BBC Worldwide is closing Star, its fortnightly teenage title, just a year after its launch.
The celebrity magazine for 12-19 year old girls (see First Issue Review: Star), will fold at the end of October after failing to attract readers in the increasingly competitive teenage market.
Head of publishing for BBC Wordwide’s teenage titles, Lyndsaye Fox, said: “After looking at the prospects of the magazine we concluded there was not significant potential for growth at this time. We decided to close the magazine now and concentrate on our future plans for the sector.”
A spokesman for BBC Worldwide added that despite reporting a circulation of 130,000 in the last set of ABC’s, Star was unable to compete against the likes of Attic Futura’s Sugar, which reported a circulation of 368,559 and Emap Elan’s Bliss with 255,251.
He was keen to play down speculation that the recent launch of Natmags’ Cosmo Girl and Emap’s Elle Girl (see New Teen Titles Launch), forced Star out of the market, but admitted that increasing competition in the sector, which saw an overall drop in circulation of 11.9% year on year, was a factor.
BBC Worldwide commands a significant share of the teenage magazine market and is planning more new launches to sit alongside its existing teenage titles, Girl Talk, Live and Kicking and Top Of The Pops.
BBC Worldwide: 0208 433 2000 www.beeb.com
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