Celebrity weeklies lose their allure

ABCs: Hello! magazine was the only celebrity weekly to record a circulation rise year on year in the latest ABC figures.

The title’s circulation grew by 7.1% in the six months to end of December, a slightly slower rate compare to the previous period. Its closest rival, Northern & Shell’s OK! Magazine recorded the biggest celeb mag drop, shedding 25.6% year on year although its circulation was just over 250,000 higher than Hello!’s.

The sector continues to be led by Bauer Media’s Closer, which recorded a small dip of 1.6% to 539,991 copies.

National Magazine Company’s Reveal! continued its slide, dropping 17.2% copies year on year, while Heat also carried on falling with a 11.2% drop in circulation to 470,475, although it remains the third biggest selling celebrity title behind Closer and OK! Magazine.

Bauer will be hoping these ABCs will be the last dismal showing for Heat after it hired Rapier to create a fresh campaign for the title later this year.

Love it! continued to struggle in its last ABC’s as News Corp title, recording a 7.2% circulation drop. The title was bought by Hubert Burda Media at the end of last year.