In just four months we have seen thirteen new Sudoku magazines published covering twenty individual issues. This is a new segment within the magazine category, a segment quite different to traditional crosswords. Sudoku sales are strong and smart newsagents are leveraging of newspaper traffic to grab these sales.
While on the one hand I comment and even worry here about the impact of technology on newspapers and magazines and in particular newsagents, on the other hand I’m happy to cheer this bricks and mortar success with Sudoku product. No other retail channel could have launched a new magazine segment like Sudoku as successfully as newsagents have. The success underscores a value proposition newsagents have for publishers in launching titles – as long as we have the core traffic necessary.