ABC Jul-Dec 2003: Growth Begins To Slow In Celebrity Sector
The latest ABC consumer magazine figures for the six months to December 2003 reveal a slowdown in the rapid growth of the celebrity magazine sector as the public’s fascination with the rich and famous reached its peak.
The wide-spread public interest in the lives of celebrities is far from waning, but volumes across the burgeoning sector failed to show the significant increases seen over the last few years.
Celebrity stalwart Hello! was among the worst hit with circulation declining by almost 36% year on year to just above the 350,000 mark as readers shied away from its glossy coverage of high society life.
IPC Media’s Now suffered a 6.1% decline during the same period to below 600,000 proving that its light-hearted take on the celebrity scene is not immune to increasing competition in the sector. However, the title recently launched a £6 million television advertising campaign in an attempt to revive its fortunes.
Things were more positive for Emap’s Closer, which saw circulation increase by 15.1% period on period to over 385,000 as its mix of celebrity and real life stories continued to hit the spot. However, Northern & Shell’s New! dipped by 1.4% during the same period to 334,310.
Meanwhile, Condé Nast’s Glamour continued to go from strength to strength in the women’s monthly market with a solid 8.4% year on year increase to 582,690. This further extended its lead over National Magazine Company’s Cosmopolitan, which suffered a slight 0.5% dip during the same period to 460,655.
Elsewhere, Emap’s market leading men’s lifestyle magazine FHM suffered a 3.1% year on year slump to 601,166 and IPC’s Loaded dipped by 9.3% during the same period to 263,107. However, the beleaguered lads’ mag market looks set to get a new lease of life with the recently launched Nuts and Zoo Weekly.
The notoriously unpredictable teenage sector was boosted by Emap’s weekly gossip magazine, Sneak, which saw its circulation increase by 20.4% year on year to 104,174. CosmoGIRL! rose by almost 40% during the same period to just under 200,000, but Hachette Filipacchi’s Sugar maintained its position as sector leader despite a 9.2% decline in circulation.
Emap’s rock-focused Kerrang! saw circulation decline by 17.7% year on year in the music magazine market. However, IPC’s Uncut improved by 21.9% during the same period as its extensive music and movies coverage continued to prove popular with its core male readership.
The concurrent release of ABC’s consumer magazine figures for the period July to December 2003 takes place at 12pm today. Figures will be available to subscribers in MediaTel’s press database, and sector reports will feature throughout the day on NewsLine.
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