BPA Reports 96 Consumer Magazine Member Applicants in Recently Completed Fiscal Year

Nearly 100 consumer magazines applied for membership in BPA Worldwide during the global media auditor’s 2004-2005 fiscal year (ending June 20, 2005), according to a year-end report from BPA president and CEO Glenn Hansen.

Eighty-five out of BPA’s 96 new total worldwide consumer applicants were in North America (51 U.S., 34 Canadian). BPA’s consumer magazine members and applicants for this past fiscal totaled 538.

In addition to BusinessWeek (9/04) and BusinessWeek Small Biz (6/05), the roster of new North American consumer applicants between July 2004 and June 2005 included:

• Entertainment, health, travel and lifestyle titles, such as Inside TV (Gemstar-TV Guide International launch); Men’s Edge, Decorating Spaces, do!, Decorhom(me), Homefront, Women’s Health & Fitness and Cuerpo;
• Regional lifestyle titles, such as Boca Raton Magazine, Charleston, The Chicago Collection, Desert Living, Florida International Magazine, Magazine Quebec Scope, Orlando Leisure, Philadelphia Style, Vegas and Washington Life Magazine;
• Parenting titles, such as New Parent en Espanol and BabyCenter; 
• Sports enthusiast titles, such as ATV World Magazine, Bassin’, Boats and Places, The Blood-Horse, Callaway Golf, Golf Connoisseur, Golf Illustrated and Tenmagazines.com;
• A variety of other special interest/enthusiast titles, such as Acoustic Guitar, Strings Magazine, Moving Pictures Magazine and Weddings & Honeymoons.

Of the total new applicants across all types of media audited by BPA, 20 were conversions from the U.S.- headquartered ABC (17 U.S., three Canadian).

U.S. consumer magazines that have applied to BPA since June include Relish (a launch from Publishing Group of America, publishers of the BPA-audited weekly magazine American Profile) and Trump World Magazine.

Outside of North America, BPA’s new consumer members last fiscal included Seventeen, People in Focus Weekly and iLook in Asia; 7Days, What’s On! and The Week in the Middle East; and Harvard Business Review Latino America in Latin America.

“This was the largest 12-month number of new consumer applicants we’ve seen since 2000-2001, just prior to the recession,” noted Hansen. “And we’re seeing movement in being asked to audit some high-profile magazines, such as BusinessWeek, Inside TV and Relish. That tells us that our investments in ramping up our consumer media auditing division and getting that word out to the advertising and publishing communities are starting to yield results.

“In addition to BPA’s unmatched timeliness—we continue to complete more than 90% of all consumer magazine audits within six months—we’ve pushed to stay ahead of the curve in terms of our rules, operational efficiencies and member services,” Hansen continued. “Among other industry-leading initiatives, we are introducing AuditVAR—an online tool where the full results of every audit will be posted on the day that each is completed—and developing another online tool to enable our consumer magazine members to provide by-issue, continuously audited top-line data.”

Publishers who have brought their titles to BPA cite several key reasons.

“American Profile is one of BPA’s largest-circulation titles [6.952 million circulation as of June 30, 2005]—and it’s a weekly, which makes it more demanding for an auditor,” said Richard G. Porter, CEO of Publishing Group of America. “We have been extremely pleased with BPA’s performance. Their audits are very timely, and their member service is excellent. When our staff members have questions, they get clear, consistent and immediate answers from BPA staff. All of these reasons made it an easy decision to also have our launch, Relish, be audited by BPA. Most important of all, BPA has earned the distinction of credibility. And today, more than ever, credibility is critical to the success of our business.”

“BPA is well-prepared for the future of publishing and technology,” comments Gene Sittenfeld, circulation director for The Blood-Horse, which switched from ABC. “We always get extremely fast, accurate and specific answers to our questions—not only about print rules, but about our electronic products. The service from BPA’s regional managers and auditors is outstanding. Audits are stringent, but efficiently conducted and completed. In addition, BPA’s free-access Web site not only provides publisher and audit statements and BPA rules, but great tools for members, media buyers and anyone looking for industry statistics and news.”

Media buyers have noted BPA’s consumer initiatives. “I welcome more consumer magazine audits from BPA—especially when there is such a need for transparency, accuracy and timeliness in auditing,” said Tyler Schaeffer, senior VP, director of media brand planning, Foote Cone & Belding and a BPA Worldwide board member.