Mainstream press suffers big drop in readers

Mainstream magazines that feature game content have suffered a severe decline in readership, according to ABC audits.

Magazines including Zoo, FHM, Nuts and Loaded have seen as much as 50,000 fewer readers.

Film publications including Empire and Total Film have seen year-on-year readership falls of 22,000 and 3,000 individuals respectively. PC publications such as PC Format, PC Plus and Windows – The Official Magazine have also seen a drop off in readers.

It wasn’t all bad news, however. Shortlist’s readership continues to rise reaching 521,713 readers, while SFX’s number of readers remains steady.

The mainstream, PC and film media’s ABCs in full:

Front
July – December 2010: 38,645
January – June 2010: 40,971
July – December 2009: 41,946
January – June 2009: 38,002

Shortlist
July – December 2010: 521,713
January – June 2010: 518,222
July – December 2009: 513,148
January – June 2009: 510,720

FHM
July – December 2010: 177,261
January – June 2010: 192,586
July – December 2009: 231,235
January – June 2009: 235,027

Zoo
July – December 2010: 68,610
January – June 2010: 80,026
July – December 2009: 102,043
January – June 2009: 111,012

Nuts
July – December 2010: 142,212
January – June 2010: 147,134
July – December 2009: 176,835
January – June 2009: 188,532

Loaded
July – December 2010: 49,448
January – June 2010: 53,591
July – December 2009: 71,251
January – June 2009: 72,679

WIRED
July – December 2010: 50,044
January – June 2010: 50,009
July – December 2009: 48,275

Empire
July – December 2010: 172,639
January – June 2010: 179,064
July – December 2009: 194,239
January – June 2009: 194,016

Total Film
July – December 2010: 78,709
January – June 2010: 76,088
July – December 2009: 81,029
January – June 2009: 85,031

SFX
2010: 31,360
2009: 31,342

Windows – The Official Magazine
2010: 18,023
2009: 19,426

PC Plus
2010: 13,727
2009: 17,419

PC Format
2010: 9,318
2009: 11,914