So is this the beginning of the end for the men's magazine market? Twelve years after the birth of Loaded and two and a half years since the advent of the weekly titles, Zoo and Nuts, the sales gloss is certainly rubbing off.
Today's ABC figures showed that in the first six months of this year circulation at weekly mags Nuts and Zoo was down period on period for the first time since their launch. Meanwhile some of the big monthly names are suffering: Maxim, Loaded and FHM all posted significant declines.
Industry executives say that viewed from a longer term perspective, the picture isn't all that bleak. IPC's Tim Brooks points out that since the weeklies launched in January 2004, overall monthly sales in the men's market have more than doubled from 1.45 million to 3.1 million. His magazine, Nuts, accounts for two out of five men's mags sold, even though it recorded a slight sales decline period on period this time.
But there is nevertheless a sense that the market is saturated and perhaps even exhausted. FHM is now planning to become "more aspirational" to distinguish it from rivals, while minor lads' mag Ice is relaunching with a new technological focus. So are the days of maximizing your nipple count over as a more sophisticated market takes shape? Did the mags drift too far towards the top shelf, or has Britain's legion of lads finally grown up?
Elsewhere in today's ABCs, it's interesting to note Emap's cheeky titles Heat and Closer taking the top spots in the celebrity mag roll of honour. For those of us who like our journalism to have a bit of bite, even it's just about D-list celebrity trivia, it's a welcome development that sees the sycophantic OK! And Hello! sidelined.
