Spectator sales hit record high as magazine subscription push pays off
Sales of the Spectator have soared to an all-time high as the magazine’s focus on subscriptions continues to pay dividends.
The right-leaning title, which covers politics, culture and current affairs, said sales averaged 105,850 copies in the first half of this year — up 27 per cent on the same period in 2020.
The figure means the Spectator, which was launched 193 years ago, has reached the target of 100,000 copies it set at the end of 2019.
In a blog post editor Fraser Nelson said that while digital-only sales were popular, the vast majority of new subscribers opt for the full package of print and digital.
As a result, sales of the printed magazine have risen from 70,055 in the first half of last year to 77,675, which is also an all-time high.
The Spectator, which is the fastest-growing current affairs magazine in Europe, is one of a number of titles to double down on a subscription model amid a decline in print circulation and the growing dominance of tech giants such as Google and Facebook in the digital advertising market.
The New Statesman has also grown subscriber numbers to an all-time high after digital subscriptions grew 75 per cent in 2020, while the Telegraph boosted subscribers by a third last year.
The Spectator, which is chaired by GB News frontman Andrew Neil, said the recent growth had helped it weather the pandemic, which hit the company’s live events business as well as newsstand sales.
The magazine pointed to new features launched during lockdown such as Spectator TV, which broadcasts debates and discussions, as well as new newsletters and podcasts from journalists such as Kate Andrews and Cindy Yu.