Feature: Better To Have Launched And Lost?

Title launches are understandably considered to be the lifeblood of the magazine industry, pumping new life into tired markets, forging out new sectors and generally keeping the whole business ticking over. Launches are a vital, if costly, part of the magazine publishing process. Of course, as with the emergence of any new product, there is a substantial degree of risk involved, particularly for the smaller publishing companies, in releasing and marketing a new magazine. So much so, in fact, that research from US Horizon Media shows that the failure rate for new launches can be as high as 80% in the States.

During the ’90s more than 8,000 new magazines hit the US newsstands, according to the University of Mississippi. Most ultimately fold, but the huge influx of new titles, added to existing ones, has led to a serious overcrowding of the market. Overall sales are falling, whilst the actual number of magazines being published is on the increase. The same pattern is emerging in the UK. PPA figures put the total number of consumer mags on the market at 3,174 in 1999 – up from 2,199 in 1989 and even fewer in 1993.

The rising cost of entry and the high casualty rate of new titles have seen the number of launches each year decline since 1995. Nevertheless, launches have accounted for a 4% growth in overall volume for the industry across the last six years. Churn is high in the UK too, though, with more than a third of the titles ABC-audited in 1993 since having closed and a fifth of all titles launched that year disappearing within five years.

It seems that new launches, whilst crucial, are something of a dilemma for the magazine industry. Research for the PPA shows that they are too numerous, expensive to distribute and promote, don’t hit their targets and usually only achieve a 40-50% sell-through. Heat, for example, was one of Emap Metro’s largest and most heavily-promoted launches in a long time and it has struggled – and so far failed – to reach its 100,000 sales target. At one stage Emap warned that it may be closed to save shareholders’ money.

The growth of publishing on the internet will not only draw readers away from printed magazines, but also requires a significant amount of financial investment from publishing groups, further restricting their power to develop new titles. Strongest growth is expected from those titles which offer a niche and perhaps more expensive product rather than magazines that are fanfared into the busy general market.