and Fishing World which was down 9.65 per cent to 17,251.

The tween titles continued to struggle, with an 18 per cent drop across the category. The falls were led by ACP’s Disney Girl Disney Girl, Disney Adventures, PacMags’ K-Zone, Next Media’s Mania and Girl Power and Dmag’s title of the same name.

News Magazines’ men’s title Alpha saw the biggest drop across all the audited magazines, down over 30 per cent to 73,118. Its fall followed changes to Alpha’s terms of distribution which enraged newsagents and led them to threaten a boycott.

Other men’s titles also saw falls, with ACP’s Ralph, down 4.77 per cent YOY to 63,155, and FHM down 3.2 per cent to 50,167.

ACP’s weekly men’s title Zoo also fell 6.2 per cent to 105,159, while People also fell 7 per cent to 45,144.

Audit Bureau of Circulations – Magazines, biggest falls

Magazine Publisher Dec-09 Dec-08
1. ALPHA News Magazines 73,118 104,557 -30.07%
2. DISNEY GIRL ACP Magazines 24,530 33,795 -27.42%
3. DISNEY ADVENTURES ACP Magazines 28,624 37,490 -23.65%
4. LIMELIGHT Haymarket Media 11,299 14,370 -21.37%
5. K-ZONE Pacific Magazines 52,725 65,928 -20.03%
6. MANIA Next Media 21,917 27,386 -19.97%
7. AUSTRALIAN FLYING Yaffa Publishing 7,763 9,446 -17.82%
8. WEIGHT WATCHERS Text Pacific Publishing 67,219 81,356 -17.38%
9. AUSTRALIAN PROPERTY INVESTOR Australian Commercial Publishing 25,620 30,817 -16.86%
10. DMAG DMAG 24,627 29,144 -15.50%
11. GIRL POWER Next Media 21,982 25,433 -13.57%
12. TOTAL GIRL Pacific Magazines 52,359 60,023 -12.77%
13. AFR SMART INVESTOR Fairfax Media 59,627 68,065 -12.40%
14. MOTOR ACP Magazines 35,311 40,103 -11.95%
15. CAPTURE Yaffa Publishing 2,617 2,967 -11.80%
16. TOP GEAR ACP Magazines 75,310 85,350 -11.76%
17. DANCE AUSTRALIA Yaffa Publishing 4,595 5,207 -11.75%
18. AUSTRALIAN PC AUTHORITY Haymarket Media 26,349 29,647 -11.12%
19. APC ACP Magazines 32,191 36,123 -10.89%
20. MODERN FISHING News Magazines 15,535 17,431 -10.88%
21. LITTLE ANGEL Next Media 22,750 25,356 -10.28%
22. AD NEWS Yaffa Publishing 5,180 5,764 -10.13%
23. FISHING WORLD Yaffa Publishing 17,251 19,094 -9.65%
24. GIRLFRIEND Pacific Magazines 100,061 110,000 -9.04%
25. READERS DIGEST Readers Digest (Australia) 314,700 344,580 -8.67%

Audit Bureau of Circulations – Magazines, biggest increases

Magazine Publisher Dec-09 Dec-08
1. FRANKIE Morrison Media 38,343 29,135 31.60%
2. HEALTHY FOOD GUIDE Healthy Life Media 40,038 33,760 18.60%
3. DOLLY ACP Magazines 140,382 119,072 17.90%
4. COUNTRY HOME IDEAS Express Publications 20,257 17,330 16.89%
5. RECIPES+ Knockout Media 133,876 114,810 16.61%
6. DIABETIC LIVING Pacific Magazines 54,183 46,577 16.33%
7. HARPERS BAZAAR ACP Magazines 55,130 47,691 15.60%
8. MONTHLY, THE Monthly, The 25,017 21,766 14.94%
9. AUSTRALIAN GOOD FOOD ACP Magazines 80,838 71,250 13.46%
10. BELLE ACP Magazines 33,049 29,149 13.38%
11. AUSTRALIAN TRAVELLER Australian Traveller Media 11,328 10,051 12.71%
12. REAL LIVING ACP Magazines 61,124 55,383 10.37%
13. EARTH GARDEN Earth Garden Publishing 18,218 16,632 9.54%
14. VOGUE AUSTRALIA News Magazines 54,000 50,252 7.46%
15. EMPIRE ACP Magazines 24,175 22,523 7.33%
16. RUSSH Rush Magazine & Publications 24,905 23,256 7.09%
17. FRESHWATER FISHING AUSTRALIA Australian Fishing Network 12,201 11,408 6.95%
18. GOOD HEALTH & MEDICINE ACP Magazines 64,216 60,123 6.81%
19. FISHING TIPS & TECHNIQUES Express Publications 10,213 9,575 6.66%
20. AUSTRALIAN HOUSE & GARDEN ACP Magazines 100,326 94,203 6.50%
21. ROLLING STONE ACP Magazines 23,452 22,043 6.39%
22. UNIQUE CARS ACP Magazines 54,571 51,343 6.29%
23. AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY Yaffa Publishing Group 8,543 8,040 6.26%
24. WOMEN’S HEALTH Pacific Magazines 91,653 86,500 5.96%
25. SUPERFOOD IDEAS News Magazines 287,000 271,298 5.79%
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