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Readers Digest Abc Elle

Total Film, Reader’s Digest, The Economist, Good Housekeeping, Elle, Women’s Weekly, Heat – ABC magazine round up

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

August 18, 2011 | 7 min read

With today’s ABC circulation figures showing an over 0.1% rise in average circulation figures for magazines across the UK during the first half of 2011, The Drum highlights some of the responses from ABC registered magazines.

The Economist saw a 7.7% circulation growth, rising to 210,318 in the UK and a global circulation include of 3%, reaching 1,486,838.

Yvonne Ossman, UK Publisher of The Economist, said: ”In these troubled times, more and more people are seeing the value in The Economists insightful and compelling editorial content, which offers much-needed perspective on world events.

“We have also continued to respond to the changing reading habits of our readers, building on the successful launch of our iPhone and iPad apps last autumn. We now offer The Economist on Android and have also recently launched a World In Figures app, providing data and statistics from 190 countries.”

Of his company's total magazine figures, Paul Keenan, chief executive, Bauer Media, commented: "Bauer Media's portfolio of influential and trusted magazine brands continues to engage deeply with consumers through the consistent delivery of quality products rich in editorial and commercial innovation. This is underpinned by our commitment to a multi-platform approach, which continues to extend our reach. By delivering powerful brand experiences for consumers, we offer advertisers greater opportunities to connect with our highly engaged audiences.

"We continue to seek out new opportunities and in July 2011 launched Outdoor Fitness, the first market defining, multi-discipline fitness lifestyle magazine, aimed at the growing number of people who are getting fit and planning their next big challenge, outdoors.”

Bauer movie magazine Empire rectorded a monthly average of 171,013 sales.

Sophie Wybrew-Bond, managing director of Empire commented: “Empire has outperformed the film market this ABC period, reinforcing its status as the UK and world’s market leading movie magazine brand. It is also now a force to be reckoned with in the UK men’s media market, giving brands like Orange, Tiger Beer and Ford opportunity to engage with an upscale male audience through their passions. Highlights include Empire’s Big Screen event at The O2 in London, launch of the i-pad edition and the successful Empire Awards.”

Meanwhile, sister magazine FHM's publishing director, Rimi Atwal, said in response to its figure of 155,557; "FHM continues to influence and engage with young men as a genuinely multi-platform brand with a commitment to providing the most engaging and interactive content to millions of 18-34 year men every month. Under the leadership of our new editor, Joe Barnes, we are confident that FHM’s world famous ‘Funny, Sexy, Useful’ brand values will deliver a relevant and inspiring monthly for 21st century young men.”

Heat magazine's 326,677 figure also led managing director of entertainment, Sophie Wybrew-Bond, to say: “Heat remains one of the most influential magazines in the market, delivering the hottest and most relevant celebrity news, cheeky humour, fashion and beauty week in, week out. Our multi-platform brand strategy has seen our reach continue to grow, as our deeply loyal readership increase engagement with heat via various touchpoints like heatworld.com. This engagement has led to some stand-out advertising successes for brands like Malibu.”

Other Bauer titles include Grazia (219,741), Closer (459,693), ZOO (54,318) and Kerrang! (43,033)

Future’s film publication Total Film’s subscription base grew by 4% on last year, while its website now received 754,000 unique visitors a month, with over 13,500 iPhone and iPad apps have been sold.

Group publisher for Future, Clair Porteous, commented: “Total Film continues its commitment to developing must-read entertaining content across all platforms, growing its overall brand reach to over 1.48 million every month. Despite a challenging and highly competitive print sector, Total Film is leading the way online and in social media, establishing an incredibly valuable audience of engaged and influential 18-30 year-old film fans. The growth has been remarkable and proves that Total Film, in the minds of passionate film enthusiasts, is the film brand for them.”

Hearst Magazines, which published 24 magazines including Elle, Good Housekeeping and Men’s Health, claimed that its products combined meant over 16 million sales in print and over 20 million monthly unique users across its 22 websites.

Figures included a 2% increase for Good Housekeeping, with subscription rate up 3% on last year to 229,243 and Men's Health recorded sales of 218,368. Harper’s Bazaar grew to 118,740, with September’s issue recording the title’s largest sales ever.

Arnaud de Puyfontaine, chief executive of Hearst Magazines UK, said: “Following the acquisition of Hachette Filipacchi, our combined magazine business now reaches 47% of all women in the UK, giving us a competitive edge with a unique portfolio that speaks to every age and every demographic. Like many businesses in the UK, we are facing a challenging environment, so it’s encouraging to see that many of our brands recording year on year increases. We believe strongly in the power of print and this, combined with a strong digital presence, further reinforces our position as a leader in the industry with the agility to take full advantage of all growth opportunities ahead.”

The recently relaunched Reader’s Digest increased its circulation by 9% in comparison with last year, growing to 403,458.

Gill Hudson, editor-in-chief, said: “We’ve completely reinvented the magazine for the 21st century, and it’s gone down a storm with long-standing and brand-new readers alike. We have transformed one of Britain’s greatest magazine brands and made it relevant for a whole new generation.”

Meanwhile, IPC Media, which published Ideal Home, Homes & Gardens Style at Home through its IPC Southbank home interest division, celebrated an increased share of the home interest market by 2% to a total of 42%.

Style at Home’s debut circulation figure was 52,576, while Ideal Home grew by 0.1% over the last year to reach 205,778, Homes & Gardens grew by 1.2% year-on-year to 137,812 and Country Homes & Interiors was up by 2.7% to its highest circulation of 92,563.

IPC Media CEO Sylvia Auton said: "The difficult economic climate has made it a challenging time for most UK businesses, and while the magazine market has certainly been affected, it is nonetheless encouraging that we are seeing some clear growth in sectors that focus around the home. As purse strings tighten, the home is becoming increasingly important as the hub for social and family activity, whether it be at-home dining; watching TV; decorating or treating oneself to the odd home improvement. So while the property market may have slowed, the UK's love affair with the home continues, as the success of Homes and Gardens, Living etc, Ideal Home, Style At Home, Country Homes & Interiors, Marie Claire delivers an ABC of 250,785.

IPC Connect’s television portfolio also grew with, TV Times circulation holding at 290,303, What’s on TV up 5.4% to 1,274,034 and Soaplife up by 1.4% to 100,798.

IPC Inspire’s Nuts magazine reported a figure of 114,019, with NME’s figure at 29.020 and Golf Monthly growing by 6.8% with 58,775.

Readers Digest Abc Elle

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