Magazine ABCs: Glamour and Good Housekeeping top PPA's combined ranking

Today (14 February) marked the first time the PPA combined the circulation figures for magazines’ print editions and digital editions.

The aim is for the data to clearly show (where it’s available) a title’s print circulation, its digital edition circulation, and the combination of the two as an aggregated total circulation figure.

However, it should be stressed magazines that do not have digital editions, or whose digital editions are not 95% identical to its print product, are not included in this table.

James Papworth, marketing director at the PPA, said: "For titles that report print and digital edition figures, it’s the most accurate reflection of the total circulation of that product.

"To meet the ABC definition, a digital edition must be very closely aligned to a print edition and, in many cases, is an identical replica of a print counterpart. Drawing together these circulation figures, therefore, provides agencies and advertisers with a quick, transparent reference of the total combined circulation for magazines who report both figures."

The data follows a change to ABC By-laws designed to give publishers greater flexibility in how they report ABC figures.

Papworth stressed the figures in the new table are a measure of a magazine’s circulation, whether that magazine is printed or available as a digital edition, but not of a brand’s total reach.

"That would additionally include a variety of other metrics, such as website visitors, email traffic and verified event attendees," he said. "By publishing the [combined figures] the PPA is moving the measurement of magazine brands forward and it will continue to evolve further as publishers explore creative new opportunities on tablets, websites and smartphones."

This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk