Fairfax market leadership continues

Media Release 1 August 2007

Fairfax market leadership continues

Fairfax Magazines has retained its position as New Zealand’s pre-eminent lifestyle publisher according to the latest audited circulation release from the NZ Audit Bureau of Circulation.

In the six months to June this year, Fairfax Magazines took out either the top circulation spot or the biggest increase in circulation in each of their sectors compared to the previous six months.

Lynley Belton, general manager of Fairfax Magazines said she was “delighted with the performance of Fairfax titles across the board.

Fairfax Magazines continues its leadership in food, automotive, boating, fishing, home and garden magazine categories.”

TV Guide continued its reign as New Zealand’s best-selling magazine, topping the weeklies sector with a circulation of almost 190,000. And NZ House & Garden maintained its position as the highest-circulation home and garden magazine.

Among gardening titles, Magazine of The Year* NZ Gardener leads this category with twice the circulation of its nearest competitor and a slight rise to more than 35,300.

Cuisine magazine retains its dominance as the highest circulating magazine in the food category. Cuisine increased its circulation to 64,761, making it 73% higher in circulation than the next biggest food title in NZ.

In boating and fishing, Fairfax Magazines took out the top spots. NZ Fishing News had the highest circulation, at almost 25,500, while Fish & Game NZ came in at second place. Boating NZ with 15,210 is the highest circulating boating publication.

Fairfax market leadership continued with the specialist title NZ Horse & Pony, which recorded a circulation increase of 3.4% to 12,635. NZ Growing Today also increased significantly by 22.1% to 9,384.

In the dynamic automotive category, the biggest increase in circulation was for Fairfax’s NZ Autocar, which rose by 7.8%. NZ Trucking also saw a circulation increase of 4.3% compared to the previous six months.

“The very consistent performance of Fairfax magazines in this audit and in the prior release show that readers have a strong connection with our titles,” said Ms Belton. “And their strong sense of connection is reflected in a high rate of subscriptions as a proportion of total sales.

“Our own reader surveys tell us that people are spending more time reading and our magazines are extending their reach with a growth in subscriptions.

This kind of reader loyalty is incredibly important in a competitive market. One look at our incredibly high subscriptions base shows our titles really resonate with New Zealand readers.”

ENDS

Note to Editors:
* Supreme Winner of Magazine of The Year (Magazine Publisher Awards 2007)

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