Press Release Summary = INTRODUCTION This Market Review examines the UK publishing industry. Key Note estimates that the total market was worth £18.63bn in 2005, having increased by 7.6% across the review period (2001 to 2005).
Press Release Body = Publishing Industry Market Review 2006
INTRODUCTION This Market Review examines the UK publishing industry. Key Note estimates that the total market was worth £18.63bn in 2005, having increased by 7.6% across the review period (2001 to 2005). Newspaper publishing accounts for the largest share of the market\'s total value, followed by magazine publishing, then book publishing.
Each of these three markets is dominated by around a dozen companies and very few companies are active in more than one market. Only one company, Pearson PLC, is involved in all three markets in a significant way. News Corporation, which publishes newspapers and which owns the book publisher Harper Collins, entered the magazine market early in 2006 with two titles and a third planned. However, a number of newspaper publishers are also active in the magazine market. Few book publishers are involved in magazines. One notable exception is BBC Worldwide, which has become a success in both book and magazine publishing.
The UK publishing industry is still primarily UK owned. However, in the magazine market, there are several foreign-owned companies, including the following: The Conde Nast Publications Ltd, Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd, IPC Media Ltd, The National Magazine Company Ltd, The Readers Digest Association Ltd and VNU Business Publications Ltd.
In the newspaper market, the regional newspaper groups Newsquest Media Group Ltd and Independent News and Media Ltd are owned by US and Republic of Ireland companies, respectively.
In book publishing, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, Hodder Headline Ltd, Macmillan Publishers Ltd, Nelson Thornes Ltd, Octopus Books, The Orion Publishing Group Ltd and The Random House Group Ltd are all foreign owned. Reed Elsevier Group PLC is a joint UK/Netherlands company.
MAGAZINES At the end of 2005, a total of 8,474 magazine titles were published, including consumer, business and academic titles. The number of consumer titles, which represents around 40% of all titles, grew by 7.9% over the review period.
One of the major changes in the market has been the continuing rise of customer magazines, which have had a significant impact on the market. Another factor has been the renewed life of the weekly magazine and its extension into the men\'s sector.
While the magazine market is essentially healthy, some subsectors, such as motoring, computing and teenage interests, have suffered declines in sales and advertising. Even in the home interest and gardening sectors, the shine has gone.
NEWSPAPERS According to the Newspaper Society, there are 1,299 newspapers in the UK regional press and, according to Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), there are 29 papers in the national sector, although of these 29, six are essentially regional papers. Sales of regional newspapers and national mass-market newspapers are declining. Some of the quality papers are also struggling to maintain sales.
Nevertheless, the total number of newspapers published has actually risen since 2004, and the first new national paper for 20 years (The Sportsman) was launched in March 2006. Newspaper readerships are still massive and are larger than the audiences of many popular television programmes.
BOOKS Key Note estimates that retail book sales were worth more than £4bn in 2005, having risen by around 3% a year over the review period. The consumer sector has tended to show the fastest growth. Key Note estimates that the total number of books in print rose to 190,000 in 2005. Consumer books account for more than two-thirds of the market\'s value but, by volume, they are even more dominant, accounting for more than 80% of the market.
The book publishing industry is currently watching two developments with keen interest: whether the Competition Commission will allow the sale of Ottakar\'s to HMV, the owner of Waterstone\'s; and the digitisation of books.
FUTURE Key Note forecasts that the total UK publishing market will increase in value by 8.8% between 2006 and 2010, to £20.63bn. The book and magazine markets are forecast to demonstrate growth ahead of the overall market, while growth in the newspaper revenues is expected to lag behind.
For newspapers and magazines a key issue for their long-term future is advertising. Advertising was disappointing for many parts of the press in 2005. Some newspaper owners believe that the poor advertising revenue was a blip and that advertising spending will kick back up again swiftly, but Key Note is not so sure. The recovery will be slow.
A key issue for the magazine and book markets is the distribution of their publications, in particular, there are concerns about the power of the supermarkets. Current trends in advertising are also important to the magazine market. The greatest challenge affecting the publishing industry is the rise of electronic media. The publishing industry recognises that it must work with these new media and, in some cases, has bought into them.
2025
