CircMatters Honors Top 15 Magazines for Superior Circulation Performance

PRLog (Press Release) - Mar 18, 2009 -
New York, NY… This month the influential media newsletter CircMatters announced its list of the15 top magazines being honored for their superior performance in circulation management.  According to CircMatters editor and founder, Jack Hanrahan, “We didn’t go into our evaluations with a set number of honorees in mind, nor did we want to rank those selected.  We analyzed all the information on hundreds of magazines until we felt we had a list we could stand behind - making a case individually for each of the 15 magazines selected - putting more emphasis on the quality of the circulation than on any other factors.”

Three broad performance areas were the focus of evaluations, and within each, a variety of criteria were examined: 1) Rate Base Performance: stating a guarantee, 3-year history of making the guarantee both on average 6-month delivery and on issue-by-issue basis, bonus delivery above guarantee 2) Single Copy Sales Performance: demand and cover price, growth (tracked over 4 years where possible) 3) Subscription Sales Performance: price on a per-copy basis, high percent sold direct to publisher, low percent “pseudo-paid” (such as sponsored paid subs).    

Many magazines do a solid job in marketing their magazines to readers and keeping their promises to advertisers in today’s challenging business environment.  The process of narrowing the list was rigorous and making the selections from the final 50 or so titles was particularly challenging.
The Top 15 Magazines singled out for superior performance in managing circulation are:
•   Architectural Digest
•   The Atlantic
•   Cooking with Paula Deen
•   The Economist
•   Everyday Food
•   Fine Cooking
•   Men’s Health
•   Martha Stewart Living
•   People
•   Popstar
•   Scientific American
•   Vanity Fair
•   Washingtonian
•   Weight Watchers
•   Women’s Health


“What all of these titles have in common,” added Mr. Hanrahan, “is they are proving that they absolutely serve their readers well, based on the prices they command from readers who want to receive the product, and also, they are honestly serving advertisers well by keeping their rate base promises, by delivering bonus circulation, and by requiring readers (and not just advertisers) to share in the financial support of the magazine.”  

Congratulations to all the titles being honored by the 2009 CircMatters Circle of Success Award for superior performance in managing circulation.