Magazine resurrection: pulling an industry back from the brink

No one is claiming magazines will return to the heady heights they once held. But recently there has been some growth in the sector.

There are still about 500 regularly published titles in Australia, according to Hunter Drinan, managing director of independent online retailer iSubscribe. Picture: Bloomberg

The magazine industry was expected by many to be all but gone by 2025.

The once great ACP/Bauer Media and Pacific Magazines businesses had a combined value above $2bn two decades ago. Private equity player Mercury Capital sensed a bargain when it paid around $50m for what was left of the two major players in 2020, merging the titles into a new company, Are Media.

Former editor Phil Barker penned an obituary for the sector in his 2022 book Axed: Who Killed Australian Magazines?

There are still about 500 regularly published titles in Australia, according to Hunter Drinan, managing director of independent online retailer iSubscribe. That’s a statistic the chief executive officer of Are Media, Jane Huxley, agrees with.

Are Media also handles distribution, taking over the business once known as Gordon & Gotch in 2021 and rebranding it Are Direct. The magazines, including Are Media’s range, local independents and imported titles, feed a newsagent system of around 3000 retailers in addition to major supermarkets.

No one is claiming magazines will return to the place they once held. But there is some growth from where they have been for the past few years.

“It’s still a vibrant sector,” Ms Huxley said.

“Segments of the market are growing, but obviously the mass market titles are not. Stabilising is a better word for those, but there are certainly spots in the market that we do see growth in. If I look first at our own stable, we are seeing very steady growth in the luxury market.

“That is evident with things like the recently relaunched Elle magazine going from two to four issues a year, the continued stability of Marie Claire.”

Are Media CEO Jane Huxley.

Are Media's Bluey Magazine.

Outside the Are Media stable, she pointed to Vogue Australia’s continued success, plus the relaunched Harper’s Bazaar. “The luxury sector is still as in love with magazines as it always was.”

One category where the circulation slide has stopped is real life. “Take 5 and That’s Life! are steady as a rock,” said Ms Huxley.

Partworks, with a series of planned issues over a period, are also returning to the market. Once a fertile ground for publishers and retailers, they returned with a vengeance via a series called Australian Cars: The Collection. The publishers are planning a total of 60 separate issues, each one coming with a model classic car.

“That one just blew the socks off the market. They could not get enough in here fast enough,” said Ms Huxley.

Another magazine walking out the door for retailers is Bluey. “It was the big success for us last year and it is continuing to sell,” she said.

Ms Huxley said the wholesale marketplace Market Hub was part of an effort to keep distribution costs under control.

Market Hub supplies much of the giftware which now helps lure customers into newsagents, in addition to the usual offerings of newspapers, magazines and Lotto.

“As the weight of magazines on the trucks declines, we can maintain the freight price by filling the space with wholesale merchandise for newsagents to sell. There are thousands of products.

“Retailers can order any quantity they want. It gets delivered with the magazines, all of it on a single bill.

“It’s in all of our interests to keep the newsagent ecosystem alive and kicking as our route to market for magazines. There’s been a lot of innovation in the space, but there’s always more work to do.”

While print readership numbers are not what they once were, the total – print and digital – is rising. Roy Morgan figures show Are Media print titles reaching six million readers monthly. The total sector print and digital readership reach is 15 million.

“There’s still a massive invisible market out there of women aged 34+ across Australia that are largely ignored,” Ms Huxley aid. “Magazines are a critical way to reach that audience and such a compelling way to reach them. The work that we do at agencies is really around our omnichannel brands.

“We offer not just The Women’s Weekly, but also womensweekly.com.au, womensweeklyfood.com.au. We have a footprint of around seven million people on social media.”