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UK magazines see net fall of almost 6% The latest ABC figures published last month show that paid-for UK
News& Magazines
magazines audited by ABC lost sales at an average rate of 5.9% year on year on the second half of 2016. It’s not all bad news however, as 130 out of the total of 357 titles audited by ABC actually increased their circulation figures over the same period. The combined print and digital editions figures highlight that the majority of magazine titles are losing sales, but the magazine industry is holding up better than the newspaper industry in general. Among the best performing titles are: Q Times Literary Supplement: up 27.6% year to 32,166 Q The Spectator: +15.2% to 82,585 Q Good Housekeeping: +11% to
NEW MEDIA SCREEN COMING TO WOODLANDS LOCAL P49 LOYALTY SCHEME The Sun launches new cash-driven reward scheme for loyal customers
The Sun to drive sales with £5 cash shopper incentive scheme
Scotland’s biggest selling newspaper has launched a new incentive scheme that rewards loyal shoppers with cash payments in a move that will drive purchase frequency in stores across Scotland. The new Sun Savers programme is being trialled in Scotland and will see regular readers earn £5 in cash every month. Described as “the richest loyalty scheme in the country” by The Sun, the programme will see readers collect a code every
time they buy a copy, with a fiver being paid every time they reach the 28-codes mark. The codes are collected via a simple-to-use app or through a dedicated website
and the cash can be drawn at any time. Kate Bird, Chief Marketing Officer at The Sun, told SLR: “The whole programme encourages habit, and incentivises our readers to come back to buy the paper every day. It is hugely beneficial to retailers as we are encouraging people not to forget to pick a copy up.” The initiative is being supported through activity in the newspaper, as well as email, social media and direct mail activity.
454,697 Q New Statesman: +5.3% to 34,025 Q Country Living: +12.5% to 188,915 Conversely, some of those magazines suffering the largest declines in circulation include: Q Glamour: -25.6% to 260,422 Q Look: -22.2% to 90,315 Q Star: -17.6% to 122,630 Q Heat: -16.5% to 136,470 Q Empire: -15.3% to 123,004 Q Hello!: -15.5% to 225,986 Q Now: -17.3% to 104,937 In newspapers from a UK-wide
CIRCULATION
Private Eye hits biggest ever sales figure Private Eye Editor and Have I Got News For You TV star Ian Hislop has hailed the title’s “biggest sales figures ever” as the satirical magazine recorded a 9% sales increase in the second half of 2016, representing the title’s biggest ever print circulation. Hislop welcomed the news as “quite something, given that print is meant to be dead”. Private Eye’s ABC-audited circulation figure for its Christmas 2016 issue was 287,334 copies, the biggest single issue sales figure in the title’s entire 55-year history.
perspective, The Observer and The Times were the only UK national newspapers to grow their paid-for print sales year on year in January. The Observer rose 1.4% to 185,752 and paid-for sales of The Times rose 3.8% year on year to 379,861. The Times is now just 21,000 copies behind the Daily Telegraph. The Sun put in the best overall month on month performance in January, up 3.4% compared with the traditionally slower month of December, helped by the success of its popular annual
ABC FIGURES US giant on the up in UK
Time’s UK brands expand reach Time has hailed the latest set of ABC results as confirmation the position of its UK brands as some of the most actively purchased on the newsstand, delivering revenue for retailers. The company saw progress across its portfolio of brands including NME, TV Times, What’s On TV, Woman, Marie Claire, Ideal Home, and Country Homes & Interiors. Marcus Rich, CEO of Time UK, said: “Time brands are some of the best-selling magazine brands on the UK newsstand and we continue to develop our print products to fuel our consumers’ passions.” The company saw circulation increases for titles including TV Times (+2%), Pick Me Up (1.9%), woman&home (+4%) and Country Life (+2%).
CIRCULATION
Johnston Press reports slowdown in steep sales decline Johnston Press, the publisher of the i and more than 200 regional titles, said a precipitous fall in sales slowed in the fourth quarter of 2016 to leave revenues down 14% for the year on a like-for-like basis. Excluding the £24m acquisition of the i in April, fourth-quarter sales were down 11%, compared with 16% in the third quarter. Including the i, the third quarter was down 5% and for the final three months of the year was up 1%. The full year was down 6%. Like-for-like circulation revenues declined 9% over the 12 months, but were up 11% when including the i, helped by a 10p price increase. Ashley Highfield, Johnston Press Chief Executive, said: “We remain focused on delivering on our strategic priorities of growing our overall audience, driving the further success of the i newspaper, delivering a more efficient editorial and sales operation and strengthening the balance sheet. The publisher’s balance sheet remains under pressure from a £220m debt pile.
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06/03/2017 16:39:06