Two new weekly magazines, “Nuts” from IPC and “Zoo Weekly” from Emap, focusing on sports and humor are launching this month in England. In typical U.S. fashion, the idea will be stolen and imported to America but U.S. publishers and analysts think the effort will fail.
“In Britain, the actual exposure to magazines is so great. Everybody kind of walks past stacks of magazines several times a day, said Ed Needham, a Brit who launched FHM in the U.S. and now edits Rolling Stone. “Weekly magazines here are very much bought by women at supermarket checkouts.”
“The issue is where do you put the magazines,” agrees consultant Steve Rosenfield of Media Resource Group. “Twenty-year-old guys dont frequent anywhere that they come into contact with magazines.”
Besides, with “Cargo” and “Vitals” and “Stuff” andMaximin” and “FHM” and “Razor” and “GQ” and “Esquire” and “Sports Illustrated” and “Men’s Health” and “Details” and “Ramp” and the countless other male-focused magazines combined with a drop in magazine readership, success looks far from a sure thing.
