Woes for weeklies, Zoo circ plummets

By David Blight | 9 May 2013
 

Big breasts on magazine covers just don't have the same pull they once did. Zoo Weekly's print circulation dropped significantly in the March quarter, amid a tale of decline for all weeklies.

Once upon a time Bauer's Zoo was the darling of the weekly magazines, but in the March quarter its circulation numbers saw a 23.8% year-on-year decline, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

ABC circulation figures in March 2013 quarter.

The title's numbers have been in a freefall for some time now, with average per-issue print sales sitting at 50,021 in the most recent results.

But Zoo wasn't even the worst performer. The wooden spoon goes to West Australian Newspapers' Quokka, which dropped 27.6% in the three months to March.

Across the board, the picture wasn't pretty for Australian weekly magazines, with overall numbers declining by 8.5%.

However, that was "not unexpected given the tough retail market", according to Magazine Publishers Australia executive director Robin Parkes. "Every discretionary spend category would be feeling this and magazines are no exception."

The most resiliant was Pacific Magazine's New Idea, which declined 2.9%, followed by Bauer's Woman's Day, which fell 4.6%.

Fairfax's BRW declined 7.3%, Pacific's Famous fell 6.6%, Pacific's Who dropped 8%, Bauer's NW slid 6.5%, Bauer's OK! slumped 13.6%, and Bauer's Take 5 slipped 10.8%.

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