Celebrity Weddings are one of the most sought after issues in every magazine. That is why People Magazine bought the exclusive photo rights for Kim Kardashian and New Jersey Nets player Kris Humphries’ wedding for staggering $1.5 million. But were they able to recoup their investment?
It seems like People found a way to recoup their investment. The Kardashian wedding issue, which hit newsstands Aug. 24 sold about 1.5 million copies, a 31 percent increase over the current sales average of 1.15 million. That is an impressive number considering that previous issue covers featuring Angelina Jolie and Sandra Bullock did not fare as well.
Weekly magazines are suffering a downfall in their sales. According to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulation’s magazine figures, People Magazine which is the former no. 2 newstand seller fall behind Cosmopolitan and Women’s World in sales. Even on magazine online, Kardashian’s weddings photos drove 6 million views at people.com over the course of four days.
But the most important is the sales of magazines to recoup their cost. The magazine’s strategy was increasing their cover price by 25%. From $3.99 to $4.99 per copy, the magazine was able to earn an additional dollar for this issue. Celebrity Weddings are a big attraction for readers. The Royal Wedding of Prince Charles and Kate Middleton sold over 2 million copies and the wedding of Reese Witherspoon sold 1.3 million copies. While weddings are a big hit, the year’s major baby covers — John Travolta’s new baby, Nicole Kidman’s secret baby and Christina Applegate’s first baby — all underperformed.
Kim’s sister, Khloe Kardashian also had a deal with OK! Magazine for her 2009 wedding earning a smaller amount of $300,000. But Kim and Kris did not only earn from People Magazine. They also said international rights to their wedding photos to British celebrity weekly Hello and to Us weekly the exclusive rights for their honeymoon trip photos.
Read Also
