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RTE
Montrose not Manhattan
George Clooney? Nah, we're more Marty Whelan types
Sales of the RTE guide were much higher when Marty was cover-boy than George.
GEORGE CLOONEY MAY be a global superstar, but he failed to even make the top three covers of the RTÉ Guide for sales figures in the first quarter of the year.
In fact, Clooney’s cover was the worst seller in the quarter.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, RTE Guide editor Catherine Lee said that Irish celebrities regularly out-perform international A-Listers in the sales figures.
“It’s very much Irish, it’s very much people that readers have an emotional connection with, who they’re learning something new about.”
The top three covers for the first quarter of the year were Marty Whelan, the Fair City cast and the presenters of The Today Show.
She said that she made the decision to put Clooney on the front cover “knowing that he wouldn’t do as well”, but to let people know that the RTE Guide was in the same room as the star.
Hollywood actors are often pushed off the cover to make room for Irish celebs, she said, citing Kristen Bell and Mia Wasikowska as examples.
You’ve got to give the people what they want, and what they want it Irish.
She said that RTÉ guide has posted “heartening” results since she took over in June 2012 after a cost-cutting programme, a redesign and the addition of new columnists like Catherine Fulvio.
The magazine is the best selling consumer title in Ireland, with an average circulation of 57,062 for the second half of last year. This is down 7 per cent year-on-year, but compares favourably to 12 per cent annual declines in 2011/2012.
This quarter sales are down to between one and two per cent decreases on Q1 2013.
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