Emap Elan Poaches Cosmo Deputy Editor

Emap Elan has poached deputy editor of Cosmopolitan, Helen Johnston, to oversee the relaunch of its teenage lifestyle magazine, Bliss.

Johnston will take over from the magazine’s acting editor, Rachel Jane, in January and will oversee the new redesigned Bliss, which goes on sale in February.

Emap Elan’s youth group editor in chief, Marina Gask, said: “The appointment is a real coup for the magazine as we reposition Bliss as the ultimate baby glossy. Hiring someone of this calibre shows the degree of commitment the company feels towards the youth group and our determination to achieve supremacy in this market.”

Bliss is currently the third highest circulating title in the teenage market (see below), sitting behind Attic Futura’s Sugar, which reported a circulation of 368,559 in the last set of ABC results and BBC Worldwide’s Top Of The Pops, with 281,417. Bliss reported an 11.3% year on year drop in circulation to 255,251 in its latest ABC release and since then although BBC Wordwide’s celebrity title, Star, has fallen (see BBC’s Star Burns Out), the stakes have been upped considerably with the launch of Natmags’ Cosmo Girl and Emap’s Elle Girl (see New Teen Titles Launch).

The teenage market as a whole saw circulation drop by 11.9% year on year in June’s ABC results, with all titles except DC Thompson and Co’s Shout seeing circulation fall in year on year analysis.

Emap Elan: 020 7437 9011 www.emap.co.uk

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