Riding a revolution
While many established sectors of the magazine market struggle to maintain readers, one area that is showing strong growth is the home entertainment segment. The market is divided largely between three publishers WVip, Future and Paragon with WVip publisher Steve May describing the sector as "astonishingly buoyant" and Paragon's circulation and marketing director Kevin Petley speaking of "significant growth in the past 12 to 18 months".
The current buoyancy is due much to the recent widespread adoption of satellite television and DVD technology. Indeed, Petley points to DVDs as the "saviour of the electrical retailing sector". But magazine retailers have been reaping the benefits too, with every audited magazine in the sector increasing its ABC in the last period. And WViP's May says home entertainment magazines will continue to be in demand as long as the market remains active. "The market is very strong," he says, "so much is happening in terms of technology with the emergence of recordable DVDs etc. As new technology develops, people will always want to get advice about it."
And Paragon's Petley says both the hardware and software sides of the market are showing no signs of slowing down: "The film industry at the moment is buzzing. The film companies have a lot of money to invest and that is a good indication of the market. We don't see an end to it at the moment. With hardware, for instance, we haven't seen half the advances yet. There is still an excitement in the market." What Satellite TV magazine is the top seller in the home entertainment sector, having increased its news strade sales from 34,361 in June 2000 to 38,867 in the last audit. From the same WVip stable as What Video, Home Cinema Choice and Total DVD, What Satellite TV is the only specialist satellite tv magazine in the sector as defined by ABC.
The remaining market is made up of a mixture of hardware and software titles, predominantly DVD based. And top DVD title, Paragon's DVD Review, is fast catching up with leader What Satellite TV, having jumped from 32,467 in June 2000 to 38, 864 in December 2000 in news stand sales.
Following its success in Britain, the title has just been launched in Spain, and Petley puts its success down to the company's understanding of the consumer. "We know the market very well and that is the key for that reason Paragon carries out ongoing market research," he says. "DVD Review is read predominantly by ABC1 30-year-old men and we know what these people want to read about and we talk to the audience on their own level. We have invested in the title and are able to offer a consistent package."
Another reason for the success of the software magazines, says Petley, is the nature of the DVDs themselves, which lend themselves to reviews in a way that, say, videos never could: "DVDs have extra elements such as director's cuts, special effects and pieces about the stars which people love to read about and we flag these up in the magazine telling them what to look for, what's hot and what's not if you like."
Conversely, he says the magazines encourage sales to such a degree that they actually boost the market itself. "The magazines encourage the consumer to make choices by giving them the information that they need. We know for a fact that DVD Review has helped sell DVD films," he says.
Similarly, Jackie Garford, publisher of Future's What DVD magazine, says: "What DVD aims to stimulate DVD sales for the good of the market by creating hype and excitement about the product."
With the software sector of the market fiercely competitive, Garford says Future has created a point of difference for What DVD by "having an editorial strategy of previewing DVD releases early and then keeping readers up to date with developments until the full product review other DVD magazines tend to go with review covers rather than preview."
At present, the title has no ABC figure, because Future has been experimenting with different formats. Garford explains: "We've really tested the market over the past 18 months with different models of magazine, in other words, different cover price points, with and without covermounted DVDs.
"The outcome is that we're pursuing the £3.25 magazine-only offering. An ABC will be appropriate for the July-December 2001 period."
Rival title Total DVD from WVip also claims a point of difference, being flashed as Britain's Best Value DVD Magazine. The title, which increased its ABC to 21,881 in the last period from 20,552, will carry a free DVD on the cover every month from the July issue, although the price will rise to £3.99. "We will be the only DVD magazine with a regular DVD covermount," says May. "We have done DVD covermounts before and they have been very well received. The perceived value of DVDs is very high."
Future's What DVD also uses covermount DVDs for marketing, although it steers away from a monthly commitment. Garford explains: "The strategy is to run occasional covermounts. These have increased circulation when run.
"What's more important is that there is retention of these readers the following month, proving that they sampled the magazine for the covermount but liked what they read in the magazine enough to buy it the next issue with no covermount.
"We have invested in issue size with a guaranteed 164 page issue size every issue plus an eight-page DVD mini mag bound inside the magazine. This means What DVD is the biggest magazine in the DVD market."
With the home entertainment market made up of hardware and software titles, publishers have found in-house promotion across titles works well. While readers buy hardware titles for a few issues while they decide which DVD player or TV to buy, software titles tend to retain readers after they have invested in the hardware. WVip's May says: "There is a natural link between software and hardware, so we do cross promote within the family of magazines."
Paragon and Future also find that publicising their home entertainment titles in their PlayStation magazines pays dividends by reaching a whole new captive audience. Indeed, in February, Future ran an exclusive promotion with WHS offering consumers three magazines for the price of two offer' across eight Future titles.
Future's Garford says: "PS2's increasing installed base means that the audience for DVD mags continues to grow at a fast pace."
One strategy adopted by Paragon to capitalise on the popularity of the sector is the production of special titles. Building on the success of DVD Review, the publisher released Top 100 DVDs as a collector's edition. Petley says the title, which should be on shelf for six to eight weeks, provides additional revenue for the retailer because it is bought in addition to, not instead of, the regular titles.
Retailers can also benefit by paying attention to the peak selling periods of home entertainment titles. WVip's May says: "Christmas drives sales of DVD software and hardware as do big sporting occasions such as the football World Cup or the Olympics people see it as a chance to update their home entertainment hardware to DVD."
If retailers pay attention to the peak selling periods and make the most of their home entertainment displays, the prospects, at least for the short term, look excellent. As Future's Garford says: "It will be interesting to see how far the DVD titles can go."
What Satellite TV
Comag
£3.10
M
Latest news stand ABC
38,867
DVD
Frontline
£3.99
Quarterly
Latest news stand ABC
N/a
Essential Home Cinema
Comag
£3.25
M
Latest news stand ABC
15,902
What Video & TV
Comag
£3.25
M
Latest news stand ABC
30,838
Home Entertainment
Seymour
£3.25
M
Latest news stand ABC
16,532
Home Cinema Choice
Seymour
Every two months
£3.99
Latest news stand ABC
22,046
What DVD
Seymour
£3.25
M
Latest news stand ABC
N/a
Top 100 DVDs
One-off
Seymour
(to come)
£3.99.
Latest news stand ABC
N/a
Total DVD
Comag
£3.25
M
Latest news stand ABC
21,881
DVD Review
Seymour
£3.99
M
Latest news stand ABC
38,864
DVD Buyer
Seymour
£3.99
Quarterly
Latest news stand ABC
15,283
Film Review's Ultimate DVD
Comag
M
£3.25
Latest news stand ABC
N/a
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