Magazines bleeding

Fickle readers are responsible for the worrying decline in magazine sales.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations figures for last year's final quarter - released last week - suggest glossies need a rethink.

Those tumbling down - except Destiny, which showed a stunning 29.5% increase in sales compared with the same period last year - include Glamour, Elle, True Love, Marie Claire, Fairlady, Cosmopolitan, Cleo, and O Magazine

Media analyst and managing director of Starcom MediaVest Group, Gordon Patterson, said yesterday that the new figures proved that "content is king".

He said that though the average total circulation for consumer magazines stood at 28867 by the fourth quarter of last year (this represented a 7.5% decrease from the 31235 achieved in 2007), the figures were "deceptive".

The average copy sales had dropped by 20.6% to 19083 in four years.

"In fact, comparing single-copy sales [with ] total circulation across the four-year period we note that, in the 2007 fourth quarter, some 77% of total circulation was single- copy sales against only 66% in the fourth quarter of 2011.

"So, in terms of magazines, the fact that there is healthy category growth shows promise for the future. That said, consumers seem to be more discerning and certainly less loyal," he added.

The local magazine market has long been unpredictable and has seen many changes in the past few years.

Last year saw the launch of men's magazine Playboy and Rolling Stone, while Top Billing's magazine was closed down and Cleo magazine is publishing a final edition next month.

Media24 will soon launch a local version of international news and fashion weekly, Grazia, edited by Danielle Weakley.

Grazia SA will be the first on the continent and the 20th in the world after France, UK, Germany, China, Russia, and Holland.

Magazines' year-on-year figures:

• Glamour: 79601 (-1.2%);
• Elle: 38891 (-14.9%);
• True Love: 81963 (-7.6%);
• Marie Claire: 37439 (-14.4%);
• Fairlady: 48789 (-33%);
• Destiny: 30082 (+29.5%);
• Cosmopolitan: 81406 (-14%);
• Heat 31 753: (-21.5%); and
• O Magazine: 38 493 (-5.3%).