NatMags plans another teen title

The National Magazine Company (NatMags) is planning to launch another teenage title in the UK – a British version of US magazine Seventeen – alongside its existing title CosmoGirl!.

Last week, Hearst Magazines, of which NatMags is a subsidiary, bought the US title from Primedia, in a cash deal worth $182m (£114m).

Terry Mansfield, director of parent company Hearst Corporation, says: “We see the acquisition of Seventeen as an international venture, but it is too early to have any definite plans about a roll-out of the title in countries outside the US.”Mansfield adds that both CosmoGirl! and Seventeen will operate as independent monthly titles. The two titles already rival each other in the US.

CosmoGirl! was launched in the UK at the end of 2001 to target 12- to 17-year-olds (MW April 12, 2001). The launch was backed by a £4m ad campaign, created by Tequila Payne Stracey. According to the July to December 2002 Audit Bureau of Circulations figures, CosmoGirl! is already struggling, with a circulation of 142,073 – down 18.9 per cent period on period.

Seventeen was launched in the US in 1944 and is reported to have a monthly circulation of 2.5 million.

Rival publishing house Condé Nast recently brought its US version of Teen Vogue to the UK , with a print run of 8,500 (MW February 13). It has no plans to publish a UK version of the title.