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Growth has outstripped decline in consumer magazines, with circulations up in more than half of magazine sectors, according to the Periodical Publishers Association.

The public's obsession with celebrity is contributing to the growth in the paid-for sector. Of all the magazines to record a rise in paid-for circulation, four of the top eight are entertainment titles.

The biggest growth was at Northern & Shell's OK! Magazine, which sold 118,839 more copies than during the first half of 2000, or 464,192 in total. OK!, whose biggest scoop during the period was Catherine Zeta-Jones' wedding to Michael Douglas, trounced arch-rival Hello, which, with an increase of 26,300 to 412,524, came eighth in the table.

Second and third in the table of risers were Emap's Heat, which saw circulation in the past six months increase by 77,506 to 171,395, and IPC Media's Now, which sold 48,710 more copies than in the first half of the year.

Saga Magazine was the fourth highest riser, recording an increase of 34,180 to bring its total circulation for the period to 518,093.

At the other end of the demographic scale, children's magazines are also becoming more popular, with Tweenies, Toybox and Bob the Builder, all published by BBC Worldwide, among the top 20 risers.

Elsewhere, strong performers included BBC Good Food, up 28,794 to 288,460, and Healthy, up 26,445 to 134,267.

NO. TOP 20 PAID-FOR RISERS

     Magazine                Dec end 2000   Jun end 2000     Prd/prd inc

1    OK! Magazine                 464,192        345,353         118,839

2    Heat                         171,395         93,889          77,506

3    Now                          468,005        419,295          48,710

4    Saga Magazine                518,093        483,913          34,180

5    Sainsbury''s                  363,919        330,324          33,595

6    Tweenies                     191,284        160,677          30,607

7    BBC Good Food                288,460        259,666          28,794

8    Hello                        412,524        384,224          28,300

9    Good Housekeeping            376,119        349,289          26,830

10   Company                      248,832        222,296          26,536

11   Healthy                      134,267        107,822          26,445

12   Q                            166,387        142,461          23,926

13   Yours                        333,788        313,543          20,245

14   Maxpower                     199,128        179,610          19,518

15   Radio Times                1,229,062      1,209,924          19,138

16   Toybox                       237,129        218,083          19,046

17   Today''s Golfer                93,910         77,111          16,799

18   BBC Match of the Day          52,824         36,797          16,027

19   Bob the Builder              122,838        110,224          12,614

20   She                          192,550        180,936          11,614