Magazines have reversed the declines seen in AMPS 2002B, with a number of titles bringing home increased readerships.
AMPS 2003A shows an upwardly trending picture for magazines as a medium, with a large number of titles gaining in readership.
Any Magazine - 40.7%, 12.112-million readers. The medium is up in large urban areas and LSM 8 (up to 73.8%), but down in the Northern Cape.
Any Newspaper Magazine - 10.6%, 3.159-million readers.
Any Subscriber Magazine - following a decline seen with the removal of Radio and TV Talk, this category has now stabilized, and is showing a developing upward trend. Readership is at 4.140-million, or 13.9% penetration.
Any Newspaper Magazine/Subscriber Magazine - 20.1%, 5.984-million readers, with increases in rural areas.
Average publications per reader: Any Magazine is 3.19 titles per reader (up slightly from 3.08); and for Newspaper/Subscriber Magazines is 1.57 (stable). This is the first 12-month release of data for monthlies blunt and Siyavaya (a free distribution magazine given out mainly at taxi ranks), and for quarterlies In House Club and Personal Finance. Two magazines appear with different frequencies. Fairlady has gone monthly (previously fortnightly), and blunt has changed from an alternate monthly to a monthly. New in the six-month release data is Loslyf (monthly), habitat and O (alternate monthly), and Discovery (quarterly).Weekly and fortnightly reads
There was only one significant change in the weekly/fortnightly magazine category. Rapport Tydskrif grew its readership over the previous period from 3.7% to 4.2%, with its current readership at 1.246-million. The magazine also showed a shift upwards in the Western Cape, and in LSM 7-10.
Developing trends, and profile changes include:
Drum - trending down from 6.5% to 6% with 1.777-million current readers.
huisgenoot - up amongst age 35+, and in LSM 8-9.
people - up in LSM 9.
Sunday Times Magazine - down in LSM 9, trending down from 7.2% to 6.9% (now with 2.068-million readers).
Vrouekeur - up in LSM 8.Monthly mags
Monthlies have fared far better in AMPS 2003A than they did in the previous survey, when the category showed several significant declines, and no gains in readership. In the current period, ten magazines have boosted their readership significantly.
They are:
Animaltalk, which grew its readership over the previous period from 0.4% to 0.6%, with 168 000 current readers.
Foschini's club mag increased from 2.2% to 3.2% or 950 000 readers, and Lewis/Best's club mag increased from 2% to 2.8% (now with 820 000 readers). These were substantial increases across all demographics and geo-demographics, which has raised questions. SAARF suspects that these substantial rises are a result of generic claiming, since both retailer clubs have the same publication title, and neither have significantly increased their distribution. Due to the large number of similarly-named "Club" magazines throughout this sector of customer publishing, confusion might even be arising between these titles and other "Club" magazines not measured by AMPS.
Conde Nast House and Garden saw its readership increase from 1.3% to 1.7% (currently with 497 000 readers), with a demographic increase in LSM 7-8.
dish/skottel (DStv) grew from 1.4% to 1.8% or 530 000 readers, and is up in metros, Gauteng and in LSM 9-10.
Magic/M (M-Net), which was down significantly in the previous survey, has bounced back, though is still not back to the same levels it was at when it was called the M-Net Guide (could readers be reading the guide, but not be connecting it with the name "Magic"?). The magazine is up from 0.6% to 0.9% (256 000 current readers), with shifts upward in the Western Cape, in the 16-34 age group, and in LSM 9-10.
rooi rose is up on the previous period, from 2.5% to 2.9% with 856 000 readers. It is also up in LSM 7-8.
Sarie grew its readership from 2.4% to 3% (899 000 readers). It is up in metros and large urban areas, in the Western Cape and Gauteng, amongst females, in 35+ and LSM 7-10.
Shape has improved its figure from 0.6% to 0.8%, with a current readership of 226 000. It is up in large urban areas.
TV Plus! continues its upward trend, growing significantly on AMPS 2002B when it had a penetration of 3.7%, to 4.2% currently (1.265-million). The magazine is up in Cape Town, and in the Cape fringe, amongst females and LSM 6-7.Developing trends, and demographic shifts include:
Bona - trending down on a 12-month basis from 12.2% to 10.3% (with a readership of 3.057-million).
car - up in LSM 5-6, showing an aspirant reader coming through as the country progresses.
dit - up in LSM 8.
FHM - trending up from 1.4% in AMPS 2002A to 1.6% currently, with 486 000 current readers.
Imagine/Droom - trending down on 12 months from 8.9% to 5%, with 1.491-million current readers. This has occurred since the name change from Edgars Club Magazine.
Men's Health - trending up from 1.9% in AMPS 2002A, to 2.5%, a readership of 742 000. It is up amongst readers aged 35+.
SA Gardening - up in the 16-34 age group.
Stywe Lyne/Tight Lines - up in LSM 7-8.
Topcar - trending up from 1.6% a year ago to 1.8% (545 000 current readers).
True Love - up in large urban areas.Alternate monthlies
Movement in this category has come from SA Home Owner, which is up in the 16-34 age group, and from Y mag, which has grown over the previous period from 1.1% to 1.5%, and now has 461 000 readers. Y is also up in metros and large urban areas, amongst males, in the 16-34 age group and in LSM 6-7.
Quarterlies
There has been little movement in this category as well, with only two profile shifts: The Motorist (up in large urban areas and in LSM 6), and vodaworld magazine (up in large urban areas).
Top print titles of the SU-LSM groups
Each SU-LSM grouping has an interesting assortment of favourite print titles, an assortment which differs dramatically from one end of the market to the other.
Other than the new newspaper titles making an appearance, there has been little shifting within the ranking of top newspapers and magazines in terms of SU-LSM penetration. Looking at print titles in terms of SU-LSM penetration reveals some interesting facts. For instance, it might surprise some people to realise that the magazine delivering the highest percentage of top SU-LSM readers (9-10), is huisgenoot. This title ranks 13th on the SU-LSM 5-6 list of print titles, with a penetration of 6.1%. In SU-LSM 9-10, huisgenoot is read by 27.4% of the upper end of the market, and ranks 2nd in the top print list. Only the Sunday Times has a higher penetration into this market. This clearly demonstrates the importance of making decisions using research as a foundation. Some people, working off gut-feel alone, might be tempted to incorrectly position huisgenoot lower down the SU-LSM scale.
Other interesting facts:
The Sunday Times has the highest penetration across all groups, except in SU-LSM 1-4, where Bona takes top honours with 11.4% penetration. (The paper with the highest penetration into the lower SU-LSM groups is Soccer Laduma, with 5.8% penetration.)
In SU-LSM 1-4, three papers make up the top five - Soccer Laduma (5.8%), Sowetan (5%) and City Press (4.9%). In SU-LSM 9-10, only two papers make it into the top five - Sunday Times (28%) and Rapport (21.7%), with the other top five positions going to huisgenoot (27.4%), You (21.8%) and car (13.4%).
The most read magazine in SU-LSM 1-4 is Bona (11.4%), in SU-LSM 5-6 is True Love (13.7%), and is huisgenoot in both SU-LSM 7-8 (19.2%), and SU-LSM 9-10 (27.4%).Source: For the complete AMPS 2003A data, visit the SAARF website at www.saarf.co.za.
