Emap Re-Launches Smash Hits To Celebrate 25th Birthday
Emap’s fortnightly teen music magazine, Smash Hits, is undergoing a comprehensive re-design to mark its twenty-fifth birthday.
From April the title will have a completely new design and its trademark song words section will expand to become a separate supplement, distributed free with each issue of the magazine. There will also be a new glossy poster book, containing pictures of the latest pop-stars destined for the walls of teenage bedrooms across the UK.
Commenting on the re-design, Stephen Palmer, managing director of pop at Smash Hits, said: “The changes we are making editorially will help us to continue to serve pop obsessed Smash Hits fans. The world of pop is about big stars and big stories and building shrines to the stars that teenagers adore. Smash Hits was the first magazine to really share the reader’s obsession with pop and is still unashamedly able to share the reader’s excitement.”
There will be a wide variety of initiatives to celebrate the magazine’s twenty-fifth birthday, including a branded book, a special CD and a Channel 4 documentary entitled 25 Years Of Smash Hits.
The latest ABC results for the six months ending December 2002 show that Smash Hits’ circulation decreased by 10.8% year on year to 145,174, down from 162,712 in the same period in 2001. Analysis over a longer period reveals that the teen title has been hit by the recent increase in competition in the teen market, with circulation dropping by 66.6% between the second half of 1997 and the second half of 2002.
BBC Magazines recently announced plans to launched its own music title, Popgirl, into the notoriously fickle teen market. The magazine, which will be unveiled at the beginning of April, will cost £1.50 and will consist of 32-pages of pop trivia, fashion and gossip for 6 to 10 year-old girls (see Pop Goes A New Title From BBC Magazines).
Emap: 01733 568 900 www.emap.co.uk
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