MAGAZINE publishers are hoping the worst is over and that the $1 billion industry has turned a page.
This follows a year in which shrinking family budgets and concerns over the economy turned more than 2.5 million readers off magazines. The audience for magazines shrunk 6.8 per cent to a gross readership of 38 million in the year to December 31 compared with the previous year, Roy Morgan figures show.
Year-on-year, the picture was bleak for some of Australia's best-selling titles such as The Australian Women's Weekly, Woman's Day, NW and Cleo, which all registered declines - some more significant than others.
But publishers say a quarter-on-quarter comparison is a better indicator, with many larger titles, including the Weekly, Woman's Day, That's Life, rallying. Overall the market nudged up 0.1 per cent in readership in December compared with the September quarter.
Nick Chan, chief executive of Pacific Publications, owned by Seven Network, said: ''Overall these are pretty solid figures … this is a good result.''
Pacific secured two of the five largest increases in the year, with Women's Health up 28 per cent and Better Homes and Gardens up 4.3 per cent.
