Traditional titles lose ground to new rivals

<p>SYDNEY: Australia's appetite for new men's magazines continues unabated, </p><p>stealing ground from traditional male mastheads, according to the latest </p><p>circulation figures. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With circulation hikes of up to 38.47 per cent over the year to June, </p><p>the newer men's titles have proved the strongest performing sector for </p><p>the period, Audit Bureau of Circulations statistics show. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"They're killing the older men's titles off," said media analyst and </p><p>director of Fusion Strategy Steve Allen. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"All of the men's magazines that are going up are new and they're modern </p><p>and they're hitting the mark. They've got the right formula to get to </p><p>men." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The worst fall for traditional men's titles came from Australian Hustler </p><p>(down 31.49 per cent to 14,521 copies). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>That was followed by Picture (down 12.91 per cent to 109,273) and </p><p>Australian Penthouse (down 10.26 to 62,197). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Comparatively, Ralph, FHM and Men's Health, which are just a few years </p><p>old and target 30-something men, enjoyed respective circulation boosts </p><p>of 38.47 per cent (to 99,656 copies), 12.43 per cent (to 92,888 copies) </p><p>and 11.09 per cent (to 44,636 copies). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But a persistent haemorrhaging of the women's sector - traditionally the </p><p>advertising cash cow of Australia's print media -stopped mass market </p><p>publishers from an early celebration. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Still bleeding from the death of Britain's Princess Diana, whose face on </p><p>front covers sold more magazines than any other recent phenomenon, </p><p>Australia's women's titles lost as much as 21.23 per cent in circulation </p><p>in the first half of this year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Analysts have also attributed much of the continued decline to </p><p>diminished reader interest in the English royal family and a clampdown </p><p>on stories generated by chequebook journalism. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The female-pitched Australian Family Circle shed 21.23 per cent in its </p><p>circulation over the year to June, with circulation down to 118,888 </p><p>copies, ABC figures show. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>For the same period, young womens' title For Me dropped 19.03 per cent </p><p>(to 130,000 copies), while Dolly, the read for teenage girls, bled 18.27 </p><p>per cent (down to 145,042 copies). </p><p><BR><BR> </p>