Kiwis still loving magazines

Wednesday 1 August

News Release July 31, 2007

Kiwis still loving magazines January-June 2007 magazine circulation figures released

The latest figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) show New Zealanders’ love affair with magazines continues unabated, says the Magazine Publishers Association (MPA).

Magazine circulation for the period January-June 2007 remained stable, with significant increases on a number of newer titles. The top 20 audited titles represented a gross circulation of 2.2 million copies. The growth in the top 15 titles accounted for an additional 60,000 copies year on year.

“New Zealanders continue to rely on magazines for entertainment and information,” says John Baker, deputy chairman of the Magazine Publishers’ Association. “The circulation audit shows the underlying trend for magazines is healthy, with recently launched titles in particular showing strong growth.”

The biggest circulation increases came from the food and lifestyle categories. Recently released titles Taste and Healthy Food Guide showed excellent growth, while more established food magazines Cuisine and Dish also increased their circulations this audit.

New lifestyle titles NZ Life & Leisure and Habitat joined Taste and Healthy Food Guide, showing there is still room for innovation in the well established magazine industry.

Teen title Crème was also a top performer, showing magazines can continue to attract a new young audience in the face of increasing competition from other media choices.

The January-June 2007 figures are the second to be released under the new ABC audit rules, which were revised by the MPA in 2006 to better define the different categories of circulation.

MPA deputy chairman John Baker says, “The streamlined audit process makes the results more transparent and delivers more accurate information about the primary recipient of each magazine to advertisers and their media agencies. As a result we believe advertisers now have greater confidence in the audit.” Full results are available on www.abc.org.nz and audit rules are available on the MPA website www.mpa.org.nz.

ENDS

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