Home Interest Titles on the Rise

The Covid-19 pandemic has dealt a body-blow to almost every part of the UK economy, but there have been some silver linings. Lockdowns in 2020 gave people more time to indulge their hobbies and even explore new pastimes, a trend that has continued into this year.

The latest Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) consumer magazine reports for H1 2021 (Jan - June 2021) has revealed that consumer appetite for magazine-based content remained robust.

The ABC circulation report placed cooking and gardening titles at the head of the pack, with Bauer Media's Garden Answers circulation rising 38% YoY to 70,391 and Garden News climbed by 15% to 43,507, while Immediate Media's BBC Gardeners' World increased 36% to 301,026.

Circulation also rose for Immediate Media's Olive and BBC Good Food, rising 24% to 42,325, and 23% to 194,471, respectively.

"These figures once again illustrate the strength of our portfolio," Immediate executive chairman Tom Bureau told printweek.com. "Our high-quality content focused on our audience's passions has proved ever-more popular during the pandemic... as people look to our trusted brands to guide and inspire them."

The ABC report also named Immediate Media as the top UK publisher for subscriptions during H1 2021, with a 20% YoY increase to 1.2m subscribers, including a 55% hike in BBC Gardeners' World subscriptions.

Elsewhere, Redan Publishing's Fun to Learn - Friends, climbed by 44% to 51,618 - the biggest YoY circulation increase - while Fun to Learn - Peppa Pig, and Sparkle World grew 29% to 55,709, and 24% to 47,008, respectively.

There have been increases among news titles too, including with Dennis Publishing's children's publication The Week Junior up by 18% YoY to 100,916, and Pressdram's Private Eye up by 3% to 237,338.

While there was decline in the women's weekly market and Condé Nast, Future, Hearst UK, choosing not to report their figures in this reporting period, what was revealed is broadly encouraging news for the country's print and publishing sector.

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