The change will take place in the October issue of the magazine, which will feature Barack Obama on the cover and will end some 40 years being uniquely bigger, according to the Associated Press.

The reduction from the 10x12in format will mean lower production costs for advertising inserts although advertising rates will remain the same. It will also mean it fits into standard magazine racks hopefully boosting newsstand sales.

Ironically, the magazine was first pulbished in 1967 in a tabloid format because of budget restrictions. It was first published on a four-colour press in 1972 and was upgraded to magazine quality paper as recently as 1981.

The page count is to increase in order to accommodate the same amount of content and the magazine has already been trialled in both formats to subscribers where it is reported to have had a positive response.