Lagardère Active: fundamental rising trend continues for paid circulation in France at start of 2008

Today, Lagardère Active announced the paid circulation figures for its principal weeklies and monthlies in France over the April 2007 to March 2008 period.

Paid circulation of principal weeklies and monthlies in France
Average from April 2007 to March 2008
Officially declared circulation registered with the French press circulation audit bureau (OJD)

* ODC: officially declared circulation ** PCF: paid circulation in France

Noteworthy trends
Healthy results and sustained strength of weeklies in Lagardère Active’s strategic segments:

Celebrity magazines
Public

, the new-generation women’s celebrity/fashion magazine, has maintained sustained growth since its launch (up 19.12%). With circulation exceeding 445,000 copies, the title again proved the strength of its concept. The traditional celebrity magazines Ici Paris (up 5.34%) and France Dimanche (up 0.71%) also posted solid results.

General news magazines
For Paris Match, the 2008 OJD totals reflect a fundamental rising trend (up 8.76%). The title achieved one of the highest circulation levels ever attained over the last 10 years. Per-issue sales also grew by 15.3%.

Circulation for Journal du Dimanche (JDD) remained stable (up 0.45%). Christian de Villeneuve was recently named editorial director and is preparing a fresh editorial approach in coming weeks.

Women’s magazines
ELLE registered excellent results over the period, with steady, solidly growing circulation figures (up 6.14%) over the last three years thanks to the ongoing renewal of its editorial approach. This rise can be explained by a combined increase in per-issue sales and subscriptions plus the continuing rollout of regional ELLE editions (seven to date).

Television
For Télé 7 Jours, improvement in 2007 trends is continuing. The healthy stability of newsstand sales and growth of the subscriber portfolio resulted in a gain of three-tenths of 1 percent over 2007. The title’s dynamic subscription policy – focused on renewals – proved quite positive.

Monthlies and special-interest magazines register predominantly positive circulation results

With paid circulation in France (PCF) up by 5.52% from April 2007 to March 2008, the new format of Première was an unequivocal success, strengthening the title’s leadership position in the film magazine segment.

After an upward trend in 2007, Jeune et Jolie confirmed its continued vitality with an increase of 4.81%.

With stabilization of sales above 300,000 copies, Parents (up 1.14%) solidified its lead and, above all, showed its extraordinary strength in its target segment along with the success of its dual-medium offer.

With growth of 1.05% and circulation of 285,395 copies, Auto Moto increased its net lead in the monthly and bimonthly car magazine segment.