Much hilarity in the publishing world as Mortons struggles to position its purchase of Railway Magazine.
These bullish words from the Brand Manager Heritage & Lifestyle, contained in an email trumpeting the acquisition:
Mortons Media Group is delighted to announce their purchase of The Railway Magazine, making them the UK’s largest railway publisher.
A bold claim indeed!
But does it stack up to ABC verification?
Railway Magazine – 34k - ABC verified.
Rail Express - Not ABC verified
Heritage Railway - Not ABC verified
Oh dear. Is someone perhaps talking cojones?
Dispensing with Ian Allan, who also don't go in for ABC verification, who else might want to lay claim to being the UK's largest railway publisher?
Well, as any fule kno, the best selling railway publications are the modelling titles (see Eye passim).
The market leader is Railway Modeller, published by Peco, which has an ABC audited circulation of 44k, ten thousand above that for Railway Mag.
Next in line is Model Rail which has an ABC verified readership of 28k.
Of course if you added Model Rail's readership figure to that of its sister rail titles - RAIL (25k) and Steam Railway (33k) - then Bauer has a combined rail related readership of well over 86,000.
Eye fears that plucky little Rail Express and Heritage Railway would struggle to lay claim to the 53,000 readers needed to topple Bauer from pole position.
No doubt the new owners of the Railway Mag will take this challenge squarely on the chin and soon shell out for ABC audits on both Rail Express and Heritage Railway.
Alternatively, in these austere times, Eye wonders what the future may hold for such minnows now that the RM shark has entered Morton's pool?
