Nuts Could Beat Zoo In Latest Consumer ABC Release
IPC’s Nuts is expected to beat Emap’s Zoo when the latest ABC results for the six months to June 2004 reveal debut circulation figures for the two rival men’s lifestyle magazines at midday tomorrow.
Industry speculation suggests that Nuts will claim the top spot in the fledgling weekly sector with a circulation as large as 290,000. This would put it someway ahead of Emap’s Zoo, which is believed to be selling around 200,000 copies each week.
The popularity of the new weekly titles is understood to have had a negative impact on established men’s monthly magazines. Internal figures reportedly show that sales of market leading FHM have fallen by around 4% in the six months to June, whilst Loaded looks set to report a decline of up to 15% during the same period.
The runaway success of both Nuts and Zoo recently prompted H Bauer to enter the market with Cut magazine and Richard Desmond’s Express Newspapers to draw up plans for the launch of a men’s weekly title called KO! (see Desmond To Knock Out Competition In Men’s Weekly Market).
Meanwhile, the expected losses at FHM have led some industry commentators to suggest that a strong performance for Condé Nast’s Glamour could help it overtake the Emap title to become the UK’s best selling monthly magazine. The handbag-sized glossy looks set to become the first in the recent history of the women’s monthly market to hit the coveted 600,000 mark when the official figures are released tomorrow.
Glamour‘s success continues to cast its shadow over the rest of the sector with Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire and Elle all now available in the compact size and lower price that helped propel their younger rival to the top. Cosmopolitan is expected to see its circulation remain stable in the six monthly consumer ABC results, IPC’s Marie Claire is expected to stage something of a comeback and Elle looks set to gain some valuable ground.
Emap’s Closer and Northern & Shell’s New are both expected to perform well in the women’s weekly sector, proving there is plenty of mileage left in the public’s fascination with the rich and famous. IPC’s Now is expected to hold onto its market leading position and Heat looks set to dip slightly.
Teen magazines are expected to have another rocky ride in the six months to June with a number of established titles, such as It’s Hot and Smash Hits, reporting declines. The sector will also be hit by the closure of J17, which was circulating at around the 135,000 mark.
Sales of music magazines are expected to remain fairly steady with titles such as NME and Uncut performing strongly. Arena is expected to close the gap on Esquire with a solid increase in circulation, but Emap’s market leading Q looks set to dip ahead of its relaunch later this month (see Emap Launches Campaign To Promote Q Redesign).
The concurrent release of ABC’s consumer magazine figures for the six-month period January to June 2004 takes place at 12pm tomorrow. Figures will be available to subscribers in MediaTel’s press database and detailed sector reports will feature throughout the day on NewsLine.
ABC: 01442 200 732 www.abc.org.uk
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