Men’s Weeklies To Put More Pressure On Tabloids
Speculation surrounding Britain’s weekly men’s magazines has arisen over the weekend, with several reports claiming that at least one of the titles is to publish twice-weekly, putting yet more pressure on tabloid newspapers and cannibalising an increasingly large proportion of young readers.
The threat presented by titles such as Nuts and Zoo is being taken most seriously by executives at the Sun, which has reportedly banned all advertising of men’s weeklies from its pages.
The Sun has seen its circulation slip by 3.9% year on year in May, and while the title remains the nation’s best-selling national newspaper, with a circulation of 3.23 million, both Nuts and Zoo have added to their circulations since launch.
| Circulation Comparison for Sun, Mirror, Nuts and Zoo | |||
| Title | Jan 04 – Jun 04 | Jul 04 – Dec 04 | % Change |
| Sun | 3,365,944 | 3,301,223 | -1.9 |
| Daily Mirror | 1,883,274 | 1,777,408 | -5.6 |
| Nuts | 290,337 | 275,459 | -5.1 |
| Zoo Weekly | 200,125 | 240,215 | 20.0 |
| Source: ABC | |||
Meanwhile, Britain’s second-placed Popular title, the Daily Mirror, saw its circulation slip by 3.6% year on year last month, continuing the trend of decline amongst the nation’s tabloid titles which has cost the sector a combined loss of 25.7% in circulations over the past ten years.
Both IPC and Emap denied any plans to alter the frequency of their weekly men’s titles, although such a move could further boost their respective circulations, delivering prosperity at the cost of the nation’s tabloid newspapers.
Emap: 01733 568 900 www.emap.co.uk IPC Media: 0870 4445000 www.ipcmedia.com