What's on TV is at the top

Grocer, August 26, 2000

Star performer is TV & Satellite Week; Radio Times circulation down but profitability up

TV listings titles continue to dominate the top 20 rankings, with What's on TV again maintaining its number one position despite attack from competitor Bauer's TV Choice, which entered the top 20 rankings on its first ABC posting with a figure of 784,904.

With a new ABC of 1,707,815, What's on TV is virtually stable period on period, down only 1.9%; year on year sales fell by 5.8%.

Star IPC performer is TV & Satellite Week, with its new figure of 211,505, up 6.5% up year on year, and 17.2% period on period.

BBC's Radio Times recorded an ABC of 1,250,134, down 6.5% period on period and 10.1% year on year. Despite this Radio Times has had its most profitable year ever in what has been the most competitive period since deregulation of TV listings.

In the TV soaps market IPC Media's major brand extension of What's on TV, Soaplife, launched last September, brought a change to sales. The title's debut ABC figure of 124,123 makes it the country's biggest selling soap monthly.