Men’s Health in the UK is the number one title in the men’s magzines category in figures reported in The Guardian yesterday. At 250,577 copies it is 20,000 ahead of nearest rival FHM.
The interesting trend out of the UK is the decline in what they call lads’ magazines.
The lads’ weeklies Zoo and Nuts suffered the biggest year-on-year declines for the second successive ABC period. IPC’s Nuts retained third spot among the paid-for titles, despite a 24.4% decline to 176,835, down 6.2% on the previous six months.
I think we are seeing this here, certainly in stores I am connected with. The men’s health, fitness, bike and sports magazines are either holding their ground or growing while the lads’ magazines are static or falling. Maybe this is because of a shift in buying patterns. This would not surprise me as more people learn to buy magazines with fuel and convenience purchases elsewhere.