According to the latest ABC figures, Top of the Pops' circulation is down by 30% for the period to 140,192, and down by more than 35% for the year. Last June, it reported an average circulation of 216,954, but the period does include its transition from a monthly title to a fortnightly -- putting it in direct competition with Emap's Smash Hits.
Out of the category, only Smash Hits avoided a double-digit decline in circulation over the last six months, but it still fell 4.4% to 120,451 copies. Sister celebrity title Sneak saw circulation fall by 12% for the period to 80,077.
BBC Worldwide's other teen entertainment magazine, It's Hot, had a similarly disastrous six months, down by 19% to 82,199 copies. And the other title in the category, Essential Publishing's TV Hits, recorded a decline of 18.5% for the period, down to 84,463 copies.
Things on the whole were similarly gloomy in the teenage lifestyle category, which includes titles such as Sugar and Bliss.
Across the board, circulation for the period was down by 7.1%. Hardest hit was NatMag's Cosmo Girl, which went from being published once a month to weekly on March 17. Circulation fell by 23% for the period to 163,602 copies, and NatMags switched it back to being a monthly title in July.
Hachette Filipacchi's Sugar magazine, which remains the market leader, saw circulation fall by 3.5% to 285,082 copies. However, Emap's Bliss continues to gain ground with a circulation of 276,253. Although this represents a fall of 3.1% for the period, it makes Bliss the only title to record a year-on-year rise, up 7.4%.
Publishers blame falling interest in teen magazines partly on a lack of exciting music and film stars and partly on the rise of mobile phones and music downloads, which all compete for teenagers' pocket money.
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