The future of women’s weekly magazines has been called into question after publisher TI Media announced its magazine title Now will be closing.
In the announcement last week, TI Media blamed the closure on falling circulation in recent months, as well as readers seeking news from digital outlets.
Angie O’Farrell, group managing director, lifestyle and women’s weeklies at TI Media, said: “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.
“As the recent closures highlight, this is putting the celebrity magazine market under relentless pressure.”
Now’s circulation has more than halved in the past two years. O’Farrell added: “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.”
RN analysis has revealed that the readership of the top three weekly women’s gossip magazines is falling 33% year on year.
Peter Wagg, of News On The Wharf in east London, said he has noticed a decline in the magazine genre in his shop.
“Sales of Now have definitely dropped off, it’s been struggling for a while,” he noted.
“People are picking up their information from social media. The high-end ones are still doing well; quality ones will survive, but gossipy ones are dying.”
John Vine, owner of News World in Shropshire, added: “We have older customers, so we’ve never done huge numbers, but even then, they’re just not selling as well. Other women’s weekly magazines are still doing well, but I think people are just sick to death of celebrities.”
O’Farrell confirmed TI Media will now be focusing on the remaining titles in its Life & Style portfolio.
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