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Henry Miller

Dateline Charlottesville, VA

In This Issue

• ABCs: 55% of digital magazine circulation comes from Spotify-style services
• Magazine ABCs 2024: Half of print titles see distribution drop 10% or more

ABCs: 55% of digital magazine circulation comes from Spotify-style services

Just over half of digital magazines saw year-on-year decline despite "all you can read" boost.

By Charlotte Tobitt

https://pressgazette.co.uk/

https://bit.ly/3X6syLA

More than half of digital magazine circulation came via “all you can read” services in 2024, according to the latest ABC figures.

ABC-audited magazines had a combined average digital circulation of three million per edition (excluding any copies distributed in bulk for free) – up 14% compared to 2023.

Some 1.6 million, or 55%, of the combined 2024 digital magazine circulation came from services like Apple News+, Cafeyn, Kindle Unlimited and Readly.

This circulation is defined as a digital copy that a consumer has “purchased and viewed as part of a multi-publication package”.

It means publishers do not receive a full subscription price for these sales but instead get a royalty fee based on a Spotify-style model.

• Full breakdown of magazine ABCs 2024: Half of print titles see distribution drop 10% or more
• News and current affairs magazine ABCs 2024: Prospect digital growth offsets print decline
• Women’s interest magazine ABCs: Four out of 60 titles see print growth in 2024

Apple News+ does not disclose its subscriber numbers but is expected to be by far the biggest such bundle provider. Cafeyn has 2 million users across its main markets in France, Netherlands, UK and Canada while Readly has 427,227 full-paying subscribers and its biggest markets are Germany, the UK and Sweden.

For many magazines, these services make up the vast majority of their digital readership.

For example Our Media’s BBC Science Focus, which saw 204% year on year growth in its digital circulation, attributes 99% of its readership to them.

They also make up 99% of the digital readership for Grazia, up 94% to 93,399, and Car, up 4% to 62,524 (both owned by Bauer).

At Immediate Media’s BBC History Magazine, 92% of the digital circulation of 55,905 comes from “all you can read” – up 325% year on year.

However some have their own strong subscriber base as well.

At the DMGT-owned New Scientist’s US and Canada edition (digital circulation of 48,039, up 144%) they are 50% of the total, while for its edition in the rest of the world they make up 20% of a total of 42,651 (up 40%).

Meanwhile at Prospect, “all you can read” makes up 51% of digital readership (total of 25,167, up 87%).

Some publishers don’t make their magazines available on the “all you can read” services, including The Economist, The Spectator and The Week.

The Economist has the biggest digital circulation nonetheless, on 949,171 (down 2% year on year).

In total 66 of the 126 digital magazines included in our analysis saw a year-on-year circulation decline – just over half.

The seven biggest declines were all seen by Bauer Media titles, although all had a relatively small digital circulation. Take A Break, which had no “all you can read” copies, was down 79% to 173 while Bike was down 31% to 3,887 (94% “all you can read”) and Garden Answers was down 29% to 2,149 (95% Spotify-style).

Magazine ABCs 2024: Half of print titles see distribution drop 10% or more

Press Gazette's full rundown of magazine ABC circulation data for 2024, by sector.

By Bron Maher

https://pressgazette.co.uk/

https://bit.ly/3D033Vw

More than half of the magazines audited by ABC saw their print circulation decline by 10% or more in 2024, the latest data show.

Several magazines significantly stepped up their digital circulation growth via “all you can read” services like Apple News+ over the same period, but in most cases it has not been enough to cancel out the print decline.

The average print circulation change was -8.6%. Across all the titles, combined print circulation fell 2.9% – likely reflecting the endurance of free magazines distributed by member organisations and at supermarkets, which are among the most-circulated magazines in the ABC data.

The number of magazines increasing their combined print and digital circulation year on year fell from 53 in 2023 to 38 in 2024, while around 100 titles saw overall circulation decline. The average year-on-year combined circulation change across the titles covered was -5.7%.

Print ABC magazine circulations 2024

Among the 164 ABC-audited titles with print distribution, 13 increased their print circulation year on year and six remained flat.

The greatest increase in print circulation at a paid magazine was seen at Homes & Gardens, where the average number of copies circulated per issue rose 8% to 51,432. Just over three-quarters of its circulation was actively purchased.

Slimming World Magazine, circulating an average of 269,671 copies per issue, increased its print circulation by 6% year-on-year.

Other titles growing their print distribution included several free magazines, for example English Heritage Members Magazine (up 2% to 64,198) or Ocado’s Ocadolife Magazine (up 8% to 200,746).

At the other end of the scale, nearly half of the print titles saw their print distribution drop by 10% or more. Among the magazines with the largest print circulation declines were National Geographic (down 27% to 45,671), OK! Magazine (down 26% to 37,615), GQ (down 26% to 72,058), Wired (down 19% to 28,248) and Vanity Fair (down 18% to 50,027).

The combined average monthly circulation of all the audited magazines stood at 18.7 million, compared with 21 million in 2023. However some magazines have left ABC auditing since last year, including the million-circulation Asda Magazine, so this does not mean the UK’s magazines sold 2.3 million copies fewer per month last year.

Tesco Magazine, which is distributed for free by the supermarket, remains the most circulated of the 172 individual consumer magazines (including different country editions) audited by ABC, with an average print circulation per issue of 1.5 million in 2024 — flat compared with 2023.

Current affairs weekly The Economist meanwhile sold an average of 442,957 print copies (down 10%) and 970,074 digital copies (down 2%) per issue, continuing to be the most of any paid-for magazine.

Digital ABC magazine circulations 2024

Digitally, The Economist was followed by Our Media’s BBC Science Focus (326,683), The Supplement distributed by nutrition company Myprotein (271,486 – down 54% from last year) and Camping and Caravanning (170,703) published by member organisation the Camping and Caravanning Club.

None of The Economist’s digital circulation came from “all you can read” sales that are recorded when a reader accesses the title through third-party multi-subscription products such as Apple News+.

Among the 128 titles to report a digital circulation figure to the auditor, 61 recorded an increase in their average digital circulation per issue. Of these, 23 boosted digital circulation by 50% or more.

The biggest digital increases were seen at Immediate Media‘s BBC History Magazine (digital circulation of 55,905, up 325% year-on-year) and BBC Science Focus (up 204% to 326,683). In both cases “all you can read” services made up most of the growth, with the titles recording an average of 51,492 and 324,592 monthly all you can read sales respectively.

Other notable titles to notch significant digital growth included Vogue (25,267 average digital circulation, up 71%), Prospect (25,167, up 87%), Tatler (12,153, up 108%) and Wired (16,955, up 143%). In all four cases, all you can read services comprised at least half of the sales.

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