Coronavirus reading trends during the lockdown, when the nation turns to gardening and food and drink activities to pass the time
2020 has been a year of extraordinary uncertainty and change, but what was on the mind of the UK consumer? Readly, the digital magazine subscription service, that provides users with all-you-can-read access to 5,000 magazines, has tracked which categories are being read across its portfolio and which magazine issues have been most popular. With subscribers turning to Readly for facts, inspiration, entertainment and distraction, the data shows that the categories most inspiring the nation over the last six months were: Gardening, Food & Drink, Interior Design, Running and Health & Wellness.
Top Read Categories (January to June 2020)
1. Gardening
2. Food & Drink
3. Interior Design & Architecture
4. Running
5. Health & Wellness
6. Home & Renovation
7. Craft & DIY
8. Celebrity & Entertainment
9. Tech
10. Cars & Motoring
Ranj Begley, UK Managing Director and Chief Content Officer at Readly said: “The past six months have been like no-other. And whilst there has been an incredible focus in staying up to date digesting news about the coronavirus crisis – we’ve also seen readers turn to magazine reading to discover new interests, learn new topics, be entertained and overall embrace practical solutions to the ‘locked-down’ world they have suddenly found themselves in.
“Capturing the imagination of our readers – Gardening, Food & Drink and Interior Design were the top categories consumers have been turning to. With these topics also featuring in many of the most read magazine issues so far this year.”
With gardening and making the most of our outside space proving hugely popular during lockdown, the most read magazine issue of the year so far on Readly was Stuff: ‘43 Smart Garden Gadgets’. Featuring spaceship-shaped pizza ovens, afterburner BBQs, droid mowers and NASA-inspired vegetable growers.
With so much time to be spent at home this year – home improvements during lockdown also proved a popular topic, with T3’s ‘Upgrade Your Home Tech’ issue featuring in second place of the most read issues. Coming in third was Good Housekeeping’s upbeat ‘233 Moments of Joy’ issue, also featuring an exclusive Kirsty Allsopp interview and front cover. BBC Good Food took the next two spots with its ‘Enjoy Bank Holiday Baking’ issue and Home Cooking Series ‘One Pots’.
Most Popular Magazine Issues (January to June 2020)
1. Stuff: 43 Smart Garden Gadgets
2. T3: Upgrade Your Home Tech
3. Good Housekeeping: 233 Moment of Joy & Kirstie Allsopp interview (cover)
4. BBC Good Food: Enjoy Bank Holiday Baking
5. BBC Good Food’s Home Cooking Series: One Pots
6. Woman & Home: Live Well & Ruth Jones interview (cover)
7. Sainsbury’s Magazine: Get Your Bake On & Strawberry Cheesecake Loaf
8. Prima: Be Happy and Stay Positive & James Martin interview (cover)
9. Hello!: Kate Thanks Our Health Heroes / Kate Middleton (cover)
10. BBC Gardeners’ World: Your Summer Of Colour & Save Our Bees
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