Now magazine to close

Publisher TI Media has announced it has entered into consultation with staff on the proposed closure of Now magazine.

If the outcome of the consultation is closure, the final issue of the magazine will go on sale on 2 April 2019.

“The changing dynamics of the celebrity market – with consumers increasingly getting their fix of celeb news and gossip from other sources that can break stories immediately – means this audience is buying fewer and fewer magazines,” said
Angie O’Farrell, group managing director, lifestyle and women’s weeklies at TI Media.

“As recent closures highlight, this is putting the celebrity market under relentless pressure. Now’s circulation has been falling steadily over the past five years and with that decline forecast to continue, alongside a drop-off in advertising revenue, the magazine is simply no longer sustainable.”

In its market category for ABC, Now performed the worst over the second half of 2018, down -11.9% period on period and -43.1% year-on-year to a circulation of 45,000.

“It’s on this basis that we’re proposing to close Now and focus on the remaining titles in our Life & Style portfolio,” O’Farrell said.

Until the consultation process is over, the publisher is unable to comment on the number of jobs or specific roles under threat.

Now magazine launched in October 1996.