FEATURES: Readers snap up list-laden issues

In the absence of dramatic, cliff-hanging events, the hype surrounding the arrival of 2000 failed to translate into huge sale increases for regional titles. Instead issues that carried lists and rankings proved to be the most popular among Asian magazine readers last year. Now in the midst of a redesign, Asiaweek scored a 77.7 per cent jump in newsstand sales to 11,942 copies for its August 18 issue, headlined "Asia's Best". The issue to mark the title's 25th anniversary also reported a 51 per cent increase in advertising sales with a gross revenue of USdollars 909,000. The Economist's best-selling issue was the Millennium Special Edition, which benefited from increased promotional activities and extension of the issue sale period at newsstands. The issue carried extensive reviews from the past 1,000 years and was released across the region from December 23 1999 to January 7, 2000. This issue garnered a 46 per cent rise in newsstand sales to 117,171 copies. "An Asian Journey", Time's August 21 issue, reaped a 32 per cent hike in newsstand sales to 32,631 copies, helped by extensive promotions and public relations campaigns as well as coverage on CNN. This double summer issue featured photo essays and personal anecdotes on Asian destinations visited by Time's journalists, covering 12,000 km from Sapporo, Japan to Surabaya, Indonesia. Advertising revenue for this issue jumped 25 per cent, earning a gross income of almost USdollars 1.5 million. Business Week's July 10 issue, "Global 1000", recorded a 20 per cent jump in newsstand sales to 9,256 copies. The issue reported on the world's most valuable companies. Far East Economic Review's December 28 issue, "Review 200 Asia's Leading Companies", lifted newsstand sales 25 per cent to 120,000 copies. Forbes' special profiles of the world's billionairies in the July 3 issue, "The World's Billionaires", boosted newsstand sales to 17,868 copies, up 91 per cent. Fortune's July 24 issue featuring the world's largest 500 corporations, titled "Global 500" lifted newsstand sales across the region 30.4 per cent to 9,289 copies. The Global 500 issue also saw a 51 per cent jump in advertising revenue to USdollars 880,000 and it was Fortune's fifth-ranked issue in terms of revenue. The US presidential race drew Asian readers' attention with Newsweek's December 25 issue, "President Bush", jumping 28 per cent in newsstand sales. Chinese readers paid more attention to controversial and investigative stories - Yazhou Zhoukan's January 23 issue, "The enigma of Karmapa Lama's fleeing and the possible role by CIA", recorded a 25 per cent hike in newsstand sales. As an investigative coverage on Karmapa Lama's flight from Tibet, the issue earned advertising revenues of USdollars 126,846.

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