Woman's World

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For other uses, see Woman's World (disambiguation).

Woman's World is a popular American supermarket weekly magazine with a circulation of 1.6 million readers. Generally marketed with other tabloid papers, it concentrates on short stories about popular woman-focused subjects such as weight loss, relationship advice and cooking, though also occasionally branches out to do profiles on other notable women in the sciences or academia. It has held the title of most popular newsstand magazine, and continues to be the best-selling women's publication, with sales of 77 million copies in 2004. It competes with smaller magazines such as Woman's Day and Family Circle.

Contents

[edit] History

The magazine was launched in the United States in 1981 by a European magazine publisher, Heinrich Bauer Verlag of Hamburg, Germany, which set up an American subsidiary, Heinrich Bauer North America in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Woman's World was the company's first American release, and was aimed at a target audience of middle-class moms. The magazine gained rapid popularity, and within ten years had a circulation of 1.5 million readers, generating $15 million USD in annual revenue.

[edit] Format

The magazine is published in a large tabloid newspaper format, with about 60 pages per issue, and approximately 12% of the magazine devoted to advertisements. The cover generally features several headlines for internal articles, along with a picture of an "everyday" woman, showcasing something as a recipe, health/exercise tip, or weightloss success. Occasionally the cover may also feature celebrities.

[edit] Subject coverage

According to a profile at magsdirect.com, the content in the magazine as of 2003 broke down into the following categories:

  • Features: 32%
  • Food and Nutrition: 22%
  • Health: 16%
  • Home and Gardening: 9%
  • Beauty and Grooming: 8%
  • Travel: 5%
  • Fashion: 4%
  • Parenting: 4%

[edit] Readership

According to magsdirect.com:

  • Women: 95%
  • Men: 5%
  • Median age: 46
  • Median household income: $50, 192
  • Employed: 66%
  • Employed fulltime: 51%
  • Working mother: 32%
  • Married: 60%
  • Children in household: 47%
  • Average age of children: 9.5

[edit] References

  • "New German Entry in Women's Magazines", January 21, 1981, New York Times