As we stated at the recent Nextra conference where we displayed our benchmarking data, how limited the ABC-audited magazines' figures are to newsagents.
In the ABC list for the period from January to March 2008.
From this, here is their list of the top ten magazines
Rank...........Description
1..............Australian Women's Weekly
2.............*Woman's Day
3............ *New Idea
4............. Reader's Digest
5..............Better Homes & Gardens
6..............That's Life!
7...............Super Food Ideas
8...............*Take
9...............*TV Week
10..............Cosmopolitan
Yet from our benchmark studies, these are the top ten magazines selling in newsagencies from January to March 2008.
Rank.........Description
1............WOMAN'S DAY
2.............NEW IDEA
3.............THAT'S LIFE(N)
4.............TAKE 5
5..............NW
6..............OK WEEKLY(N/A)
7.............TV WEEK METRO
8.............SELECT NRL CARDS
9.............WHO
10...........ZOO WEEKLY N/A
As you can see, it looks different. It does not even start the same and the further you go down the list, the more different they look.
Also, note how number 8 SELECT NRL CARDS shows that this analysis for magazines in a newsagency should be by state and how items can be missed. SELECT NRL CARDS is a major seller in newsagencies for Network Services, yet if you depended on the ABC list you would miss it as it is not a magazine.
Newsagents now can get better figures then the ABC figures.