Is Celebrity Magazine OK! Headed For The Recycle Bin? Maybe.
According to an interesting study done by Media Life Magazine, despite the recent growth and interest in celebrities and the tabloids that cover them, there may be too much of a good thing.
The study which surveyed readers about their views on celebrity magazines, found that the British tabloid OK!, which was launched in the summer of 2005, isn’t delivering on it’s “big promises” in the U.S., including a supposed backing of $100million. The study also indicates that OK!’s late start in an overabundant field may also be to blame for its lack of readership and interest.
By percentages:
Readers were asked: Do you see a shakeout coming over the next year in the celebrity titles? More than three-fourths, 78.6 percent, thought so, agreeing with the statement: ”Yes. There’s not enough room for all of these magazines.”
Just 21.4 percent agreed with the statement: “No. They all have a niche and will continue to thrive.” Well over a third, 42.9 percent, picked OK! as the first title to fold.
Well that doesn’t look good, but then again these are merely predications based on a few people’s opinions. All OK! would need is a picture of Britney Spears attacking a car with an umbrella and boom - instant success. Oh wait, someone already has that? Well, you get my point. For a magazine that’s been around for less than two years it seems unfair to count them out already. This is a nasty business and competition is fierce, but there are a lot of celebrities — and most likely — one of them is doing something stupid.
The article listed the following magazines as most favored are listed here in order by most popular: People, by 46.3%, US, by 32.8% and Star ranked third with with 19.4 %.
Coincidentally, Star led the pack for which magazine did the worst job with a full 31.8% thinking they sucked the most at their job, In Touch coming in second at 22.7% for being sucky and Life & Style in third with 19.7% only slightly less sucky at reporting celebrity gossip.
So that means that even though Star is the third most read celebrity tabloid, 1/3 of their readers are resentful for reading them and only do so because their dirt-dishing is a few notches below that of those uppity writers at Us and People.
The problem is the less credible you are the nastier you need to be. Sure Us and People can be afford to be “accurate,”"honest,” and “truthful” - everyone trusts them. But magazines like Star and In Touch, well they have to as we say in the business “embellish” and “stretch” the truth. And that’s why I read Star, In Touch and Life & Style, because they try a little harder to keep me focused. Plus, People and Us are like $3.50. Sheesh, that seems kind of steep just for finding out what designer Reese Witherspoon wore to the Oscars.
What I want to know is stuff like, how many herpes outbreaks did Paris Hilton have last year? Or does Britney prefer Cool Ranch Doritos or Orginal flavor? You know, the heady stuff.
That’s why I only read the National Enquirer - veracity is their middle name!
Psst! Shakeout's Years ago, there was really only one major celebrity magazine, People. Now there's a half-dozen or more. The question is for how much longer. After exploding several years ago, the newsstand celebrity category quickly became overcrowded. Some titles must go, and media planners and buyers think the first will be the British import OK!, which launched in August 2005. In a Media Life survey last week, readers were asked to weigh in on the state of celebrity magazines, and there was little disagreement that a shakeout was overdue. Readers were asked: Do you see a shakeout coming over the next year in the celebrity titles? Well over a third, 42.9 percent, picked OK! as the first title to fold. Next on the endangered list, in the minds of media buyers, is Life & Style, at 34.3 percent, despite promising gains in circulation and ad pages. Indeed, In Touch is among the least likely to fold, in the eyes of media people, with just 10 percent of respondents seeing it as endangered. That puts it ahead of Us, which only 2.9 percent of respondents see as endangered. The least endangered is People, at just 1.4 percent. People is also the most respected of the celeb titles. Readers were asked: Which gossip magazine does the best job – top scoops, most accurate, most fun to read? Yet when asked which title did the worst job, Star led the pack, and handily, with 31.8 percent of the vote. Second and third were In Touch and Life & Style with 22.7 and 19.7. Among the celebrity titles, if a half sister of sorts, is TV Guide, which pulled off a dramatic makeover in the past two years, going to a full-size format and slashing its rate base from 9 million to 3.2 million. It also became more celebrity-driven. Media Life was curious as to what media people thought of the makeover. The question: What’s your impression of the new TV Guide and its future? Readers were given three choices: a disaster, not so hot, or a success. The answer: somewhere between not so hot and a disaster. Just 10.3 percent agreed with the statement: "I think it’s great and it will thrive. They’ve done wonders refreshing the content, it still has a huge circulation, and I have clients who are interested in it." A third, 33.8 percent, agreed with the statement: "It’s a complete disaster. I see a magazine that lacks an identity and that could be gone in a few years, or at least switch to web-exclusive." The majority of respondents applaud the makeover in concept but don't think it will revive the title in the long run, agreeing with the statement: Readers don't think she'll be around much longer. Asked will Fuller be working for American Media in six month, two thirds said no, agreeing with the statement: "No way. It was an ill fit for a brilliant editor. I believe the rumors that she’s headed for TMZ or Hachette Filipacchi."
coming in celeb titles
Media planners and buyers see one or more falling
Mar 16, 2007
More than three-fourths, 78.6 percent, thought so, agreeing with the statement: "Yes. There’s not enough room for all of these magazines."
Just 21.4 percent agreed with the statement: "No. They all have a niche and will continue to thrive."
Launched by UK publisher Richmond Desmond, OK! came to the U.S. with big promises, including a commitment of $100 million in backing, but the magazine came late to the category and to this day remains something of an afterthought in the minds of media buyers.
The Bauer publication was sprung out of In Touch, and there may be a sense among buyers that it's too much like that title, one of the most successful launches in recent years.
People got 43.6 percent of the vote, with Us second at 32.8 percent. Star ranked third at 19.4 percent.
"It’s a noble attempt at a makeover but one that will ultimately fail. There are too many outlets for TV listings now to compete, and none of its content feels fresh. Still, I don’t see it disappearing anytime soon."
Bonnie Fuller, the controversial editor of Star, is herself always a subject of headlines, and the latest reports have her anxious to leave parent American Media and out looking for a new job.
