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Teen Titles Face Shakeout

Though ad revenue for the teen magazine market is on the rise, with a 6.2 percent year-over-year growth in ad pages through May, the circulation side is softening, which may mean that the category will be seeing a shakeout, Mediaweek reports. Teen People, the newcomer in 1998 that shook up the market and paved the way for Cosmo Girl, Teen Vogue, and the recently shuttered Elle Girl, is struggling to maintain its No. 2 position, according to the article.

Teen People’s paid circulation fell 3.9 percent in last year’s second half, to 1.5 million, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, and newsstand sales dropped 11.8 percent. Ad pages were down 10 percent through May. In the hopes of turning the trend around, Teen People has brought back one of its founding editors, Lori Majewski, most recently executive editor of Us Weekly, as managing editor, and brought a new publisher, Gregg Hano, onboard last month.

Even 62-year-old Seventeen is struggling, with paid circ down 3.6 percent and ad pages down 2.2 percent through May. However, newsstand grew 5 percent through May. Teen Vogue, which saw its paid circ soar 116 percent after buying the subscriptions of the now-defunct YM, is set to raise its rate base to 900,000 from 850,000. Insiders are speculating that perhaps Teen Vogue will be interested in purchasing Elle Girl’s sub file, but buzz has it that Hachette will keep the title’s 430,000-strong list.

Cosmo Girl, No. 3 in the category, is holding steady.

Jack Kliger, Hachette’s CEO, believes that the category has more titles than it can support. Could Elle Girl’s move to the web be a harbinger of what’s to come for other teen magazines? Not according to Gina Sanders, vp, publisher of Teen Vogue, who is quoted as saying, “I think teens love the internet and they love magazines, and they love them for different reasons.”