InterMedia News Report – Industry Trends For May

Welcome to our latest round-up of insights from Marketforce, detailing the current state of the magazine industry. Despite ongoing challenges, there are emerging trends and areas of growth that are shaping the future of the industry.

Over the past twelve months, the total magazine market has seen a decline of 10.4% in volume and 6.1% in value. Monthlies and weeklies have both been affected, with monthlies declining by 10.8% in volume and 5.6% in value, and weeklies by 10.3% in volume and 6.5% in value.

Despite these declines, the market shows signs of resilience. Monthlies have started 2024 with an improving trend, showing a smaller decline compared to previous months. Weeklies, after a weak period up to September 2023, have shown a significant recovery.

Segments on the rise

Puzzles and Crafts 

Puzzles remain a growth area, with Logic and Arrowords magazines seeing increases of 11.5% and 32.2% respectively. However, the crafts segment, despite being the ninth largest, has experienced a 10.4% decline YOY. Within this, colouring books have bucked the trend, growing by 21.5%, in keeping with the data that the children’s market holds the second-largest share of revenue.

News & Current Affairs and Leisure

These two categories have outperformed the total market, with a 0.2% and 0.1% respective increase in market share YOY. The resilience in these segments is perhaps a reflection of the current issues in the wider world, with a cost-of-living crisis and political uncertainty at the fore.  

Music

Music magazines have experienced significant growth, with RSV up by 6.7% YoY. This growth is partly driven by the popularity of bookazine series like Future Select and Future Special. Even without these series, the segment's performance remains above the market average, although it is marginally negative at -0.5%.

Place Performance

The performance across different retail channels varies. High street and travel retail have shown growth, up 5.2% and 0.8%, respectively. In contrast, supermarkets have seen a decline in revenue, but they remain the largest channel with a stable market share. Discounters, although still a small part of the market, have increased their share slightly. Convenience stores were the weakest performers, with their RSV share dropping by 0.9% YOY.

The economic backdrop has been challenging. GDP growth estimates showed a modest increase of 0.2% in January after two consecutive quarters of shrinkage, yet inflation remains high at 3.4%, above the Bank of England's target. Consumer confidence, measured by the Barclays survey, has improved to its highest level in two years, but this has not yet translated into significant spending increases. Retail sales grew by just 1.2% in January, driven mainly by inflation rather than volume growth.

Conclusion

The magazine industry continues to face substantial challenges with overall declines in both volume and value. However, certain segments and channels are showing resilience and recovery. As economic conditions stabilise, further opportunities for growth and improvement within the market are beginning to emerge. Stay tuned for more updates and insights, and for an all-around solution to newsstand circulation, marketing and distribution, just get in touch with us.