BBC aims to ignite teen magazine sector with new launch

BBC Magazines is to launch a title aimed at teenagers this autumn, in an attempt to ignite the declining teenage magazine sector. The working title of the magazine is Project April, and it will be aimed at 12- to 16-year-olds.

The news of the launch comes in the same week as the announcement of the January to June 2003 Audit Bureau of Circulation’s (ABC) figures. Insiders say that the teen market is likely to reveal yet another set of disappointing circulation figures. In the ABCs for July to December 2002, the teenage lifestyle market was down for the period by 3.7 per cent.

Project April will join the stable of BBC Magazines’ existing teen titles – Top of the Pops and It’s Hot.

Publisher Alfie Lewis says: “Launching a title aimed at teenagers is always a huge thrill as it’s such a dynamic sector, and creating something new and appealing for such a selective audience is a fantastic challenge. Project April will complement our existing titles to ensure our line-up remains unbeatable.”

According to the last set of ABCs for the July to December 2002 period, TOTP was up for the period by 3.9 per cent to a circulation of 244,241, and slightly down by 0.5 per cent year on year. It’s Hot recorded a debut circulation figure of 104,015.

Rival Hachette Filipacchi’s Sugar, which leads the sector, was down 7.3 per cent period on period and 16.6 per cent year on year with a circulation of 321,258 copies.