19 Mar 12

Magazine ABCs Moving Forward

by Lee Dick, Planner/Buyer

Times are a-changing in the world of magazines with the ABC now allowing magazines to report the number of digital copies downloaded alongside circulation for print copies.

In the latest reporting period, July – December 2011, 72 magazines included download figures for their digital versions compared to just 16 in the previous reporting period. To qualify there can be no more than 5% editorial difference between the print and digital editions and only copies downloaded through the Apple app store or Zinio platform are counted.

Men’s Health recorded the highest number of digital downloads with a figure of 7,779. The digital version doesn’t seem to be stealing numbers from the print circulation either as this title saw an increase of 1.3% Period-on-Period. On the other hand, Cosmopolitan’s print circulation fell by 2.4% (9,272 copies) but was bolstered by the 5,675 digital downloads recorded.

Other titles reporting digital download figures include T3, Yachting World, Hello, Good Housekeeping, House & Garden and Practical Caravan.

These figures aren’t exactly huge at the moment but they are likely to keep increasing steadily so it’s definitely an area to keep an eye on. The next round of figures will be interesting as these will take into account the high level of iPad sales over Christmas and the launch of the iPad3 this month.