ABC Results Jan-Jun 2006:Teen Mag Sector Suffers As New Platforms Force Closures
The latest ABC figures for January to June 2006 illustrate that almost all titles in the Teenage Magazine sector have suffered a decline in sales, with some titles forced to close.
Hachette’s Sugar suffered the worst actual loss of sales, down by almost 85,000 copies year on year. Its circulation now stands at over 200,000. Emap’s Bliss was also affected by diminishing distribution numbers, dropping by almost 23% year on year. However, it remains the most bought teen title with a circulation of 213,466 copies.
TV Hits reports sales figures of 54,726, down by more than 35% year on year (a loss of almost 30,000 copies), whilst Top Of The Pops magazine’s circulation has slipped by almost 17% year on year, perhaps mirroring the problem its television counterpart has suffered (see TOTP Fails To Prove Itself At The Last Hurdle), to leave it with a total distribution of almost 117,000 copies.
Also experiencing a dip in sales was Nat Mags title CosmoGirl!, which fell by more than 13% to rest at a circulation of more than 142,000. Mizz felt an almost 10% decline with the magazine now reporting a distribution of just over 60,000 copies.
After publishing poor ABC results for the six month period to December 2005, Emap’s weekly teen celeb mag, Sneak, has not released figures for this period and is set to fold after four years due to competition from new media platforms (see New Media Platforms Force Sneak Magazine To Close). Emap’s teen music title, Smash Hits suffered a similar fate in February (see Smash Hits To Close As Music Fans Move Online).
The only title in the sector that bucked the downward trend was DC Thompson & Co’s teen music and lifestyle magazine Shout, which managed to increase its distribution by more than 15,500 copies (up more than 23% year on year). The title now sells almost 83,000 copies.
| Teenage Magazines: Jan-Jun 2006 Year On Year Comparisons | |||||
| Title | Publisher | Jan-Jun 05 | Jan-Jun 06 | Actual Change | %Ch |
| Bliss | Emap Elan | 276,253 | 213,466 | -62,787 | -22.7 |
| CosmoGirl! | National Magazine Company | 163,602 | 142,010 | -21,592 | -13.2 |
| It’s Hot | BBC Magazines | 82,199 | 66,168 | -16,031 | -19.5 |
| Mizz | Panini UK Ltd | 66,571 | 60,130 | -6,441 | -9.7 |
| Shout | DC Thompson & Co | 67,354 | 82,983 | 15,629 | 23.2 |
| Sugar | Hachette Filipacchi | 285,082 | 200,187 | -84,895 | -29.8 |
| Top Of The Pops | BBC Magazines | 140,192 | 116,858 | -23,334 | -16.6 |
| TV Hits | Hachette Filipacchi | 84,463 | 54,726 | -29,737 | -35.2 |
The figures listed in NewsLine’s ABC reports are those reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) as at Thursday 17 August 2006. Late submissions and changes may be made after this date, and will thereafter be amended in MediaTel’s Press database.
ABC: 01442 870 800 www.abc.org.uk