Family Magazine Enjoys Boost

A Northern Ireland family magazine for families, ni4kids, is celebrating a growth of 70% in its readership over the past two years.

An independent readership survey, carried out by Millward Brown Ulster, found the newspaper-style magazine now has 133,000 readers, meaning it is read by one in ten adults in Northern Ireland in any four-week period.

"We're delighted to be recording such a high level of growth at a very challenging time for the media sector," says Gary Hamilton, ni4kids' Managing Director.

"The additional audience which ni4kids is bringing to the sector is a particularly positive development for advertisers at this time."

The magazine, which is distributed free in schools, shopping centres and other family-focused venues, carries easy-to-use events listings and articles containing practical advice on the issues, which matter to parents.

The company, which was set up ten years ago, has focused on developing its distribution network, and ni4kids is now available across much of Northern Ireland.

Also, ni4kids has developed its own website, Facebook page and Twitter profile, all of which complement the magazine, and provide readers with the opportunity to offer their own feedback and comments.

While most of ni4kids’ readers (78%) are female, just over one in five (22%) are men, reflecting the fact that, these days, fathers tend to play a very active role in bringing up their children.

Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figures show ni4kids has an average distribution of almost 45,000 copies, meaning it can boast three readers for every copy circulated.

(BMcC/KMcA)