Tough retail conditions and natural disasters took their toll on the weekly magazine market, with total sales down 6.58% in the three months to March.
The biggest faller was ACP's Grazia, down almost 17% year-on-year, while three other titles also recorded double-digit declines.
ACP's TV Week declined 11.21% year-on-year; WAN's Quokka 10.43% year-on-year and ACP's Zoo Weekly 10.27% year-on-year.
Phil Scott, managing director of ACP Magazines, said: “In one of the most challenging three-month periods in memory – characterised by natural disasters and continuing weak retail sales – Australian magazine circulations have held their ground extremely well.
“The pressures on single copy weekly magazine sales in particular are well documented, but overall, people are reading more magazines."
Pacific's Famous was one of the few positive stories, up 2.52%. Nick Chan, CEO of Pacific Magazines, said: “Famous has a very focused market and is slowly building loyalty in the 18-24 market.”
On trading conditions, Chan said: “There was collateral damage from difficult retail conditions and natural disasters, it took a while for people to get back into their homes. There was certainly a direct impact.”
Pacific's That's Life slipped around 6% year-on-year, roughly consistent with many weeklies in the category.
Chan said: “That's Life operates in a market that is very mid-market Australia. Those families have lots of priorities at the moment."
Fairfax's business magazine BRW held steady, down just 0.76% year-on-year.
The latest Roy Morgan Readership Survey confirms reported that total magazine readership grew 1.7% year-on-year.
The Roy Morgan results also delivered positive news for monthly magazines, with a raft of titles reporting large increases including News Magazine's Vogue Australia - up 24%. The publisher's stable of titles also includes Vogue Living, up 40.7% and GQ Australia, up 13.9%. The company's home and living title Inside Out delivered a 17.5% rise.
Mark Kelly, group publisher at News, said: "We've put a lot of effort into our titles over the last couple of years and we're really pleased with Vogue Living which launched just two years ago. We've added significant new editorial and travel content and made the brand more holistic. We've able to capitalise on its cult status"
Kelly attributed GQ's readership increase to stronger brand equity through an enhanched website and new apps: "We've expanded GQ's footprint. At the end of the day, the strengths of magazines rest on their brands."
Click here for the full list of ABC circulation figures.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.