Emap Confirms J-17 To Close And Face Suspended
Emap has confirmed plans to close its veteran teenage magazine J-17 and has suspended publication of style bible The Face with the possibility of the title being sold or reinvented.
The last edition of J-17 will go on sale on 12 April almost twenty years after launching in the notoriously fickle teenage market. The magazine saw circulation decline by 6% year on year to 134,650 in the latest ABC results for the six months to December 2003 as increasing competition in the sector took its toll.
Commenting on the closure, Dawn Bebe, managing director of J-17 publisher Emap Elan, said: “Having made this tough decision we will now concentrate all of our efforts on making Bliss the best teenage lifestyle magazine for girls that it can be. The teenage market remains core to Emap, hence Bliss gains our complete focus and our determination to see it emerge even stronger from this point.”
The publication of The Face has been suspended with immediate effect and the final issue will hit news-stands on 8 April. Emap said that over the coming weeks and months it will be exploring opportunities to radically reinvent the title.
Darmash Mistry, managing director of Emap East, said: “Reluctantly we are suspending The Face with immediate effect from the May issue. In the meantime we continue to focus our energies on further fuelling the momentum on the rest of Emap East’s style portfolio – Arena, Arena Homme Plus and Pop.”
The Face saw circulation decline by 4.6% year on year to 40,286 in the latest ABC results. The men’s lifestyle magazine launched back in 1980 as the ultimate style title, but has since been accused of losing its edge.
Earlier this month it was reported that former Neighbours star Jason Donovan is leading a group of investors to buy The Face. In 1992 Donovan sued The Face for libel after it said he was gay.
Paul Keenan, chief executive of Emap Consumer Media, said: “These magazines have been iconic and hugely relevant. They have both changed the magazine business, albeit in different ways. What they share is the wealth of talent they encouraged and developed.”
He added: “The world has changed, however, and their role and relevance has reduced and for that reason we have had to make this tough call. The UK news-stand is a very demanding arena and we have to launch and reinvent magazines more frequently than ever to ensure that they remain exciting, compelling and surprising.”
Earlier this month Emap Performance announced plans to cut a number of jobs across its radio and music magazine business as part of an ongoing strategy designed to cut costs and increase profit margins. The cuts are expected to affect all departments at Emap Performance including its magazine publishing arm, which houses a range of music titles including Q, Smash Hits, Kerrang! and Mixmag (see Emap Performance Restructures To Cut Costs).
Emap: 01733 568 900 www.emap.co.uk
Recent Magazine Stories from NewsLine Trinity Launches Magazine Unit With 3am Celebrity Spin-Off Hachette Teams With Teen Portal In Advertising Deal New Magazine Aims To Groom Men For Wedded Bliss
Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive