Teenage music mags continue to slide

LONDON - Teenage music magazines are down again in the latest ABCs as readers continue to desert titles such as Top of the Pops and Smash Hits.

Top of the Pops witnessed the biggest fall, down 27.7% year on year to 281,417. Smash Hits recorded a slightly smaller year-on-year loss, down 20.7% to 198,621, which still leaves it along way behind its rival.



Sugar, the market leader in the teenage market, was down 11.4% year on year to 368,559, which puts its a long way ahead of main rival Bliss. Emap's Bliss was down 11.3% year-on-year to 255,251%.



J-17, which has suffered in recent ABCs, slowed its decline somewhat, falling 1.2% year-on-year to 197,611, an improvement of 0.2% period on period. IPC Media rival Mizz saw its circulation drop 4.6% to 154,779. In the six months to December, it was down 5.4%.



The BBC's other title in the teenage magazines market, Live & Kicking, witnessed the biggest fall in the sector, dropping a whopping 32.6% year on year and 18.7% period on period, putting into doubt its future.



The other magazine in the market, Attic Futura's TV Hits, was down 14.3% year on year to 175,518.



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