ABC Results Jul-Dec 2006:Large Declines For Men’s Mags
The latest ABC results show that some of the biggest hitters in the Men’s Magazine market suffered declines in the six months to December 2006.
Market leader FHM was hit hardest in actual terms, dropping more than 129,000 copies from its circulation year on year, leaving it with a total figure of around 371,000 copies.
Earlier this week Emap announced that Ross Brown, editor of FHM, had been replaced by Anthony Noguera, editor-in-chief of Arena, Arena Homme Plus and Zoo (see Noguera Announced As New FHM Editor-In-Chief). Noguera will act as FHM‘s editor-in chief, meaning that the magazine has no direct replacement for Brown.
In percentage terms, both Maxim, published by Dennis Publishing, and IPC’s Loaded felt large declines, falling by around 29% and 30% respectively year on year.
Emap’s weekly mag, Zoo, was also down year on year, shedding nearly 56,000 copies, to leave it with a total circulation of around 204,000.
IPC’s weekly, Nuts, recorded a circulation figure of over 295,000, although it too suffered a year on year drop, of 3.8%.
In October, Dennis Publishing launched an online magazine, called Monkey, which is emailed directly to subscribers every week (see Dennis Launches New Online Lads Mag). The digital only magazine recorded an ABCe figure of 209,612 for the period.
Monkey‘s original target was 100,000, which is well below what was actually achieved. Ben Raworth, NPD editor in charge of Monkey, said: “The media landscape is shifting and the way we communicate with men has to change too. Monkey reflects this by being funny, inventive, maverick and bold.”
The sector’s largest increase was recorded by Haymarket’s Stuff, which was up over 10% year on year, an increase in real terms of over 9,500 copies.
| Men’s Lifestyle Magazine Circulations: Jul-Dec 2006 Year On Year Comparisons | |||||
| Title | Publisher | Jul-Dec 05 | Jul-Dec 06 | Actual Change | % Change |
| Arena | EMAP | 49,296 | 34,556 | -14,740 | -29.9 |
| Bizarre | Dennis Publishing Limited | 71,776 | 60,667 | -11,109 | -15.5 |
| Esquire | The National Magazine Company Ltd | 54,548 | 52,468 | -2,080 | -3.8 |
| FHM (For Him Magazine) | EMAP | 500,865 | 371,263 | -129,602 | -25.9 |
| Focus | Bristol Magazines | 57,306 | 59,318 | 2,012 | 3.5 |
| GQ | Conde Nast Publications Ltd | 126,275 | 127,505 | 1,230 | 1.0 |
| Loaded | IPC Media Ltd | 232,001 | 162,554 | -69,447 | -29.9 |
| Maxim | Dennis Publishing Limited | 185,908 | 131,497 | -54,411 | -29.3 |
| Men’s Fitness | Dennis Publishing Limited | 67,636 | 65,135 | -2,501 | -3.7 |
| Men’s Health | Natmag Rodale | 233,445 | 238,568 | 5,123 | 2.2 |
| Monkey** | Dennis Publishing Limited | n/a | 209,612 | n/a | n/a |
| Nuts* | IPC Media Ltd | 306,802 | 295,002 | -11,800 | -3.8 |
| Stuff | Haymarket Publishing Group Limited | 90,750 | 100,265 | 9,515 | 10.5 |
| Zoo* | EMAP | 260,470 | 204,564 | -55,906 | -21.5 |
| *Published Weekly **Weekly Digital Magazine – ABCe figures | |||||
The figures listed in NewsLine’s ABC reports are those reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) as at Thursday 15 February 2007. 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