Circulation for Canadian consumer magazines dropped by slightly more than 4% during the six-month period ending Dec. 31, 2010 according to the latest FasFax release from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
The report indicates that total paid and verified circulation for the 59 consumer titles dropped to 6.6 million from 6.87 million a year earlier. Total paid subscriptions for the period were down 5.9%–from 5.3 million to 5 million–while single copy sales increased 6.1% to 1.24 million from 1.17 million.
Montréal Centre-Ville enjoyed the biggest gain in paid and verified circulation, jumping 94.9%–albeit from a limited base. Among larger consumer titles, What’s Up–Canada’s Family Magazine saw its total paid circulation increase 17.8% to 42,366, while the Rogers Publishing title MoneySense saw total circulation jump 11.5%. (Marketing is owned by Rogers Publishing.)
Total circulation for St. Joseph Media’s Fashion magazine declined 18.8% from 116,045 to 91,714, while Reader’s Digest and its French-language counterpart Sélection Reader’s Digest experienced circulation declines of 17.8% and 17.3% respectively.
But Brenda Bookbinder, vice-president, print director for PHD Canada in Toronto, said that media buyers tend to place far more emphasis on readership than circulation when determining where to allocate their clients’ ad dollars.
Circulation, she said, tends to be in a constant state of flux as publishers routinely tinker with the circulation mix to achieve an optimal balance. Buyers tend to use circulation reports to ensure that magazines are circulating the amount of magazines they claim they are, she said.
“When I see that the overall circulation is down by 4%, it does not make me think that magazines are on their way out,” she said. “When I get news from Print Measurement Bureau saying that readership is down, that has an effect on me. When they say circulation is down, it could be for a number of reasons.”
Four Rogers Publishing titles were among the leaders in single copy sales, led by Canadian Business with a 155.5% increase from 8,519 to 21,765. Elsewhere, the Rogers titles LouLou (108.4%), MoneySense (104.3%) and Maclean’s (77.1%) were all among the industry leaders.
The Rogers titles Flare and Today’s Parent, meanwhile, saw single copy sales drop 26.7% and 21.3% respectively. The biggest decline in single copy sales came from the French-language title A+, which dropped 45.9% from 1,059 to 573. That was followed by Canada’s History (which changed its name from The Beaver last year), which saw single copy sales plunge 38% from 3,677 to 2,278.
