Convenience store specialist BetterRetailing has reported that wholesaler Menzies Distribution sent a notification to retailers earlier this month saying that it was currently receiving split supply of TV Choice, with 60% of the volume arriving on Monday, and 40% on Tuesday meaning that some retailers will receive the magazine a day after its on-sale date.
The situation is expected to continue until the end of the year.
TV Choice is the biggest circulation paid-for title in the UK. It has an ABC of 1,035,403 and is 100% actively purchased, with each issue bringing in some £714,428 from the cover price.
The magazine is printed at YM Chantry.
YM Group has been battling to absorb the DMG Media weekly supplements at the same time as the traditional seasonal peak, resulting in delays and disruption to some jobs.
However, despite reports that Bauer’s production team had been asking other print suppliers for help with stitching TV Choice, due to slow running of the Ferag lines at Chantry, YM Group's group publications director James Povey said the magazine was running well.
He told Printweek: “TV Choice continues to run well and we are receiving full support from Bauer Media.
“We are starting production of their prestigious Christmas double issue this week and delighted to be doing so. Since the first Christmas issue we produced in 2016, every year without fail we have outperformed the competition with early on-sale numbers,” Povey stated.
The Christmas and New Year on-sale schedule for TV Choice
The Christmas and New Year double issue of TV Choice goes on sale in a week’s time, on 7 December, and is understood to involve an increased print run of between 1.5m-1.6m to reflect the seasonal uplift in sales.
A Bauer spokesperson told BetterRetailing it was experiencing an “industry-wide issue with print supply”, caused by “staffing shortages, suppliers dealing with the legacy of the coronavirus pandemic and an uplift in commercial business after coming out of the national lockdown”.
The publisher also said that other titles that had not opted for split-run distribution had had their entire print run go late.
