Urge to renovate drives demand for print magazines

Three of the four most read print magazines in Australia are the ones you don’t have to pay for, but pick up at the checkout.

Most read are Coles magazine, its 4.9 million readership up 6.6 per cent from a year ago, and rival (Woolworths) Fresh Ideas, which gained 10.7 per cent last year to reach 4.64 million.

Next up is paid-sale mag Better Homes & Gardens, which is co-promoted by the Seven Network programme of the same name, although no longer published by Seven. Its readership of 1.62 million was up 2.7 per cent.

Bunnings magazine – the third most widely read free magazine – has seen its increase in readership come from the boom in home improvement and renovations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its readership increasing by 5.4 per cent to 1.49 million.

The Coles and Bunnings premium branded content products are both handled by News Corp “joint venture” Medium Rare.

The figures come from Roy Morgan’s ‘enhanced cross-platform audience’ results for Australian magazines for the 12 months to December 2021.

Of the top 25 magazines (those with a readership of at least 285,000) there were ten to have increases in readership of over ten per cent compared to a year ago led by Taste.com.au Magazine and House & Garden – which grew its readership by 29.8 per cent to 632,000 to be the sixth most widely read paid magazine.

Two motoring magazines increased their readership significantly – RACQ’s Road Ahead (Qld), up 29 per cent to 668,000, the NRMA’s Open Road (NSW) which increased readership by 28.6 per cent to 1.16 million and RAC’s Horizons (WA), up 18.4 per cent to 289,000.

Other magazines to perform strongly include Take 5 Bumper Monthly (+14.2 per cent to 562,000), Home Beautiful (+30.2 per cent to 349,000), TV Week (+10.1 per cent to 348,000) and Foxtel Magazine (+50 per cent to 318,000).

More than 11 million Australians aged 14+ (52.4 per cent) now read print magazines, an increase of 1.4 per cent from a year ago. This market broadens to 15 million Australians aged 14+ (70.8 per cent) who read magazines in print or online either via the web or an app, a small drop of 3.9 per cent.

Top 25 Magazines by print readership – December 2021