When the American version of The
Week was launched in 2001 there were predictions it would never
work. Too much competition, many said,. Especially
from such established news weeklies as Time, Newsweek and US News &
World Report “It will be lucky to
last a year” many said. But the sceptics
were wrong.
Five years later the year by year its circulation has
gone up. It started out at
100,000, By 2003 it had grown to l50,000
and by 2004 it had doubled. Then it increased to 300,000 in 2005 and last
year to 400,000. The most recent
figures, as of August 21, indicate it has come close to 430,000. So 500,00 is not beyond its reach. All of which proves that Dennis
Publishing was right in taking the plunge into the American market
Reader approval is best
illustrated by the fact that readers its claimed renew their
subscriptions at a much higher rate
than they do most magazines. In fact 99 per cent of the readers are
regular subscribers, the magazine boasts. That’s despite the fact that the
subscription is fairly high – $50 a year for 48 issues.
Perhaps its because The Week is
pithy (that’s one of its claims) over 90
per cent of readers – according to a
recent study – say they read more of The Week than they do of most other magazines. American readers , its seems , do like
shorter snappier stories in their news
mags.
The Week’s success is hardly
because it advertises a lot. Certainly
nothing like some of its rivals. It’s
news seminars – hosted mostly by Sir
Harry Evans – have helped. They often
end up on the nightly news. They also
make The Week well known in the trade and attract a lot of journalists and
celebrities.
As for advertising – that very
important lifeblood – that has gone up over 120 per cent since 2003. Last
year the magazine claims it took in almost $18,000,000 in ad revenue – Its plans for the future? . It
really doesn’t have any says Steven Kotock, the magazine’s business manager.
“We are not planning any drastic changes” he insists. In fact everyone, he suggests, is happy the
way things are – and there are not even any plans to increase the circulation
!
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