IPC Media launches teen version of Now

IPC Media is adding to the already crowded teen magazine market with the launch of TeenNow this week. A spin-off of its successful celebrity magazine, Now, the teen title will aim to rival EMAP’s Sneak.

TeenNow, to be priced at 1.50, will initially be launched as a one-off before it is rolled out as a weekly celebrity magazine for girls aged 17 to 18. A spokesman for IPC Connect says: “This is not another me-too title. We have genuinely seen a gap in the teen market, which caters more for the younger end, including our title Mizz.”

In terms of circulation, teenage lifestyle magazines have had little success in the past six months, according to the July to December 2003 Audit Bureau of Circulations. The sector was down 7.9 per cent period on period and 9.9 per cent year on year.

The best-selling title, Hachette Filipacchi’s Sugar, was down 10.5 per cent period on period and 9.2 per cent year on year to a circulation of 291,794. EMAP recently announced the closure of J-17, which had a circulation of only 134,650.

Sneak, which EMAP launched in April last year, has a circulation of 104,174. This is up 4.1 per cent period on period and 20.4 per cent year on year.