New Market Leader As Women’s Monthlies Sector Suffers Decline
Women’s monthly titles suffered badly during the six-month period ending December 1999, with 60% of titles showing a decrease in circulation. Prima was toppled from its position as market leader with sales dropping 17%; its replacement was National Magazine Company’s Cosmopolitan which now heads the sector with sales of 470,000.
Other titles showing significant decline included IPC’s 19 which tumbled 27%, Minx, down 18%, and Company, which dropped by over 16%. The steep decline in many titles within the sector comes at a time when new magazines are attempting to enter the market (see Feature: Middle Youth Sector Strains As Two More Titles Plan To Launch). The whole sector fell by almost 4%.
The only titles to show a marked increase were Women’s Journal, which jumped 20% after a September revamp aimed at increasing its readership base (see Woman’s Journal Gets New Look). Zest (up 8.4%), New Woman (up 5.6%), Elle (up 4.8%) and Red (up 4.2%) also saw healthy increases.
| Women’s Monthly ABC YoY Comparisons | |||||
| Title | Publisher | Jul 98 – Dec 98 | Jul 99 – Dec 99 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| 19 | IPC Southbank | 173,244 | 126,606 | -46,638 | -26.9 |
| B | Attic Futura | 231,612 | 223,532 | -8,080 | -3.5 |
| Bliss | EMAP | 337,188 | 287,796 | -49,392 | -14.6 |
| Candis | Newhall Publications | 458,773 | 450,443 | -8,330 | -1.8 |
| Company | National Magazine Company | 290,402 | 242,180 | -48,222 | -16.6 |
| Cosmopolitan | National Magazine Company | 476,288 | 470,280 | -6,008 | -1.3 |
| Elle | EMAP | 200,436 | 210,076 | 9,640 | 4.8 |
| Essentials | IPC Southbank | 296,904 | 262,269 | -34,635 | -11.7 |
| Harpers & Queen | National Magazine Company | 93,863 | 90,101 | -3,762 | -4.0 |
| J17 | EMAP | 242,516 | 230,190 | -12,326 | -5.1 |
| Looks | EMAP | 136,340 | 137,091 | 751 | 0.6 |
| Marie Claire | IPC Southbank | 445,289 | 450,213 | 4,924 | 1.1 |
| Minx | EMAP | 150,708 | 123,278 | -27,430 | -18.2 |
| New Woman | EMAP | 261,681 | 276,285 | 14,604 | 5.6 |
| Prima | Gruner & Jahr | 510,142 | 421,412 | -88,730 | -17.4 |
| Red | EMAP | 173,081 | 180,403 | 7,322 | 4.2 |
| She | National Magazine Company | 226,079 | 226,086 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Shine | Attic Futura | n/a | 103,347 | n/a | n/a |
| Sugar | Attic Futura | 451,696 | 430,217 | -21,479 | -4.8 |
| Tatler | Conde Nast Publications | 85,673 | 85,185 | -488 | -0.6 |
| Vanity Fair | Conde Nast Publications | 80,933 | 76,088 | -4,845 | -6.0 |
| Vogue | Conde Nast Publications | 202,321 | 202,668 | 347 | 0.2 |
| Woman & Home | IPC Southbank | 330,001 | 295,225 | -34,776 | -10.5 |
| Womans Journal | IPC Southbank | 110,762 | 133,407 | 22,645 | 20.4 |
| Zest | National Magazine Company | 108,190 | 117,244 | 9,054 | 8.4 |
| Total | 6,074,122 | 5,851,622 | -222,500 | -3.7 | |
The last six months has seen women’s content move onto the internet as publishers have discovered the potential for e-commerce within the sector. Of the three heavyweights in the sector, EMAP, which takes 24% of the market share, IPC (22%), and the National Magazine Company (20%), IPC has been most successful in launching a portal for the women’s market (see Web Review: BeMe.com).
| Womens Monthly Magazines Market Share By Publishing Company | ||
| Publishing Company | Jul 99-Dec 99 | |
| Attic Futura | 757,096 | 12.94 |
| Conde Nast Publications Ltd | 363,941 | 6.22 |
| Emap Elan Hachette | 1,445,119 | 24.7 |
| G & J of the UK | 421,412 | 7.2 |
| IPC SouthBank Publishing Company Ltd | 1,267,720 | 21.66 |
| National Magazine Company Limited | 1,145,891 | 19.58 |
| Newhall Publications Ltd | 450,443 | 7.7 |
| Total | 5,851,622 | 100.00 |
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