With the release of the latest ABC figures, PPA CEO, Sajeeda Merali shares why the brands that are at the heart of the publishing sector have so much to offer both their audiences and advertisers
We are living in an age of abundance – of content and opinion – yet certainty feels increasingly scarce. A bold stunt splashed across the media, a ‘miracle’ product endorsed by an unfamiliar influencer, a viral clip that may or may not be real. The volume is relentless, the signals are blurred and the line between authenticity and made up has never been thinner.
In a world of deepfakes, algorithm-driven feeds and synthetic media, media literacy has never been more important. And perhaps unsurprisingly, as noise intensifies, audiences are retreating towards the sources they know, the brands they recognise and the editorial environments they trust.
Trust has become a premium commodity, and established magazine brands continue to offer something increasingly rare – credibility, context and connection. Delivering value not only for audiences, but for advertisers too.
According to recent research, 77%¹ of people want to know if their content has been created by AI. In this climate, human-created, vetted content in safe environments is a definitive competitive advantage.
From the launch of Atria – the premium programmatic marketplace uniting the audiences of Bauer, Future, Hearst UK, HELLO!, Immediate and Time Out, to sustainability-led advertising propositions such as Immediate’s IM Clear, publishers are innovating to meet advertiser needs with scale, safety and purpose.
Our superpower: trusted authority across every touchpoint
Magazine media brands are built on strong roots of trust, editorial quality, brand safety and highly engaged audiences cultivated over decades. It’s why we distributed over 412m print and digital copies direct to consumers in 2025.
That authority does not come from format; it comes from deep audience understanding and the ability to deliver value across every touchpoint, whether through a podcast, a social community, a website or a researched and beautifully crafted magazine.
Today we are a thriving ecosystem of over 40 podcasts and over 200 commercial, membership and brand events across the largest publishers.
Stylist Live, Good Food Show, BBC Gardeners World event, Good Housekeeping Live, MCN Motorcycle show, all see thousands of visitors every year.
From the launch of the Men’s Health podcast, extending trusted expertise into audio, to Good Housekeeping UK unveiling the GH Kitchen – creating new routes for video formats, partner launches and member experiences, editorial brands are building immersive, multi-platform communities.
Time Out’s year-long Top Eats partnership with Pepsi MAX demonstrated how trusted editorial storytelling can bring food discovery to life across the UK, while Time Out’s collaboration with Pride in London in 2025 showcased how brands can align authentically with culture and community through editorial and social amplification.
Meanwhile, creativity continues to thrive in print. Empire’s light-up Tron cover proved that print can still surprise and captivate, while Grazia’s move to a premium perfect-bound format elevated its presence for readers and advertisers alike.
Print continues to increase in value, deepening its purpose and forming the anchor of a wider ecosystem of trust-led engagement.
It’s this authority – our superpower – that advertisers benefit from. Credibility transfers. The trust readers place in editorial environments creates a powerful halo effect for advertising partners.
A vital anchor of credibility and brand identity
New data from ABC is only one part of a much larger story about an industry expanding wherever its audiences are. Across all 155 consumer magazine brands reported, the combined average circulation rose by 359,987 copies year on year, up 1.96%.
Audience demand for print remains high. Paid print and digital subscriptions now represent 35% of total circulation.
Digital growth is equally strong, with digital copies increasing 23.9% year on year and digital subscriptions up 11.6%.
All-you-can-read sales account for 38% of all digital copies – 1.7m copies – up 10.3% year on year.
According to Readly², UK readers spend an average of nine hours a month on digital editions, engaging in 20-minute immersive sessions. Quality still commands time, wherever consumers access trusted editorial brands.
Lifestyle remains the top category, with 16% of UK adults reading within this sector.
Publishers are also expanding through investment and collaboration. Future’s acquisition of SheerLuxe strengthened its digital portfolio and female lifestyle reach, while its Collab programme connects creators directly with media brands, building new creator-led growth models. Immediate’s launch of their new experiential agency IX is another example of investment in new commercial capabilities to support partners.
Even beloved heritage brands are playing a role in cultural moments. Beano’s Dennis the Menace meeting the Queen to help launch the National Year of Reading was a joyful reminder of the sector’s cultural relevance and its role in promoting literacy and learning.
Collective power: bigger impact
Perhaps most importantly, the sector recognises that trust and authority are amplified when we work together.
In February 2025, magazine and news brands united for the Make it Fair campaign, standing up for intellectual property rights and the sustainability of quality journalism.
And last month’s launch of Atria demonstrated collective ambition at scale. Bringing together 33million³ consumers across specialist passions in a guaranteed brand-safe environment, Atria proves that magazine media can deliver both quality and scale. It is not just a marketplace, but a safe haven for investment.
Trust is the gold standard
Trust is the new gold standard of 2026. As audiences deepen their commitment to trusted editorial brands, we invite our advertising partners to invest in environments where attention is meaningful, engagement is immersive and impact is measurable.
We are the custodians of one of the most valuable assets in the digital age, meaningful attention built on trust, and we are ready to help brands access it.
¹ Baringa February 2025
² Readly Trends Report
³ Ipsos iris 2025
