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Press Office

Wednesday 29 Oct 2014

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Worldwide Press Releases

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines up more than 3% in Jan-June ABCs

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines has delivered another strong performance in the latest ABC release (January-June 2010) with circulations across its portfolio up 3.12% year on year, subscriptions at an all-time high of 886,472, and with 98.7% of its titles 'actively purchased' by customers.

Highlights from ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines' results:

Lonely Planet Magazine delivers an impressive ABC of 54,708, up 34.4% year on year, becoming the number one actively purchased travel magazine in the UK;

Radio Times retains its market-leading position as the best-selling quality listings title and outperforms the market, with a slight drop in year on year circulation (-1.96%) to 947,131;

Across ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines' food titles, olive is up 2.0% year on year, with a circulation of 87,881; Good Food is down slightly at 305,885, but retains its position as the market-leading paid-for food title; Gardeners' World is up 19.9% period on period at 260,133, down slightly year on year (-2.3%);

All of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines' specialist factual titles, published by ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines Bristol, have increased their circulations, with ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ science title Focus up 8.0% at 73,614, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ History Magazine up 8.4 % at 69,234, and Countryfile magazine up by an impressive 22.0% (at 33,839);

For younger readers, Girl Talk is up 12.4% year on year at 67,929; and among pre-school titles, CBeebies Weekly delivers a strong ABC of 54,846, up 13.1% year on year; stable-mates CBeebies Art and CBeebies Special have also performed well, with circulations of 49,929 and a debut of 51,379 respectively;

Subscriptions to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ titles are at an all-time high of 886,472 making ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines the UK publisher with the highest number of subscriptions.

Peter Phippen, MD of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines, said: "I am delighted with ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines' strong ABC performance in this period. Once again we have bucked the trend with increased sales across our portfolio, becoming the UK publisher with the highest number of subscriptions and with 99% of our magazines 'actively purchased' by readers. This is thanks to our long-term investment in market-leading titles which readers love for their quality content, great journalism and immensely strong brands. I'm particularly proud of the success of Lonely Planet Magazine, which, in addition to winning several prestigious awards since its launch 18 months ago, has grown its circulation by an impressive 34% year on year."


PUBLISHERS' STATEMENTS

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Food Group

Title ABC Jan-June 2010 ABC Jan-June 2009 Change YOY Change POP
Good Food
305,855
323,171
-5.4%
-12.9%
olive
87,881
86,117
+2.0%
-5.9%
Easy Cook
70,924
73,050
-2.9%
-13.4%
Good Food ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Cooking
41,330
n/a
n/a
-6.0%

Alfie Lewis, Publishing Director, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Food Group: "This has been another fantastic period for our food titles, with a 5% year on year uplift in magazine sales overall compared to last year's ABC. This is truly remarkable, given the unprecedented level of competition now in this market.

"Despite Good Food being down year on year, the record level of subscriptions (164,108) shows the willingness of consumers to develop a long term relationship with the brand and its 'eat well, spend less' promise. Good Food ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Cooking's strong ABC figure for this period and Easy Cook's now established audience highlight the success of our deliberate strategy of providing our unique content in new print formats, including bookazines. Additionally the first ABCe for a year and a half charts the astonishing reach of the brand with 1.7m unique users a month, 71,013 unique users a day, up 78%. We were delighted our successful brand strategy was acknowledged by the PPA who awarded us Consumer Media Brand of the Year. Following the launch of the first iPhone apps and with other exciting developments planned for the next period, we look forward to a golden future for this highly successful brand.

"olive's achievement in recording a third year on year circulation increase is testament to its confident and bold editorial approach with innovations such as a reader generated issue. With subscriptions higher than ever, we are on course to deliver the long term aim of a six figure circulation for this stand out magazine."

Gardeners' World

Title ABC Jan-June 2010 ABC Jan-June 2009 Change YOY Change POP
Gardeners' World
260,133
266,179
-2.3%
+19.9%

Dominic Murray, Publishing Director, Gardeners' World Magazine: "Into its 20th year Gardeners' World magazine continues to lead the marketplace by a massive margin, increasing its share once again. This success is underpinned by an enduring ability to inspire loyalty among our readers. Gardeners' World now has 67.2% share of the total paid-for gardening market and with a Jan-Jun 2010 ABC of 260,133, Gardeners' World is the 11th most widely bought monthly magazine overall in the UK this period.

"A clear focus on our core customer is paying dividends, and the magazine is really delivering for this keen gardening audience. With standout covers such as our May 2010 'Gardens to Visit' special we have also demonstrated the ability to reach out to new readers, underlined by our impressive resilience on the newsstand, consistently outperforming the marketplace. In addition, we launched our first special edition, Gardeners' World guide 'Grow Your Own,' in February. We are very confident for the future with some exciting developments planned in the build-up to our 20th anniversary issue in 2011."

Lonely Planet Magazine

Title ABC Jan-June 2010 ABC Jan-June 2009 Change YOY Change POP
Lonely Planet Magazine
54,708
40,702
+34.4%
+21.4%

Dominic Murray, Publishing Director of Lonely Planet Magazine: "Lonely Planet Magazine continues its inexorable rise, and is now the UK's number one paid-for consumer travel magazine - a truly remarkable achievement in less than two years since launch.

"Refreshingly original, the unique editorial proposition continues to attract new readers in their thousands, making Lonely Planet the UK's fastest-growing monthly magazine year on year with an ABC of 54,708, up 34.4% year on year and 21.4% period on period. The brave, frequency-led circulation strategy is clearly paying dividends, the category continues to grow, and the phenomenal growth in our subscriptions file (now over 28,000) demonstrates increasing commitment from our readers. What a story! But it doesn't stop there: our success with the UK edition is matched with a rapidly growing network of - now nine - international editions."

Radio Times

Title ABC Jan-June 2010 ABC Jan-June 2009 Change YOY Change POP
Radio Times
947,131
966,098
-2.0%
-5.3%

Kathy Day, Publishing Director, Radio Times, says: "Radio Times' ABC figure of 947,131 sees its share of the premium market growing to a record 57.6%. Radio Times now outsells the rest of the premium TV Listings titles put together nearly a quarter of a million copies. This sales success combines with an increase in AB profile to 49% (Oct to Mar NRS) to consolidate Radio Times’ position as the UK’s biggest selling upmarket magazine.

"I'm delighted that Radio Times also retains its market leading position as the UK's biggest selling weekly magazine by subscription, increasing subs by 12.1% to 188,371.

"The brand success continues with radiotimes.com publishing an ABCe daily average unique user figure of 84,086, with monthly unique users up 16.5% to 1.4m."

Top Gear

Title ABC Jan-June 2010 ABC Jan-June 2009 Change YOY Change POP
Top Gear
190,375
200,761
-5.2%
-5.2%

Simon Carrington, Publishing Director of Top Gear Magazines, says: "Despite a difficult summer for newsstand sales, Top Gear remains the UK’s best-selling car magazine and the 3rd biggest selling men's monthly.

"The big success for Top Gear magazine over the past six months has been the growth of subscription sales. In this ABC period, subscribers to Top Gear magazine grew by nearly 7% to almost 60,000 subscribers. This success is proof that Top Gear's unique blend of entertaining and authoritative motoring journalism continues to be a hit with the readers.

"We will soon be announcing Top Gear magazine's new editor and expect the redesigned Top Gear Magazine to hit the shelves shortly after. With TopGear.com delivering a very strong ABCe of 2.4m unique users a month (108,930 users per day) we are looking forward to strong autumn and further growth in 2011."

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Children's Magazines

Title ABC Jan-June 2010 ABC Jan-June 2009 Change YOY Change POP
Doctor Who Adventures
53,559
56,986
-6.0%
+19.9%
Girl Talk
67,929
60,443
+12.4%
-0.1%
Top of the Pops
104,709
119,739
-12.6%
-2.7%

Jaynie Bye, joint MD, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Children's Magazines: "Girl Talk continues to be a hugely popular choice for preteen girls in an increasingly competitive market and its year on year increase (12.4%) is testament to this. Following a refresh and redesign at the beginning of the year, its vibrant and varied content means that, after more than 15 years in the market, it is still the first choice for most young girls.

"Following the return to our screens of Doctor Who, with the wonderful Matt Smith, Doctor Who Adventures magazine has delivered a strong period on period growth (19.9%). A whole new generation of fans are keen to find out all they can about the Doctor, his companion and, of course, the scary monsters and wait eagerly their weekly fix in the form of Doctor Who Adventures Magazine.

"We are also very pleased with the performance of Top of the Pops this period, which has held relatively steady with an ABC of 104,709. This result is even more impressive when considered in context of the wider teen market performance; as the only title covering music for teens, Top of the Pops Magazine has been able to capitalise on the current mania for JLS and Justin Bieber."

Title ABC Jan-June 2010 ABC Jan-June 2009 Change YOY Change POP
Bob the Builder
46,257
48,224
-4.1%
-5.9%
CBeebies Weekly
54,846
48,509
+13.1%
+1.3%
CBeebies Animals
32,618
37,696
-13.5%
+3.5%
CBeebies Art
49,929
41,970
+19.0%
-4.6%
CBeebies Specials (monthly)
51,379
n/a
n/a
n/a
Charlie and Lola
40,496
47,066
-14.0%
-13.7%
In the Night Garden
60,060
80,334
-25.2%
-11.0%
Toybox
38,262
41,582
-8.0%
-2.7%
Waybuloo
33,771
n/a
n/a
-13.2%
Total for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ pre-school
407,618
345,381
+18.0%
+7.3%

Pauline Cooke, Publisher, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Pre-school Magazines, says: "As a portfolio, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Pre-school has increased its market share by 3.6 percentage points and now accounts for 45.3% of the total pre-school market. Overall the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Pre-school portfolio is up 7.3% period on period and 18% year on year, mainly due to an increase in sales of CBeebies Weekly and the launch of CBeebies Specials magazines which had a brilliant debut ABC of 51,379.

"After extensive research into parents' perception of pre-school magazines - and CBeebies Weekly in particular - we have spent the past year working to deliver their need for value. CBeebies Weekly re-launched with an improved format, more investment in gifts and a revamped editorial content, this has helped to increase sales by 13.06% year on year. CBeebies Art continues to go from strength to strength which is up 18.96% year on year, despite a price rise.

"We have seen some decline in our older titles as they move into a different stage in their lifecycle, in particular In the Night Garden, but we will re-launch this title within the next few months to ensure it maintains its appeal for this very young audience. This natural decline with older brands is to be expected in this sector, but the high volume of launches helps to maintain and refresh the market. We will be launching our second new title in September, featuring the hugely successful CBeebies programme, ZingZillas."

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines Bristol (Specialist Factual titles)

Title ABC Jan-June 2010 ABC Jan-June 2009 Change YOY Change POP
Countryfile Magazine
33,839
27,729
+22.0%
+21.6%
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Wildlife Magazine
44,564
44,101
+1.0%
+0.0%
Gardens Illustrated
33,453
31,312
+6.8%
+4.2%
Focus
73,614
68,144
+8.0%
+2.6%
Sky at Night Magazine
21,084
n/a
n/a
n/a
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ History Magazine
69,234
63,888
+8.4%
+7.0%
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖs & Antiques
55,100
54,083
+1.9%
-8.5%

Jemima Ransome, publisher, Countryfile Magazine: "Up 22% year on year, Countryfile Magazine has taken a huge leap forwards this period proving just how popular the magazine's stunning new look has been and richly rewarding the team's fantastic work under new editor, Fergus Collins. With a strong plan of marketing support in place for the rest of the year, we are confident that the magazine will deliver continued growth next period and will continue to benefit from the increasing popularity of holidaying at home. Countryfile Magazine’s new ABC is 33,839."

Jemima Ransome, publisher of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Wildlife Magazine: "³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Wildlife Magazine continues to command massive loyalty from its readers with subscriptions breaking the 30,000 mark and a rock solid ABC of 44,564, up 1% year on year. As the UK's only dedicated wildlife magazine, readers relish the way it builds their appreciation of the natural world and encourages them to seek out new ways to explore it. Whether on their doorstop with a pair of binoculars or embarking on more far-flung expeditions, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Wildlife Magazine is their inspiration."

Jemima Ransome, publisher of Gardens Illustrated: "Up 6.8% year on year, Gardens Illustrated’s new ABC of 33,453 is another triumphant performance from the magazine. The title continues to outperform the gardening market proving the recession busting appeal of stylish gardening. With a third consecutive period of growth, Gardens Illustrated has clearly carved out a distinct and increasingly popular editorial proposition. It’s quite simply the most beautiful and aspirational gardening magazine."

Andrew Davies, publisher of Focus magazine: "This has been another hugely exciting and successful period for Focus as the title continues to march forward. An ABC figure of 73,614 represents a monumental 8% year on year increase, which within an increasingly competitive and challenging newsstand environment is highly satisfying. Especially pleasing is Focus' continued growth in subscription volume with nearly 20% growth year on year, a sign of our increasingly loyal readership that dare not miss an issue. With an enthralling web presence and a range of innovative brand-extensions, this truly multi-platform brand is not only enjoying current success but is well placed for future growth."

Andrew Davies, publisher of Sky at Night Magazine: "I'm very proud of the first ABC posting of Sky at Night Magazine, at a very strong 21,084. Closely connected to the iconic ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ programme fronted by the inimitable Sir Patrick Moore, Sky at Night Magazine has turned in a truly excellent performance within the niche astronomy magazine market. Sky at Night Magazine is not only the sole title in this tightly-defined sector to confidently post an ABC figure, it has also outperformed the in-house target we set for it."

Andy Healy, publisher of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ History Magazine: "³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ History Magazine posts another superb result, up 7% period on period and 8.4% year on year - an extraordinary nine consecutive increases. We're drawing in new readers here and abroad, through the magazine's unique take on British history, its mix of entertainment and revelation. Subscribers now account for over 60% of the circulation which illustrates just how enticing the magazine is and how quickly this fascinating subject can captivate the reader. We've also had over 2 million downloads of our podcast this year, spurring us on to develop the brand and to reach more people than ever before."

Andy Healy, publisher of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖs & Antiques: "I'm really pleased with the year on year growth of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖs & Antiques, up nearly 2%. As we enter the busier part of the year, our sights are set on delivering more of the great mix our readers love - great design from every era and a blend of the very best of old and new. Vintage and antiques are back in fashion and the Antiques Roadshow is enjoying terrific viewing figures, which means ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖs & Antiques is well placed to indulge these burgeoning passions. Subscribers now represent over half our readers and it's fantastic to have such a firm and loyal base."


NOTES TO EDITORS
The total ABC figure for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines for January-June 2010 is 2,952,806. This figure is up 3.1% year on year and stable (-0.5%) period on period.


Sarah Williams-Robbins

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