Seven of Future’s top ten titles grew circulation in 2008
12/02/09 – Future, the special-interest media company, today announces the latest ABC results for 51 titles from its UK magazine portfolio for the twelve months ending December 2008.
Circulation highlights across the portfolio include:
o Seven of Future’s top 10 biggest titles recorded growth
o 23 magazines grew in 2008
o Future has eleven of the UK’s top 30 year-on-year % increases by ABC
o Total 2008 ABC circulation slightly down 2.9% driven by PC and auto titles.
o In music and film:
o Classic Rock posted a 4% year-on-year increase, smashing the 70,000 circulation barrier with its highest ever ABC – and seventh annual increase. The magazine is now bigger than Kerrang! and NME
o Metal Hammer posted 10% circulation growth and its best-ever sales figure
o Total Film increased sales to 86,000 and Sky Movies remains the UK’s 3rd biggest magazine by circulation
o Guitarist posts its highest-ever ABC figure at 31,197 – a ninth consecutive annual increase
o In technology:
o Men’s lifestyle brand T3 delivered its highest ever ABC, with sales over 60,000
o MacFormat grew by 25% – the UK’s fourth fastest growing magazine by ABC
o In Games the biggest year-on-year climbers were Official PlayStation Magazine 17%, PSW up 11% and Ngamer up over 6%
o In Cycling, Future extended its number one position, with every title in growth: Cycling Plus up 11% and 5% growth across the portfolio
o The Hobbies & Crafts portfolio also grew, with notably strong ABCs from Simply Knitting up 7% and PaperCraft Inspirations up 5%
Robert Price, Chief Executive of Future UK said:
“Overall this is a strong performance from Future’s magazine portfolio in a very tough newsstand environment. It shows that while we’re not immune, specialist magazines remain much more resilient than generalist titles to what is happening in the broader economy. People don’t give up their hobbies and passions easily, even in a downturn. They stick to what they know and love. Men may be abandoning the generalist men’s lifestyle titles, but they still identify with quality magazines that fuel their passions – whether it’s music, gadgets or video games. When you combine these ABC figures with the huge growth in our web traffic, which has more than doubled in the last 12 months, we are building both reach and engagement with this valuable audience.”
Music and film
Future’s music magazines, Classic Rock and Metal Hammer are selling more copies than ever before, with both reaching significant circulation milestones. The titles are the UK’s only growing paid-for music magazines.
Classic Rock, which reported a 4% rise, outsells NME and Kerrang by monthly circulation. Its success has been driven by its ability to engage a generation inspired by the triumphant return of acts like AC/DC and Metallica and the re-emergence of classic rock acts like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.
Thanks to the success of its live music tours, engaging magazine content and attention-grabbing covers, Metal Hammer too is creating a formidable relationship with its own audience – hardcore metal music fans. It increased circulation by 10%, and it closed the gap on Bauer’s Kerrang! which lost 32.1% of its readership.
Total Film, Future’s flagship film magazine, stepped further towards the 90,000 circulation mark in a very competitive sector while Sky Movies magazine remains the UK’s 3rd biggest magazine by circulation. With the launch of a new website, totalfilm.com, in October 2008, the portfolio continues to expand. Already the new look site has increased monthly page impressions by 300% since launch.
Technology
Future’s technology lifestyle brand, T3, recorded its highest ever ABC, up to 60,127. This represents its sixth consecutive yearly circulation increase. The magazine has grown circulation 10% in the last four years at a time when the monthly men’s lifestyle market has declined 50%. With T3.com now drawing 680,000 unique users and 2.7 million page impressions a month, the brand is carving out a powerful position among its affluent, informed male demographic.
The appetite among hardcore enthusiasts for Future’s technology and Mac computing titles has surged, with LinuxFormat, MacFormat and PhotoPlus all reporting strong double-digit growth.
Riding high on interest in all things Apple, MacFormat has further increased its lead on its rivals, recording an impressive 25% and its highest circulation in over a decade. Fellow computing title, LinuxFormat grew 13%. Digital photography title, PhotoPlus maintained its strong growth, reporting an increase of 24%.
TechRadar.com – which aggregates computing and technology content from Future’s PC and consumer AV titles – has seen massive growth in unique monthly users to over 1.4 million, within 12 months of launch.
Games
Following exceptional 23% growth in the prior year, five of Future’s eleven games titles recorded further ABC increases in 2008. Official PlayStation Magazine grew by 16.6% with the independent PSW growing by 10.5%. Independent Nintendo title, NGamer grew by 4.4%, whilst Official Nintendo held firm at nearly 60,000 copies.
The continuing migration online of PC gaming enthusiasts is being captured by Future’s multi-platform approach. The company is the clear industry leader in delivering content in print, on-disc, on-console and online. Future’s online GamesRadar Network now attracts over 10 million unique users a month across the globe, a 40% increase over 2007. The 2008 Golden Joystick Awards, the “Oscars of gaming”, saw the highest ever number of votes from UK gamers: 840,000.
Cycling
Reflecting the surge in popularity of cycling in the UK, Future’s cycling portfolio further consolidated its position as the world’s biggest cycling publisher. Cycling Plus reported an 11% rise – its ninth consecutive year of growth. Mountain Biking UK, the UK’s biggest-selling bike magazine, maintained an ABC of over 45,000, while What Mountain Bike grew by 4%. The portfolio continues to expand, with the trial of a new title, Triathlon Plus, and new live events like the BikeRadar Live festival later this year. Online, Future’s cycling network, BikeRadar, attracted nearly 3m unique users a month during its peak summer season.
Hobbies & Crafts
In its Hobbies & Crafts portfolio, Simply Knitting reported a 7% increase, while PaperCraft Inspirations grew 5%. The increases are fuelled by strong sales on subscription, demonstrating the enduring popularity of crafting hobbies, and by the increasing popularity of Future’s craft titles in markets abroad. Future recently launched its second knitting magazine, The Knitter, for experienced crafters, which exceeded quarterly subscriptions targets in its first month on sale.
ENDS
Quoted web traffic figures derived from internal HBX and Google Analytics audits.
About Future
Future plc is an international special-interest media group that is listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol FUTR). Founded in 1985 with one magazine, today we have operations in the UK, US and Australia creating over 180 special-interest publications, websites and events for people who are passionate about their interests. We hold strong market positions in games, film, music, technology, cycling, automotive and crafts.
Our biggest-selling magazines include T3, Total Film, Digital Camera, Fast Car, Classic Rock, Guitar World, Official Xbox Magazine, Official Playstation Magazine, Nintendo Power, Maximum PC and MacLife. Our websites include gamesradar.com, bikeradar.com, techradar.com, and musicradar.com. Future produces over 4 million magazines each month; we attract more than 18 million unique visitors to our websites; and we host 25 annual live events that attract hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts. In addition, Future exports, syndicates or licenses its publications to 90 countries internationally, making us the UK’s number one exporter and licensor of monthly magazines.
For more information
Will Guyatt, Media Relations Manager, Future UK, 01225 822517
