13 times less popular than caravans

chebby

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Actually What Hi-fi Sound & Vision was 12.88 times less popular than 'The Caravan Club Magazine' in Feb 2015 (s/half 2014 figures from Press Gazette).

The caravan mag's circulation was down just 1.6 percent on the previous year. WHF? S&V was down 10.5 percent!

Only 88.7 percent of the 27,578 copies printed were actually paid for. This means readers of 'The World Of Cross Stitching' (circulation 34,081, copies paid for 100%) should probably be less angry with their chosen hobby.

It'll be interesting to see if WHF? S&V survives as a printed magazine at all this year. (Although digital subscriptions were only up to about 4,400 last year.)

Looking forward to the feb 2016 (s/half 2015) figures. Circulation was around 47,000 in 2009 and 40,000 in 2011 (for comparison).

Anyone from the staff around to comment on website hits? Are they decreasing or increasing since the changes? (I know what they were about 2009 when AE provided them in a related post.)
 
D

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chebby said:
Actually What Hi-fi Sound & Vision was 12.88 times less popular than 'The Caravan Club Magazine' in Feb 2015 (s/half 2014 figures from Press Gazette).

The caravan mag's circulation was down just 1.6 percent on the previous year. WHF? S&V was down 10.5 percent!

Only 88.7 percent of the 27,578 copies printed were actually paid for. This means readers of 'The World Of Cross Stitching' (circulation 34,081, copies paid for 100%) should probably be less angry with their chosen hobby.

It'll be interesting to see if WHF? S&V survives as a printed magazine at all this year. (Although digital subscriptions were only up to about 4,400 last year.)

Looking forward to the feb 2016 (s/half 2015) figures. Circulation was around 47,000 in 2009 and 40,000 in 2011 (for comparison).

Anyone from the staff around to comment on website hits? Are they decreasing or increasing since the changes? (I know what they were about 2009 when AE provided them in a related post.)
Not good, I have dropped out now but still use the reviews and I like the website.
 
I blame Top Gear. They were always destroying caravans... counter productive in comparative terms.

On a more serious note, I haven't purchased a WHFI mag since the summer. One mag in a calendar year. No shop around our area sells them now. I used to buy them from the local garage or a small Co-op in the high street. The mags have been culled.

Used to subscribe but most editions didn't have much to interest me, so I cancelled it ages ago.

Out of interest, why have they dropped the 'Sound and Vision'?
 

tino

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Peope who buy caravans are usually enthusiasts (I'm sure there are other words one could use) and so they will go out and buy the appropriate magazine to cater for their needs. Hifi enthusiasts won't necessarily find WHF that interesting anymore ... it's trying to appeal to Joe Public rather than the enthusiast, for example, the waste of space that is the "buying guide", too much concentration on gadgets (smartphones etc.), and the lack of depth / diversity of some of the actual hifi and AV reviews.
 

expat_mike

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chebby said:
Anyone from the staff around to comment on website hits?

I seem to remember a thread from maybe a year ago, which enquired why Andrew Everard was no longer writing for the magazine.

I think one of the WHF managers replied that certain website pages received 100,000 hits, and Andrews HiFi blog page received only a few dozen, which was the evidence that the cost/benefit ratio of the blog page was too low to continue.

Unfortunately these are just vague memories, but maybe someone can remember the facts in more detail.
 

MajorFubar

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I think they're struggling to find a target audience. They're still too upmarket for the Stuff brigade who let's be honest think a hifi is their Saisho iPhone dock from Currys, and too mass-market for ye olde hifi enthusiasts.
 
D

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expat_mike said:
chebby said:
Anyone from the staff around to comment on website hits?

I seem to remember a thread from maybe a year ago, which enquired why Andrew Everard was no longer writing for the magazine.

I think one of the WHF managers replied that certain website pages received 100,000 hits, and Andrews HiFi blog page received only a few dozen, which was the evidence that the cost/benefit ratio of the blog page was too low to continue.

Unfortunately these are just vague memories, but maybe someone can remember the facts in more detail.
Andrew was the best thing about the forum though, if it wasn't for him I would've never stayed interested.
 

expat_mike

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gel said:
Andrew was the best thing about the forum though, if it wasn't for him I would've never stayed interested.

I tried using Google to find the thread, but with no luck. I did find several other threads full of banter between the WHF staff (including Andrew) and the forum members. The 'tone' of the banter seemed different to the present day, more chatty, if you know what I mean;
 
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expat_mike said:
gel said:
Andrew was the best thing about the forum though, if it wasn't for him I would've never stayed interested.

I tried using Google to find the thread, but with no luck. I did find several other threads full of banter between the WHF staff (including Andrew) and the forum members. The 'tone' of the banter seemed different to the present day, more chatty, if you know what I mean;
Yeah it was a lot more chatty, I think some of the WHF staff might now be wary of the forum after what happened to Andrew. Andrew spoke about it on his Facebook page and you could tell he was disappointed with what happened. It went sent along the lines that it was 2 years to the day that WHF let him go.
 
gel said:
expat_mike said:
gel said:
Andrew was the best thing about the forum though, if it wasn't for him I would've never stayed interested.

I tried using Google to find the thread, but with no luck. I did find several other threads full of banter between the WHF staff (including Andrew) and the forum members. The 'tone' of the banter seemed different to the present day, more chatty, if you know what I mean;
Yeah it was a lot more chatty, I think some of the WHF staff might now be wary of the forum after what happened to Andrew. Andrew spoke about it on his Facebook page and you could tell he was disappointed with what happened. It went sent along the lines that it was 2 years to the day that WHF let him go.

I've mentioned this several times over the last 18 months or so. It has changed... and not for the better. The old faces are a vague memory and the reason for Andrew parting company... you'll have to ask others.

It used to be fun and informative - now it's neither. Little fun now, only egoes telling what you can buy and can't. It's a pity.

Happy New Year.
 
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plastic penguin said:
gel said:
expat_mike said:
gel said:
Andrew was the best thing about the forum though, if it wasn't for him I would've never stayed interested.

I tried using Google to find the thread, but with no luck. I did find several other threads full of banter between the WHF staff (including Andrew) and the forum members. The 'tone' of the banter seemed different to the present day, more chatty, if you know what I mean;
Yeah it was a lot more chatty, I think some of the WHF staff might now be wary of the forum after what happened to Andrew. Andrew spoke about it on his Facebook page and you could tell he was disappointed with what happened. It went sent along the lines that it was 2 years to the day that WHF let him go.

I've mentioned this several times over the last 18 months or so. It has changed... and not for the better. The old faces are a vague memory and the reason for Andrew parting company... you'll have to ask others.

It used to be fun and informative - now it's neither. Little fun now, only egoes telling what you can buy and can't. It's a pity.

Happy New Year.
Yep. Happy New Year to you too. *drinks*
 

drummerman

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I work with people of all ages, predominantly women (but also younger blokes). Not one of them is into hifi (they all know I am as I often have a mag with me to read during breaks ... that or cycling).

Three I know of want to buy camper vans ... .

Hifi is now a total niche hobby imho. We are sad obsessives :)
 

spiny norman

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chebby said:
Actually What Hi-fi Sound & Vision was 12.88 times less popular than 'The Caravan Club Magazine' in Feb 2015 (s/half 2014 figures from Press Gazette).

Doesn't this kinda miss the point that WH (as we now have to call it, I guess) is a standalone magazine, which people have to consciously decide to buy or subscribe to, whereas the Caravan Club magazine is automatically sent to members of the club as part of a whole package of benefits including discounted caravan site rates, etc, which is why I guess most caravan owners join?

So isn't the circulation of the Caravan Club magazine more a reflection of the popularity of the club than the appeal of the magazine itself?
 

steve_1979

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Vladimir said:
chebby said:
Anyone from the staff around to comment on website hits?

It's good. It recovered well from the redesign. Clicky

Interesting but the scale on the left of the graph seems to be upside down.

graph
 

steve_1979

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drummerman said:
I work with people of all ages, predominantly women (but also younger blokes). Not one of them is into hifi (they all know I am as I often have a mag with me to read during breaks ... that or cycling).

Three I know of want to buy camper vans ... .

Hifi is now a total niche hobby imho. We are sad obsessives :)

I'm still waiting to meet someone in the real world who has even the slightest interest in hifi quality music reproduction.
 

Vladimir

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steve_1979 said:
drummerman said:
I work with people of all ages, predominantly women (but also younger blokes). Not one of them is into hifi (they all know I am as I often have a mag with me to read during breaks ... that or cycling).

Three I know of want to buy camper vans ... .

Hifi is now a total niche hobby imho. We are sad obsessives :)

I'm still waiting to meet someone in the real world who has even the slightest interest in hifi quality music reproduction.

I'm still waiting to meet an audiophile in the real world who has even the slightest interest in hifi quality music reproduction. :D
 

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