PC Authority wins at Australian Magazine Awards

PC Authority magazine has won the Computing & Games category at the first Australian Magazine Awards.

To win, the Haymarket title overcame strong competition from finalists APC and PC User, which are both from Australia’s largest publisher, ACP Magazines.

Judges particularly took into account PC Authority’s readership, which was shown to have increased by 16.2 per cent in a June 2009 report from Roy Morgan research.

A number of criteria were used to determine winners in each category of the awards, including editorial, design, readership and circulation, as well as data from Nielsen AdEx advertising revenue estimate. To be eligible, magazines must have circulation audit figures from ABC and a readership figure from Roy Morgan.

Judges described PC Authority as the “clearest consumer offering” in its category, and commented on its “interesting content”. The judges also said that Haymarket Media’s decision to remove the disc from the cover of PC Authority allowed the cover to stand out.

“This is a remarkable achievement in what has been a challenging year for the team,” said Jeremy Vaughan, managing director of Haymarket Media Australia. “To win in what is a very competitive category, which reflects the total publishing package, against the largest publisher in Australia, is a welcome reward for the team.”

Since launching its Lifestyle brand extension in 2008, PC Authority has continued to broaden its editorial scope. In 2009, it provided news coverage tracking the uptake of digital TV in Australia, and released a special issue including the full pre-release version of Windows 7 on the cover disc. PC Authority’s annual awards, for which readers vote on the best and worst technology brands, attracted more than 20,000 votes.

See all the winners in the Australian Magazine Awards here.