Feature: The Health Of The Fitness Mag Market
The men’s lifestyle magazine market may be over the hill and the women’s lifestyle market bursting at the seams recently, but the niche markets of men’s and women’s health and fitness titles have been steaming ahead, showing growth two or three times greater than their parent sectors. However, recently the vital signs have indicated a less healthy future.
Analysis of circulation trends in the women’s market shows a distinctive seasonal trend- fear of bikini exposure appears to prompt sales of health and fitness magazines to rise during the first sixth months of the year, before slipping slightly in the second half. Nevertheless, the trend until recently has been an upward one, with the higher circulations going to established titles such as the five year old Rosemary Conley’s Diet & Fitness and Emap’s Top Santé. This has led to the market growing at three and a half times the rate of the women’s lifestyle market since 1997.
The signs indicate that saturation point has now been reached. John Brown Publishing’s high profile “wealthstyle” bi-monthly, Bare, closed earlier this year having failed to reach a sustainable circulation. Earlier this month Attic Futura suspended the publication of Shine, its peak sales of 120,000 in 1999 having dropped to an unacceptable 85,000 by the last ABC audit.
The men’s health lifestyle magazines echo the mens lifestyle market in being considerably smaller than the women’s equivalent. Within the sector, however, Mens Health has sustained a circulation figure of over 230,000 for the past three audits, easily outselling any women’s health title.
This sector has grown at close to twice the rate of the men’s lifestyle market since 1997, including growth in the last audit where the main market saw a fall. This has not been enough to sustain Condé Nast’s confidence, which closed GQ Active earlier this year, having already reduced its circulation from monthly to quarterly.
Closures that could signal the end of a growth period for the market have not deterred Emap, which recently announced that its lad mag spin off, FHM Bionic, will increase its circulation from bi-monthly to monthly in September. Making the announcement, James Carter, FHM’s publishing director said he was willing to go head to head with market leader Men’s Health, adding that he was “convinced that there is an opportunity for another monthly health and fitness based lifestyle magazine for men aged 29 and over.”
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