July – December 1997 ABCs – Women’s Weeklies Sector
The latest ABC figures show that only two titles in the women’s weeklies sector have improved their circulation year on year and the sector as a whole has actually shown a year on year drop of 355,206.
| Title | Jul 96 – Dec 96 | Jul 97 – Dec 97 | Actual Change | % Change | |
| OK Magazine | Northern & Shell plc | 120,978 | 226,504 | 105,526 | 87.23 |
| Hello! | Hello! Ltd | 536,724 | 574,585 | 37,861 | 7.05 |
| Peoples Friend | D C Thomson & Co Ltd | 462,077 | 449,595 | -12,482 | -2.7 |
| My Weekly | D C Thomson & Co Ltd | 394,480 | 376,146 | -18,334 | -4.65 |
| Chat | IPC | 526,365 | 494,671 | -31,694 | -6.02 |
| Best | G & J Publishing | 544,744 | 511,841 | -32,903 | -6.04 |
| Womans Realm | IPC | 250,261 | 230,373 | -19,888 | -7.95 |
| Womans Weekly | IPC | 696,212 | 638,306 | -57,906 | -8.32 |
| Woman | IPC | 828,114 | 731,754 | -96,360 | -11.64 |
| Womans Own | IPC | 808,311 | 702,765 | -105,546 | -13.06 |
| Eva | IPC | 262,040 | 216,575 | -45,465 | -17.35 |
| Now | IPC | n/a | 348,109 | n/a | n/a |
| Here (Merged) | G & J Publishing | 426,124 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Total | 5,856,430 | 5,501,224 | -355206 | -6.06 |
Most notably, Northern and Shell’s OK Magazine has increased its circulation from 120,978 to 226,504 copies, a change of 87.23%. Hello! reported the other improvement, a 7.05% increase year on year to bring its circulation to 574,585. IPC’s Eva showed the biggest year on year percentage decrease for the entire sector dropping 17.35% from 262,040 to 216,575 copies.
Despite a year on year decrease of 11.64%, IPC’s Woman magazine remains the market leader with a circulation of 731,754 closely followed by Woman’s Own and Woman’s Weekly, giving the company a market share of 61.12% for this period.
The Press database can be accessed by selecting “Press” from the drop-down box at the top of this page.