Circulation at Ireland's highest selling magazine, the RTÉ Guide, has slipped by 6.6 per cent with the station blaming a crowded marketplace and a magazine price war, writes Emmet Oliver.

The average circulation of the magazine fell to 106,213 in the six months to the end of June, compared to 113,687 in the same period in 2003. The magazine's chief rival, TV Now, pushed its circulation up 10 per cent to 37,932 by the end of June, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figures.

The RTÉ Guide still sells more copies than any other magazine in the Irish market, but the increasing concentration by newspapers on television listings appears to be taking a toll.

Commenting on the results, the executive director of RTÉ Publishing, Ms Múirne Laffan, said: "Many titles have invested in tactical promotions to create ad-hoc circulation hikes. These expensive tactics have not delivered the required advertising revenue return. In some cases they have not even delivered the circulation objectives and, while short-term ABC gains can be expected, I believe that the cost of the gain is not sustainable."

The recent decision by TV Now to cut its cover price appears to have helped that title, but Ms Laffan said the tactics of rivals would not work in the long term.

"Tactics have included slashing cover prices by up to 30 per cent and a proliferation of promotionally-driven issues featuring Premiership posters, CDs, DVDs, stickers, etc.

"In addition, there were several heavily advertised magazine launches which have added to the crowded marketplace and this may have impacted on the circulation of the RTÉ Guide," she said. The largest magazine continued to be Sky Magazine Ireland, which is distributed free to the company's 313,923 subscribers. However, it is not sold in shops, which means the RTÉ Guide has more paid sales.

One of the biggest gainers was Auto Trader Ireland, which increased sales in the Republic by 19.5 per cent to 27,853. Ms Sandra Sheridan, general manager of the magazine, said the motoring magazine sector was down 4.6 per cent year-on-year, but Auto Trader had bucked the trend.