ABC Market Sector Report Jul-Dec 2007 (short review)
Supscriptions Overview:
1) Minor dicrease of 0.6% YoY for Total Subcsription, accounted for 12.0% of the total ABC Market.
2) This expansion of 12% in due to weekly frequence magazines whose subscription volumes have increased 3.3% YoY.
3) Therefore, this contrasts woth the 2.1% YoY decline for monthly subscriptions. Monthly titles subscription sales has fallen and now stands at 45.5%, a drop of 1.3% YoY.
4) Science, Business&Finance, Gardening and Literary, are the sectors that mostly follow subscription channel.
5) The top 5 subsectors during 2007 remain. These include Business&Finance, Current Affairs/International, Current Affairs/Domestic, General Interest and Retirement.
FIVE titles dominated the overall subscriptions market in 2007:
*Time Magazine EMEA
*Saga
*Readers Digest
*The Economist/Continental Europe Edition
*The Week
which accounted for 25.1% of the subscriptions market.
Export Newstrade Overview
46.3 million magazine copies were sold through the export newstrade channel in 2007. This represents a 2.1% decrease YoY.
Consumer Magazines: Magazines divide broadly into consumer and business-to-business magazines.
Copy, Sales and Cover Prices: In terms of spending on magazines, the price has been one of remarkable growth, with a recent steady rise.
Mens Lifestyle monthlies, Womens Traditional weeklies and TV Listings saw the largest volume decline in 2007.
Womens Celebrity weeklies, Soap and Childrens magazines showed the fastest YoY growth.
MARKET SECTOR OVERVIEW
The UK magazine market was worth £1.6 billion during 2007 down 1.6% Year over Year (YoY). Volume sales dropped by 4.7% YoY to a total of 1.1 billion copies.
There are three sectors experiencing YoY increases in their UK newstrade volumes: Childrens magazines, Soap and Women’s Celebrity weeklies.
A number of sectors are experiencing substantial YoY declines with the Men’s Lifestyle monthlies and Teen Lifestyle sectors showing little sign of recovery.
In 2007 there have also been significant growth in the number of A5 compact editions within the Women’s Lifestyle/Fashion sector.
CLOSURES…
During JULY/DECEMBER 2007, Women’s Celebrity weekly title ‘First’, which only relaunched in September with a new focus on celebrity stories, is now another victim of the intense competitiveness within the women’s weekly market
Women’s Home Interest
The Women’s Home Interest sector is divided into three dinstict sectors:
1) Mainstream
2) Traditional
3) Modern
13.7 million copies of Women’s Home Interest magazines were sold in 2007, representing a decline of 3.8% YoY
Women’s Home Interest magazines exist due to a demand from consumers for guidance on a wide range of subjects. The home and garden is the primary expression of identity for the British, and therefore holds a significant role in their lives.
Population demographics show that the most frequent purchasers of these magazines (mainly women aged 45+) will increase, indicating future potential for this sector despite low growth in the housing market.
