Despite the latest magazine circulation figures confirming a general decline, the CEOs of Australia’s biggest publishers remain positive about the future. The Audit Bureau of Circulation has revealed its year-on-year circulation figures, with Bauer’s publications falling 9.24 per cent, Pacific Magazines dropping 7.68 per cent, and NewsLifeMedia experiencing a 4.82 per cent decrease in circulation.
Teen publications were hit the hardest, with Pacific Magazine’s Girlfriend falling 24.99 per cent and Bauer’s Dolly magazine recording a 19.11 per cent drop in circulation. Women’s lifestyle titles Cosmopolitan and Cleo also had declines: 14.73 per cent and 20.68 per cent respectively.
Fashion magazines stayed steady in sales, with Elle Australia only dropping a minimal 0.3 per cent, while Vogue Australia increased by 2.64 per cent. Lifestyle and home decorating publications also fared well, with Inside Out achieving a 4.51 per cent increase, Vogue Living a 1.48 increase, and The Australian Women’s Weekly falling only 5.88 per cent.
Despite the drops, publishing house bosses believe the results only signal the trend in digital preference. Bauer’s CEO David Goodchild explains: “Our leadership over the magazine medium remains unchanged as we increase our market leadership to 50.8 per cent share of copy sales, along with growth in digital magazine sales across a number of titles including Woman’s Day, NW, Recipes+, Money and Australian Gourmet Traveller.”
“Over the past six months, our business has gained momentum as we take a multichannel approach to content. We successfully launched three new mobile first digital brands to market including Food To Love, Travel In and WhichCar, all based on the trusted and quality content at the core of Bauer Media," he continued.
Pacific Magazines CEO Peter Zavecz revealed a similar belief, saying: “We’re leveraging the power and influence of Pacific’s brands into new spaces – creating apps, e-commerce and m-commerce platforms, and leading the charge on digital video, social and mobile.”
