Young women, teens dropping mags for net

Lara Sinclair
AUGUST 18, 2014
THE AUSTRALIAN

YOUNG women’s, teen and tween titles suffered among the biggest print magazine circulation declines in the six months to June as young readers continue to turn to the internet for entertainment.
Readers did not respond well to Bauer’s move to merge the staff of Cleo and Dolly in November. Dolly’s print sales plummeted 37.6 per cent from 80,315 in the June half last year to just 50,125, losing leadership of the teen category.
Cleo’s sales also tumbled, down 30.1 per cent to 53,221 copies, while Cosmopolitan’s circulation was down 7.9 per cent to 90,520.
The bad news was not limited to Bauer’s titles as Pacific ­Magazines’ Girlfriend was also significantly down, its paid circulation falling 28.5 per cent to 50,045. Total Girl’s circulation fell 29.2 per cent to 34,721 and K-Zone’s paid sales fell 22.1 per cent to 31,180.
There were “green shoots”, according to Fusion Strategy media analyst Steve Allen. Minnow ­Australian Traveller had the ­biggest percentage increase, its sales rising 14.5 per cent to 12,423. Other titles to have significant growth included Women’s Fitness, which was up 10.9 per cent to 61,152, Diabetic Living, sales of which rose 7.1 per cent to 63,178 and Frankie, which was up 4.4 per cent to 67,782.
AFR Smart Investor had the biggest percentage decline, falling 41.4 per cent to 26,280 copies, while Tech Life was down 39.1 per cent to 12,727. The homemaker category demonstrated its resilience, led by Pacific’s Australian Home Beautiful, which increased its print sales by 8.4 per cent to 91,157 off the back of its integration with Seven Network TV show House Rules.
Pacific Magazines chief Peter Zavecz said the company, which had also integrated New Idea with Seven programs, would extend that integration to other titles.
Bauer’s homemaker titles also fared well, with Australian House & Garden up 0.4 per cent to 114,045, Belle boosting its print sales by 1.6 per cent to 45,230 and Real Living seeing sales rise 1.4 per cent to 81,217.
Bauer Media chief executive Matt Stanton said the fact all of its homemaker titles were up reinforced “the titles’ recent readership surge while boding well for the launch ofhomes+” this month.
NewsLifeMedia’s InsideOut boosted its print circulation by 2.2 per cent to 45,332; when digital sales were included, that figure rose to 46,774.
NewsLifeMedia chief executive Nicole Sheffield said all of its titles were available digitally. “We have five of the top 10 selling digital magazines in this country and hold the highest share of digital sales with 43.6 per cent.”
Digital sales are still relatively small as a proportion of paid ­circulation for magazines. NewsLifeMedia’s Donna Hay sold the highest number of digital copies at 13,037, followed by Bauer’s The Australian Women’s Weekly with 8554.
Food was the most popular category for digital sales, with Super Food Ideas selling 5248 and Australian Gourmet Traveller ­attracting 4482 digital subscribers, followed by Taste.com.au (3524) and Delicious (2441).
Of the weekly titles, Zoo Weekly fared the worst, the Bauer-owned men’s title losing 33.7 per cent of its paid print sales for the June quarter to just 31,084.
New Idea performed the best, its print circulation slipping by just 2.9 per cent to 281,514. That’s Life’s sales fell 4.4 per cent to 194,217 and Woman’s Day was down 5 per cent to 328,053.