The latest biannual report into UK and Ireland consumer magazine circulation has turned up some interesting results, with many big titles on the wane, while the overall picture remains mildly perilous.
The list of the UK (and Ireland)’s Top 100 magazines isn’t as simple as looking at which title is top and the order of the 99 that follow. Within the list there are numerous genres and rivalries, which mean the headlines can sometimes lie in the heart of the chart. Two major milestones marked the latest ABC magazine figures, published last month. While there was a familiar pattern of gradual decline, and the TV titles maintained their grip at the top of the charts, it was the grim performance of two of the UK’s best-known magazine brands that stood out. FHM saw its average circulation drop below 100,000.
For a title that was once shifting 600,000 copies a month, it highlighted the title’s decline. In fact, the average circulation for actively purchased copies was 86,828. There are plenty of reasons for the title’s demise, many of them cultural, but with the free weekly magazine Shortlist now shifting 534,692 copies, there is a real concern for retailers that titles of this ilk are stealing considerable sales (and footfall) from shops. The other headline was that despite a major relaunch last year, NME saw its figure drop below 20,000, down 20% year on year. When Melody Maker was shut down in 2000 it had double that number.
The internet and the proliferation of niche music genres has contributed heavily to NME’s demise. It wasn’t all doom and gloom though – leading title TV Choice, from H. Bauer, saw its average actively purchased circulation reach 1,374,813 (its highest number in five years), which is up 11.8% – a remarkable achievement in its battle with rivals What’s On TV (-14.2% to 1,047,346) and Radio Times (-7% to 826,302). The increase comes on the back of Northern & Shell’s decision to close TV Pick in July.
Just a year ago the IPC Media-owned What’s On TV had closed to within 8,000 copies of TV Choice, which makes this period’s 300,000 gap all the more staggering. TV Choice Publishing Director, Liz Watkinson commented: “The legacy of the ill-fated TV Pick launch has only been a positive one for TV Choice. Even as our cover price moved back up at the start of the Autumn our readers, both new and existing, stayed with us and continue to enjoy a great editorial product with the best value listings in the market.” Further into the list and Good Housekeeping has dislodged Glamour from the top monthly lifestyle magazine.
This is no small achievement given Glamour has topped that chart for a decade. Good Housekeeping nudged almost 391,000, +4%, while Glamour grew just 1.3% to 371,000. In the fiercely competitive women’s weeklies market there was a fair bit of movement with Closer holding onto the top spot despite seeing a reduction of 4.6%. The big winner was Star, which at 45p holds a competitive price point.
It saw sales shoot up by 16% to 256,000, putting it firmly ahead of titles such as Heat for the first time ever. OK! suffered a drop of 5.4%, making it the 13th top selling magazine in the UK. Private Eye continued to top the news charts, with 211,066 (+0.7%) copies, comfortably ahead of This Week (148,851, – +5%) and The Economist (138,719, -14%).
