The outgoing editor-in-chief of Are Media’s The Australian Women’s Weekly, Nicole Byers, penned a farewell letter to her readers in the Christmas issue of the magazine in its Christmas edition.
It’s been a massive year for the brand as it celebrated its 90th birthday.
As Mediaweek readers know, we reported recently on the change of the guard at one of Australia’s most-read magazines. We reported recently about Byer’s promotion at Are Media to general manager – lifestyle.
Replacing Byers as editor is Sophie Tedmanson.
Sophie Tedmanson
For the print readership of over 1.3m, changing the editor of the title is like selecting a new cricket captain to lead one of the Australian teams.
In its first 40 years, The Australian Women’s Weekly had just three editors. In the last two decades, the turnover was more frequent. Tedmanson is te seventh editor of the title in the past 20 years. Deborah Thomas was in the role for 10 years until 2009. She was replaced by Helen McCabe who sat in the editor’s chair for six years. With six years at the helm, Byers is also one of the longest-serving recent editors. Serving shorter stints as editors in the past 20 years were Julia Zaetta, Robyn Foyster and Kim Doherty.
In a change of strategy at Are Media, the well-known brand only recently launched a separate digital home.
Originally part of the Now to Love online entertainment destination, The Australian Women’s Weekly now shows off its premium lifestyle content for users and is promising to supercharge the brand for content commerce.
Nicole Byers
Nicole Byers farewells readers
In her final Editor’s Letter in the Christmas issue, Byers writes:
“It’s hard for me to write that this is my last letter as editor of The Weekly. I’m handing the reigns over to the new editor, Sophie Tedmanson. A long-standing admirer of The Weekly, and the place it holds in Australians’ hearts, Sophie has boundless energy and ideas and I can’t wait to see where she takes the magazine…
“Thank you for having me in your home, office or wherever you like to read your Weekly for the past six years. It’s been an honour and a privilege. Wishing you all the happiest of holidays.”
Readership boost
The only paid-for title with a bigger print readership than The Weekly is the former Pacific Magazines monthly, now part of the Are Media stable, Better Homes and Gardens.
The Weekly has a readership of 1,336,000, up 8% year-on-year.
Better Homes and Gardens was up 11% year-on-year to 1,805,000.
The only print titles with a bigger readership are the free retail titles published by Bunnings, Coles and Woolworths.
See also: Are Media reports readership growth in latest Roy Morgan results
Having a dedicated website will help brands better understand the digital pull of The Weekly. The title also sits on digital platforms like Readly where the Are Media titles are also available as digital replicas for subscribers.
Brands that took advantage of reaching print readers of the Christmas edition include Kikkoman, Woolworths, Doritos, Fernwood, McKenzie’s, Myer and Peter Sheppard.
Summer reading
Byer’s farewell edition comes with all the highlights readers have come to expect from a Christmas special – recipes, craft ideas, travel, competitions and puzzles. And of course, it wouldn’t be The Weekly Christmas with the royals via Juliette Rieden and Maggie Beer’s guide to a family feast.
The celebrity factor is also ramped up for Christmas starting with the Chrissie Swan cover, plus a photo special that includes Home and Away stars, Osher Gunsberg and family, Rob Mills with Georgia Tunny (above) and besties Jackie O and her manager Gemma Fordham.