ABC Jan-Jun 2004: Cloud Still Looms Over Teen Sector
The figures listed in NewsLine’s ABC reports are those reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) as at Thursday 12 August 2004. Late submissions and changes may be made after this date, and will thereafter be amended in MediaTel’s Press database. For full notes on how NewsLine’s reports are compiled please see NewsLine.
The latest consumer ABC results for the six months to June 2004 reveal another poor performance for the notoriously unpredictable teenage magazine sector, which continued to experience heavy declines across a number of key titles.
Pressure in the sector has already forced the closure of a number of big names including Emap’s J17 and BBC Magazine’s Dare. Things were also looking less than rosy for Emap’s Smash Hits, which dipped by 19.6% year on year to 120,701 and the BBC’s Top Of The Pops, which suffered a 14% slump during the same period to 216,954.
Even Emap’s teen gossip magazine, Sneak, which stormed into the sector just over two years ago, suffered at the hands of an increasingly fickle readership. The title saw circulation slide by 7.7% year on year to 92,368, but has recently launched an extensive television advertising campaign to boost sales (see Emap Sneaks Back Into Phone Booths With Advertising Push).
Hachette Filipacchi’s Sugar maintained its position as market leader, despite a 9.6% year on year decline in circulation to 295,009. However, things were less sweet for TV Hits magazine, which suffered a sharp 30.2% drop during the same period to 100,377. IPC’s Mizz saw its circulation fall by 31.5% in the first half of this year to 78,158.
Emap’s Bliss provided a much needed ray of light in the increasingly gloomy sector with a solid 2.6% year on year increase in circulation to 257,162. The title recently underwent an extensive redesign to offer its readers a more stylish package containing tightly focused content (see Bliss Gets A Facelift To Compete In Tricky Teen Market).
National Magazine Company’s CosmoGIRL! also performed well with circulation rising by a healthy 6.3% to just over the 200,000 mark. The title relaunched last march with a series of new editorial features and the handbag-sized format made popular by Condé Nast’s Glamour (see CosmoGIRL! Relaunches With New Handbag Size).
| Teenage Magazines: Jan-Jun 2004 Year On Year Comparisons | |||||
| Title | Publisher | Jan-Jun 03 | Jan-Jun 04 | Actual Change | %Ch |
| Bliss | Emap Elan | 250,543 | 257,162 | 6,619 | 2.6 |
| CosmoGirl! | National Magazine Company | 188,249 | 200,168 | 11,919 | 6.3 |
| It’s Hot | BBC Magazines | 115,163 | 91,495 | -23,668 | -20.6 |
| J17 (C) | Emap Elan | 134,433 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Kiss | Minjara Publishing | 10,005 | 11,133 | 1,128 | 11.3 |
| Mizz | IPC Media | 114,141 | 78,158 | -35,983 | -31.5 |
| Pop World (C) | Pop World Publishing | 63,509 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Shout | DC Thompson & Co | 88,114 | 68,257 | -19,857 | -22.5 |
| Sneak | Emap | 100,107 | 92,368 | -7,739 | -7.7 |
| Smash Hits | Emap Performance | 150,042 | 120,701 | -29,341 | -19.6 |
| Sugar | Hachette Filipacchi (was Attic Futura) | 326,185 | 295,009 | -31,176 | -9.6 |
| Top Of The Pops | BBC Magazines | 252,410 | 216,954 | -35,456 | -14.0 |
| TV Hits | Hachette Filipacchi (was Attic Futura) | 143,842 | 100,377 | -43,465 | -30.2 |
| Total | 1,936,743 | 1,531,782 | -404,961 | -20.9 | |
Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive