ABC Results Jan-Jun 2004: Gossip Titles Still Hot

The figures listed in NewsLine’s ABC reports are those reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) as at Thursday 12 August 2004. Late submissions and changes may be made after this date, and will thereafter be amended in MediaTel’s Press database. For full notes on how NewsLine’s reports are compiled please see NewsLine.

The celebrity magazine sector was boosted by an impressive performance from Emap’s Closer, which saw its circulation increase by 43.5% year on year to 480,187, according to the latest ABC results for the six months to June 2004.

Northern & Shell’s recently launched New! also proved that the insatiable public interest in the lives of the rich and famous is far from waning. The title saw circulation increase by a healthy 19.1% during the same period to 403,864.

The sector was also bolstered by a strong performance for Richard Desmond’s celebrity stalwart OK!, which saw its circulation rise by 13% year on year to 553,777. Rival gossip title, Hello, continued to gain ground with a healthy 4% rise during the same period to 361,225.

Emap’s Heat maintained its position at the top of the celebrity pile, despite a 4.4% year on year decline in copy sales to 540,556. The title’s irreverent approach to the lives of the rich and famous continued to prove popular with its core audience of twenty-something readers.

Things were less positive for soap-orientated titles, with Hachette Filipacchi’s Inside Soap suffering a sharp 26.5% decline to 182,161 and its All About Soap magazine dipping by 16.8% during the same period to 88,197. IPC’s flagship Soaplife also fared poorly with circulation taking a 21.3% dive to just above the 90,000 mark.

The latest ABC results for the six months to June also revealed a less than impressive performance for the majority of television listings magazines, which saw some heavy declines in the face of increasing competition in the sector.

H Bauer’s TV Choice was one of only a handful of titles to see circulation rise, with a solid 11.9% upturn pushing the title past the 1 million mark. Minjara’s TV Now also performed well with a 10.1% increase to 37,932 and Time Out saw sales rise by 2.8% during the same period to 88,589.

At the other end of the scale, IPC’s veteran TV Times suffered a 10.6% downturn in year on year analysis to 473,379 and its heavyweight What’s On TV magazine maintained its position despite declined by 3.2% during the same period to 1,635,023.

H Bauer’s recently launched Total TV Guide entered the market with a debut circulation of 103,560. The title targets the 10 million men and women aged between 25 and 44 who subscribe to multichannel television and is positioned at the premium end of the listing sector (see H Bauer Goes Totally TV With New Listings Title).

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