The latest magazine circulation data, released yesterday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, crowns O, the Oprah Magazine as uncontested leader of the pack.
The title, just one year old, is a runaway success story. Launched in May 2000 with a rate base of 500,000, its circulation has soared to 2,751,563 – comfortably ahead of its established nearest rival Martha Stewart Living at 2.4 million.
‘O’ also leads other long-lived competitors such as Seventeen (2.4m) and National Enquirer (2m), although it has some way to go before posing a threat to Newsweek and Playboy, both boasting circulations around the 3.2m mark.
Raunchy lad-mag Maxim published by London-headquartered Dennis Publishing is the only other runaway magazine success story, soaring upward on its circulation thermal by 16.5% to 2,513,146 despite a decline in single-copy sales.
The latter continues to provoke headaches for the US magazine industry, with major brands like Business Week, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Spin all posting double-digit falls in circulation because of the decline in single-copy sales.
A number of titles also failed to achieve their rate base, among them TV Guide – which undershot its 9.9 million target by nearly 500,000 copies – and Teen, soon to join the Primedia stable along with all other Emap USA titles [WAMN: 02-Jul-01].
News source: Advertising Age - Daily Deadline
