ABC Jul – Dec 2001 Men’s Lifestyle Magazines

The figures listed in NewsLine’s ABC reports are those reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) as at Thursday 14 February 2002. 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 Important Notes: ABC Jul-Dec 2001

ABC results for the six-month period ending December 2001 show that the men’s magazine sector as a whole saw circulation drop 11.2% year on year, indicating that the booze and boobs appeal, which proved so popular with aspiring “lads” during the late nineties, could be waning.

Fears that Emap’s FHM would bare the brunt of the sector-wide downturn were confirmed and the market-leading title saw circulation fall 20.4% year on year to 570,719. FHM Collections, a spin-off of the main brand, also performed poorly with circulation slipping 21.2% to 56,018 and FHM Bionic joined the list of closures, folding in December (see Emap To Close FHM Bionic), just three months after Emap increased its circulation from biannual to monthly (see FHM Bionic Goes Monthly).

IPC’s Loaded, generally regarded as the original lads mag, felt the ill effects of an increasingly fickle readership with circulation dipping 12.1% to 308,711. Other big names including Dennis Publishing’s Maxim and Conde Nast’s GQ also saw circulation fall. Maxim was down by 15.8% and GQ followed closely behind with a 10.2% drop in circulation to 125,885.

Dennis Publishing’s Men’s Fitness proved that there is still life in men’s niche markets, with circulation rising 14.3%, seemingly at the expense of Rodale Press’ Men’s Health, which saw circulation fall 8.6% year on year to 215,517. Emap’s Arena and Natmags Esquire also saw circulation rise. Arena managed a modest 3% increase to 38,182, while Esquire saw circulation increase 1.2% to 62,007.

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