BBC Worldwide Press Releases

19.08.02

BBC Magazines increases market share in key sectors

BBC magazines have increased or retained their share of key markets in the latest round of ABC figures.

Highlights of the ABCs for January to June 2002 include Good Food’s huge achievement in overtaking Sainsbury’s: The Magazine and Radio Times’ best result for three years. Top Of The Pops, eve, Good Homes, Top Gear and Gardeners’ World are among the titles holding on to market share.

Says Deputy Managing Director of BBC Magazines Nicholas Brett: "This set of results marks a formidable achievement for a resurgent BBC Magazines. Radio Times has done a fantastic job maintaining its position as the UK's most profitable magazine while other magazines such as Good Food, Gardeners' World, Top Gear and Top Of The Pops remain head-and-shoulders above the pack in their markets."

Radio Times

The appointment of Radio Times’ new Editor, Gill Hudson, in June strengthened the title even further.  The launch Editor of Maxim – where she won a BSME Award for Men’s Magazine Editor of the Year – and the BBC’s own eve, Gill is also credited with turning around the fortunes of Company and she oversaw seven successive year-on-year circulation increases at New Woman.

Sales have been boosted by a series of strong covers, focusing on landmark broadcasting, such as the Golden Jubilee and the FIFA World Cup; on outstanding series, such as Spooks and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet; and on world-famous cover stars, including Russell Crowe and Kenneth Branagh. These, in conjunction with a major print and radio advertising campaign, helped maintain Radio Times’ market share above 23%

The past six months has seen the brand extended to handheld computers, with Radio Times on your PDA allowing owners of Palm and Microsoft systems to download listings every day.  Revolutionary software also turns their PDA into a remote control for their TV and set-top box – the first of its kind in the UK.

To mark its fifth birthday in June, Radio Times’ website was given a makeover and now has much clearer navigational aids to guide users to the best TV, radio and film.  The site is fully interactive, with a diary feature in which users can store their favourite programmes, and an email service alerting them to the latest schedule updates. 

Other brand extensions include the Radio Times Guide to Films and Thursday, 3 October sees the publication of the third edition of this definitive book on the big screen.  Containing more than 21,000 reviews and fully revised since last year’s sell-out second edition, this will be the ultimate Christmas present for movie buffs. This year also saw Radio Times’ sponsorship of the British Academy Television Awards continue.

Publishing Director Ashley Munday says:  “Consistently strong covers and a fantastic advertising campaign have helped Radio Times maintain its position in the listings market this year, and retailers know that we’re still their most important publication.  We’ve continued to lead the way in the New Media market – we were the first listings magazine to launch an electronic extension and our new PDA software puts Radio Times in the hands of a whole new audience – but for the magazine itself this period has been Radio Times’ most successful for years.”

Interests

It has been an exciting period for BBC History Magazine, which has spawned three supplements, an exhibition and a lecture as well as undergoing a minor design overhaul, principally to accommodate more information in the magazine's comprehensive listings of historic exhibitions and events.  Design changes also included a switch to glossy covers. Circulation was up slightly period on period to 51,146.

Jointly staged by the magazine and the Political Cartoon Society, `Low: the 20^th Century’s Greatest Cartoonist’ opened at Westminster Hall, in the Houses of Parliament, in May, to rave reviews.  As well as sponsoring the exhibition, BBC History Magazine sponsored the inaugural BBC History Lecture, delivered by Professor Simon Schama in May and broadcast later on BBC 4. Adding value for readers, the magazine published supplements on the history of cartoons such as Low’s, on getting out and about to enjoy history, and on summer history reading.

Says Publisher Phil Callow: “History Magazine continues to establish itself as a key voice on historical matters and to take the subject to as wide a range of people as possible by sponsoring events and publishing supplements that have encouraged readers to get out and about to enjoy history and to read more about the subject. The magazine has come a long way since its launch just two years ago and continues to go from strength to strength.”

Despite a 5% drop period on period and year on year, BBC Wildlife Magazine approaches its fortieth anniversary in great shape. As with History, a large proportion of sales are through subscription (History: 19,033; Wildlife: 26,057). Wildlife switched to a six-monthly ABC two years ago and seasonality plays a part in its performance. A programme of added value activity is planned for the autumn, its strongest time - including a 36-page official supplement with the October issue unveiling `behind the scenes’ collections from the £20 million Darwin Centre at the Natural History Museum and a 48-page portfolio of images from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition with the November issue. A special February issue will mark Wildlife’s fortieth anniversary.

Top Gear has stabilised its circulation this period, ahead of the return of the television programme and Jeremy Clarkson – presenting a new-look TV show and increasing his contribution to the magazine – as part of a new look for the Top Gear brand in the autumn. The magazine remains the UK’s best-selling general motoring monthly, widening the lead over its nearest competitor period on period.

Says Publisher Adam Waddell: “For the 17^th consecutive ABC period Top Gear has remained market-leader. Following improvements to the magazine last autumn, I’m delighted that we have stabilised circulation ahead of the reinvigoration of the brand - across TV programme, magazine and website - in October. The TV show will be different in style and format from any other motoring programme and Jeremy Clarkson has also signed an exclusive contract to write for the magazine, which will have a bold new look.”

BBC Good Food, up year on year and period on period, has achieved another landmark, with its summer ABC exceeding its winter one for the second year running. The July to December ABC includes the very high-selling Christmas issue and the January to June one is therefore usually lower. Subscriptions have increased by 10,000 year on year.

Says Publishing Director Marcus Arthur: “BBC Good Food magazine continues its success story. For sales this period to have exceeded those of the previous period, which included the half million-selling Christmas issue, is a tremendous achievement.”

BBC Gardeners’ World has outperformed its main competitors on the newsstand, where it has increased its market share from 71% to 72%. It achieved this alongside the launch in March of a brand new one-shot, BBC Easy Gardening, which exceeded expectations with sales of 90,000.

Says Marcus Arthur: “The enduring strength of Gardeners’ World Magazine is such that we have sustained its strong performance while publishing a gardening one-shot, BBC Easy Gardening. The new title was so successful that we are looking at ways in which we can exploit that title to readers next spring.”

Women's

eve maintains its four percent market share with an ABC of 119,102, down just 1.7.  The title has been busy recruiting one of the best teams in the industry and will unveil a new look with its October issue (on sale Tuesday, 3 September)

Says Publishing Director Jo Morrell: “eve has retained its market share in a tough sector, posting a flat ABC this period. The magazine continues to pride itself on being one of the few titles to do something new and different in the women’s market. BBC Magazines is committed to investing in the eve brand and developing its presence in this sector.

“The eve team has been strengthened by several senior appointments this period, including Editor Jane Bruton, Advertisement Director Amanda Pitt and Creative Director Dina Koulla. With so many experienced and dynamic new talents on board, we are incredibly excited about eve’s future and the upcoming new look October issue.”

BBC Good Homes and BBC Homes & Antiques both underwent substantial change mid-period, following the biggest research project of its kind ever conducted, which identified seven types of homes enthusiast, from `Eager Enthusiast’ to `Simply Stressed’. Good Homes is already bearing the fruit of these changes with a period on period increase of 3.4%, and maintains its market share.

Says Jo Morrell: “The new look for our homes titles has borne early fruit for Good Homes and we expect to see the magazine do even better next time, along with its stablemate Home & Antiques.”

Youth & Children's

Top Of The Pops Magazine remains the UK’s number one music magazine, even though CD sales to teenagers have halved in the same period. Despite competition from new launches and teenagers buying older titles, Top Of The Pops remains powerful – unique among our core competitors in recording a 100% actively purchased ABC. 

Says Publisher Alfie Lewis: “Top Of The Pops has enjoyed a successful period despite the drop in its ABC, with very solid sales at newsstand, and I’m very confident and excited about our plans for the coming months.”

BBC Magazines’ new teen title It’s HOT! launched in April and will record its debut ABC next period. However a Publisher’s Statement, based on sales of the first three issues, reveals that the monthly title is selling 102,087.

Says Alfie Lewis: “It’s HOT! has quickly made its mark on the teen market, outselling other new launches and exceeding its predecessor title L&K’s last ABC by 50%.”

This period saw BBC Magazines launch two new Disney titles in the pre-teen market and assume publication of a third. New titles Disney Girl and Disney’s Comic launched in April and will announce an ABC next period, while Disney’s Big Time leapt 22.9% period on period following its move to the BBC in January.

A fourth Disney magazine for the pre-teen age group, Disney Explorer, will be launched in on 25 September.

Meanwhile, heavy investment in the long-established Girl Talk is aimed at recovering circulation, although the title still remains the best-selling general interest title for girls and its nearest competitor has registered double-digit decline. Competition this period has come from two very successful partworks.

Says Publishing Director Toni Round: “The pre-teen market is one of the most exciting at the moment. Our new Disney titles have got off to a flying start, alongside some terrific one-shots, and we’re excited about the launch of Disney Explorer in September. Meanwhile we are investing heavily in Girl Talk to meet the increased competition head-on.”

BBC Magazines also publishes three educational magazines under the `BBC Learning Together’ banner, one of which announces its debut ABC this period. BBC Toybox Teach Me  was launched in October for pre-school children and features favourite characters such as Bob the Builder and the Tweenies. It has got off to a very strong start with an ABC of 57,548.

It has quickly achieved similar to sales to the two longer established educational titles, Learning is Fun!, launched in 1996, and Magic Key, launched in 2000, which are both up period on period.

Says Toni Round: “With a combined ABC of almost 175,000 – including a debut ABC of more than 57,000 for Toybox Teach Me - our educational titles are a terrific success story. We know that young children learn best when they feel confident and are having fun so these magazines are designed to introduce children to the curriculum in an easy, entertaining and exciting way. They also give parents the chance to support children's education at home by following up school work, in an inexpensive and accessible way.”

Up year on year and period on period, Tweenies takes the top slot in BBC Magazines’ pre-school portfolio this period, with its highest ABC ever. Toybox, also up period on period and year on year, is second with sales of 187,841 and Bob the Builder becomes the number three title with an ABC of 124,197.

A new pre-school title launches in the autumn to mark the arrival of a brand new pre-school  landmark series from the BBC - Fimbles. Destined to join the ranks of Teletubbies and Tweenies, Fimbles is aimed at the two to four-year-old audience.  As well as the new magazine, BBC Worldwide will be releasing a range of new books and videos on 28 October.

Notes

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