Editor-in-chief Kim Wilson Frequency Monthly Year founded 1933 | Categories Women's magazines Circulation 459,175 (2013) Company Bauer Media Group | |
The Australian Women's Weekly, sometimes known as simply The Weekly, is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Bauer Media Group in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia but it is now outsold by the Australian edition of the American publication Better Homes and Gardens.
Contents
History and profile
The magazine was started in 1933 by Frank Packer as a weekly publication. The first editor was George Warnecke and the initial dummy was laid out by William Edwin Pidgeon who went on to do many famous covers over the next 25 years.
The Weekly celebrated its 50th anniversary of publication in June 1983 and its 75th anniversary in the October 2008 issue. PBL launched Women's Weekly versions in Singapore and Malaysia, in 1997 and 2000, respectively, which follow The Weekly's style while containing largely local content.
In 2012 the parent company of the magazine, ACP Magazines, a subsidiary of Nine Entertainment, was acquired by Bauer Media Group.
Audited circulation in June 2013 was 459,175 copies monthly. Readership numbers for September 2014 were estimated to be 1,828,000.
Format and frequency
The magazine is usually 240 pages long and printed on glossy paper trimmed to A4 page size, although it originally was a Tabloid in size and layout. It typically contains feature articles about the modern Australian woman. For many years, it included a lift-out TV guide.
In 1982, publication frequency was reduced from weekly to monthly. "Weekly" was retained in the name for reasons of familiarity and because a woman's "monthly" was a slang term for menstruation. The final weekly edition was dated 15 December 1982, followed by the first monthly edition dated January 1983. The TV guide was discontinued on introduction of the monthly format.
Editors
Previous editors of The Weekly have included Alice Mabel Jackson, Deborah Thomas, Julie Zaetta, Ita Buttrose, Jennifer Rowe and Robyn Foyster (December 2007 – October 2009).
The editor was Helen McCabe until January 2016, who has held this position since August 2009. She attempted to improve The Weekly's news coverage. In late 2009, she hired Jordan Baker, formerly a reporter and travel writer for The Sydney Morning Herald, as news editor. In February 2016 Kim Wilson was named as the editor of the magazine.