The mens lifestyle magazine sector has been hit by the closures of Sky and Later as a result of poor circulation figures.


Hachette/Emap has closed Sky magazine, which was launched in 1987 and was pitched at both lads and "ladettes". Later was published by IPC.


Jarrolds printed Later magazine, with repro carried out by Argent Colour.


Sky was printed at Cooper Clegg in Tewkesbury, with repro handled by Mullis Morgan.


As PrintWeek went to press, both Jarrolds and Cooper Clegg declined to comment on the closure of the magazines.
Skys circulation fell by 35% last year to 65,000, while Later reported a 22% fall to 70,000. Skys print run was 100,000.


The final edition of both magazines will be July 2001.


"It is disappointing when a magazine closes, but in this case we have exhausted all options," said Brian McIlheney, chief executive of Emap Elan Network.


IPC Ignite managing director Mike Soutar said it had looked at "a number of possibilities before turning to this option". He said this was by no means the end of the "lads magazine" market and did not rule out the possibility of future ventures in the sector. "At the end of the day, it was a ground-breaking magazine but the market was simply not large enough," Soutar said.


Story by Andy Scott