Smash Hits, published fortnightly, saw circulation fall by 23.8% for the six months ending December 31 2003 to 114,383.
The fall has been attributed in part to the lacklustre pop industry in the second half of the year as well as the decision not to include free gifts with every issue.
Blame was also put on the failure of programmes such as Fame Academy and Pop Idol to produce winners who make ideal cover stars for the target audience of 11- to 12-year-olds. British singles sales hit their lowest levels since the 1960s in January.
By contrast, Emap sister weekly title Sneak magazine has continued to be a strong performer, recording a 4.1% period-on-period rise in circulation to 104,174. It carries more celebrity news and is targeted as a kind of Heat magazine for 14- and 15-year-olds.
According to figures published by the Audit Bureau of Circulations today, Sneak was one of only two titles to show growth in the sector, the other being BBC's monthly title It's Hot, which grew by 1.2% in the six-month period to 116,515. Teen entertainment had been a star performing category six months ago, seeing 12.5% growth across the sector but saw a decline of 8.6% over the past six months.
Other magazines in the category to see falls were BBC's music monthly Top of the Pops, down 8.7% to 230,493 and Hachette Filipacchi's TV Hits, down 9.5% to 130,164.
The news for teenage lifestyle titles was no better, with a 7.9% decline across the sector. NatMags' CosmoGirl was the one bright spot in the sector, recording a 5.4% rise period on period to give it an ABC figure of 198,324.
Hachette Filipacchi's Sugar maintains its lead in the market with an average monthly circulation of 291,794. This is around 50,000 copies ahead of nearest rival Bliss, published by Emap, but is still down 10.5% period on period.
Emap's J-17 appeared to have arrested its circulation slide, putting on 0.2% period on period to 134,650. The two fortnightly titles, IPC Media's Mizz and DC Thomson's Shout both saw falls, with Mizz down 12.1% to 100,298 and Shout down 4% to 84,600.
Girls' monthly magazines also face competition from two new titles not yet audited: Hachette Filipacchi's ElleGirl, which has just gone monthly, and BBC Magazine's new release Dare, which was first published last October.
ElleGirl has already proved to be a success as a bi-monthly but has just released its first monthly edition. It is now being edited by former Sugar editor Claire Irvin and is tempting readers with celebrity columnists including Peaches Geldof.
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