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% |
Frankie is a brilliant ‘Young womens magazine’.
It deserves it’s success.
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How did the weekly mags go, circ wise?
Very happy to see Australian Traveller (disclosure – I contribute) had an over 12% increase . . .
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Hi Melissa,
Weeklies here: https://mumbrella.com.au/acp-weekly-titles-tumble-while-pacmags-famous-still-on-the-rise-18034
Not good for ACP…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Great timing! An early fifth birthday present for the Monthly, gaining 15% YOY to be in the top 10 movers.
John Derry
The Monthly
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Hey Dr Mumbo,
Is there a website that shows a 5 year graph of the various magazine’s circulations?
The single year ‘ups n downs’ are interesting, but I’d be even more interested in a long-term view of what’s happening.
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AdNews drop is hardly surprising given the convenience and comprehensiveness of our new lunchtime Mumbrella habit. Be interesting to see what they come back with…
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Good to see independent publishers performing so well and standing up with the mainstream market.
Congratulations to Morrison Media’s Frankie and Healthy Food Guide – run by very dedicated Phil Ryan.
A few others on that list not looking too shabby either.
Will they now be able to divert the attention of ad buyers and convert these results into ad revenue?
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Great result for Frankie… amazing growth. What are they doing better then everyone else I wonder?
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Whenever I’m in Borders (which is a lot), I stare at the women’s magazines in the stand to see what cover jumps out at me (I know, I need to get help for that). 9 times out of 10, it’s Frankie.
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Steven – Frankie is quirky, non-celeb, treats its readers like real people and doesn’t run the same old sex/body image/fashion/”this is what’s wrong with your life and this is how you should fix it” stories that are the usual women’s fare. It’s definitely my favourite.
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Gabe – the ABC is about to launch custom Trend Reporting which will be available to subscribing members that will allow you to create reports and graphs for specific publications and/or groups back to 2006 when the rules changed.
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