More lifestyle content and a greater variety of columnists are what readers can expect this weekend when the refreshed The Weekend Australian Magazine launches.
The magazine’s commitment to in-depth features and profiles will continue, but in a new “Life” section there will be expanded coverage of food, wine, gardening, motoring, travel and fashion. Additionally, the already impressive lineup of columnists and contributors (including Nikki Gemmell, Phillip Adams, Glynis Triall-Nash, James Halliday and David Herbert) will be bolstered by the addition of Bernard Salt, Jeremy Clarkson, John Lethlean and Helen Young.
This is just one part of the revamp which includes a refreshed overall design, a new masthead and better quality cover stock.
Nicholas Gray
The Australian CEO Nicholas Gray said: “The changes we are making to improve The Weekend Australian Magazine demonstrate our ongoing commitment to investment in great journalism and an increasing focus on cross-platform publishing innovation.”
Recent customer research conducted for The Australian showed the magazine to be one of the biggest drivers of purchase of the weekend paper and also highlighted the importance of lifestyle as a part of the magazine’s content mix. Currently over 490,000 people read The Weekend Australian every week – this figure is up 6.5% compared to three months ago.
Paul Whittaker
The Australian Editor-in-Chief Paul Whittaker said the investment in the magazine sends a strong message to the market that “there is plenty of life left in print”.
“The Weekend Australian Magazine is one of the biggest drivers of paper sales on the weekend so it made sense to invest in it. The magazine still has all the great news features people expect, but with 20 extra pages of lifestyle content it is now a more complete weekend read.”
The new print edition of The Weekend Australian Magazine will increase in size from a minimum 40 pages to 60 with this weekend’s launch edition boasting 68 pages. At the same time a new digital magazine template with full screen images and video will ensure a rich reading experience across all devices.
Response to the product improvements from advertisers has been strong; in the first edition Jaguar ismaking use of the thicker cover stock with a premium gate-fold execution.
The Weekend Australian Magazine editor Christine Middap said: “The new-look magazine will still have a strong emphasis on our core offering of features and storytelling, but with additional profiles, harder stories, a focus on place and country, and the story behind the headlines.