James Papworth, marketing director of the PPA, said that the number of consumer titles producing an audited digital edition, a 95%-identical facsimile of a print copy, had "more or less doubled" since December 2011, jumping from 72 to 134 in the most recent figures.
The total circulation of audited digital editions was 97,000 for the six months to December 2011, whereas the most recent half-year figures until December 2012 are just around 348,000, representing a 260% year-on-year increase.
On the contrary, print circulation was down 1.5% compared to last year, but the figure still hugely overshadowed digital distribution, with a total of 52.7m print copies circulating throughout 2012.
PPA’s digital and print edition summary revealed that Condé Nast’s Glamour magazine was the highest circulating cross-platform publication, with 4,248 digital editions boosting its six-month figures to 428,325 despite the women’s magazine only ranking 19th in ABC’s average print circulation figures.
Nathaniel Philippe, head of international business at digital magazine platform lekiosk, added: "Today’s ABC figures show that digital magazine sales are already starting to cushion the fall for a number of titles with declining print revenues. The PPA’s decision to count sales of digital editions when calculating circulation figures for magazine titles marks an important turning point for the magazine publishing industry – in terms of mindset, if not profitability.
"However, we shouldn’t get carried away by these encouraging signs – digital magazine publishing is still in its infancy. It’s already clear that publishers cannot simply create some kind of digital presence and sit back and wait for the customers to roll up – they need to experiment with the way they charge for, and present, their content if they’re going to ‘crack’ the vast and potentially lucrative global digital magazine market."
Immediate Media’s latest digital edition ABCs show a rapid growth in circulation, now at 31,595, after the publisher rolled out its first digital copies in mid-2012 as part of a cross-media strategy.
But chief executive Tom Bureau said: "Our print business, with over 1m subscribers, remains extremely robust and resilient in the current economic climate conditions."
Hearst Magazines chief executive Arnaud de Puyfontaine, whose print magazine Cosmopolitan experienced an 18.3% yearly drop in print circulation but ranked fifth in the digital edition circulation chart, said that it was encouraging to see consumers accessing content through both physical and digital formats.
In the print edition stakes, women’s interest magazines continued to dominate the top three spaces for most popular market sectors, with cookery and kitchen titles, which had an total circulation of 7,749,069, closely followed by lifestyle/fashion and weeklies.
Cookery and kitchen was topped by customer publications from leading UK supermarkets, which also led the overall circulation figures.
Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Tesco Real Food and the National Trust magazine were joined by four TV and radio listings – TV Choice, What’s On TV, Radio Times and Take A Break – to form the top ten highest circulating magazines.
What’s On TV publisher IPC Media chief executive Sylvia Auton said: "We are committed to ensuring that our iconic brands are available on all platforms and have now firmly established our tablet footprint, having launched 62 brands on Apple Newsstand."
She added that the publishing house would add to its 22 titles publishing a digital certificate throughout the next six-month period.
Egmont’s first ever interactive issue of Toxic, aided by augmented reality app Aurasma, this month follows a 23% yearly increase in overall circulation for the children’s magazine publisher. The publishing house’s main market sector, primary age children, experienced a 216.5% yearly increase, the biggest leap for any one sector.
Pre-teen magazines, the fastest growing sector in June's ABCs, were given a 51.3% boost driven by the success of titles like Skyjack Publishing’s Moshi Monsters, which recorded a 40.5% year-on-year growth in circulation.
Meanwhile, Time Out’s relaunch as a free magazine has not only boosted circulation figures for the publication, but also helped shoot the entertainment and listings market up the rankings to become the 26th highest circulating magazine sector.
The events guide dropped its £3.25 cover price in September, which has resulted in a 486.8% boost in circulation since June 2012. Circulation has swelled from 55,032 for the six months to December 2011 to 305,530 in the latest ABC figures.
