ABC Results July-Dec 2008:Glamour stays on top of the women’s monthly sector

Condé Nast’s handbag sized Glamour magazine remains top of the women’s monthly sector in the latest ABC release, for July to December 2008, despite seeing a slight dip of 0.4% year on year, taking it to just below 550,000 copies.

However, the new John Lewis in-store free magazine, Source, by John Brown Group, isn’t far behind, with almost 505,000 – falling slightly from last period after a 0.9% dip.

ASOS.com, another freebie, is also gathering pace after an impressive 20.7% year on year increase (4.2% period on period) to just under 450,000 copies.

NatMag’s Cosmopolitan has just managed to keep a place in the top three though, with almost 451,000, despite a 2.1% year on year fall.

The majority of titles in the women’s monthly sector experienced circulation declines this period, with Bauer’s Top Sante Health & Beauty suffering the most, after a significant 20.4% period on period (24.5% year on year) downturn.

The title’s circulation now stands at just 74,000, having been close to 100,000 this time last year.

Bauer Consumer Media recently appointed Sharon Parsons as Top Sante‘s new editor, in a bid to reposition the title as a mainstream health magazine for 40-something women (see New editor for Top Sante).

Bauer’s other 40+ women’s monthly, Yours, also witnessed a relatively large decline of 6.1% year on year, taking its circulation down to around 307,000 copies.

The only two titles to significantly buck the downward trend between July to December 2008 were woman&home and ASOS.com.

IPC Media’s woman&home enjoyed the largest percentage rise this period, up by 4.8% period on period to 353,000, after a real-term increase of more than 16,000 copies.

It was also a good period for IPC’s womens monthly titles, InStyle and Essentials – both magazines posted year on year rises of 0.8% and 4.6% respectively.

InStyle‘s circulation now stands at over 180,000, up slightly from last period after a 0.1% increase, while Essentials is up to almost 98,500 copies, despite seeing a 1.7% dip this period.

It was a mixed period for the National Magazine Company, which saw year on year declines for five out of its seven titles in the sector.

Good Housekeeping and She both suffered year on year losses of 8.3% and 6.3% respectively, however, Zest and Harpers Bazaar both enjoyed slight year on year increases.

Condé Nast had a similar mixed period in this sector, with Easy Living falling to 185,000 after a 5% year on year drop and Tatler was down to around 86,000 after slipping by nearly 5% year on year.

However, Vanity Fair posted an increase of 1.8% year on year, taking its circulation up to over 101,000, and Vogue remained fairly static at more than 220,000 copies – the publisher also still holds the number one spot with Glamour.

Nicholas Coleridge, Condé Nast’s managing director, said: “In a challenging period for magazines and the economy, we are pleased with the resilience of our quality glossy monthlies.

“I am particularly delighted with the performance of Glamour, which continues to dominate its sector. Vogue retains its status as the number on fashion bible, and there is a record-breaking result for Vanity Fair,” he added.

The figures listed in NewsLine’s ABC reports are those reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) as at Thursday 12 February 2009. Late submissions and changes may be made after this date, and will thereafter be amended in MediaTel’s Press database.

ABC: 01442 870 800 www.abc.org.uk