An explosion of activity in the once staid women's weekly magazine market pushed total sales up by more than 7% in the second half of last year.
The recent launches of IPC's Pick Me Up, the National Magazine Company's Reveal and Burda's Full House have helped expand the total market by 7.4%, according to figures released today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
The strongest performers were Reveal, up by an impressive 44% year on year to 345,502 copies, and OK!, which increased its sales by more than 20% on the back of its buy-up of Jordan's nuptials to become the second biggest-selling weekly women's title in the six months to 31 December.
OK! and Emap's Closer both overtook Now to become the biggest-selling weekly celebrity titles, although Bauer's Take a Break remains by far the most popular weekly magazine with almost twice the sales of its closest competitor.
Pick Me Up recorded an average sales figure of 491,669 copies, slightly down on the first six months of the year but still an impressive figure for a magazine that launched just a year ago.
IPC estimates that 300,0000 of these readers are new to the market, suggesting the new breed of weekly titles has succeeded in attracting younger consumers to the sector.
"Pick Me Up has provided a massive tonic to the women's weekly market, rejuvenating and reinvigorating the real life sector," said the IPC Connect managing director, Evelyn Webster.
Emap's Closer and Heat both enjoyed strong sales increases, with Closer up 7.1% period on period to sell 578,337 copies a week and Heat rising 2.6% to 575,267.
Meanwhile Full House, the weekly real-life title published by Burda, recorded a debut ABC of 245,502 copies.
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