FHM was first published 30 years ago, and at one time was the leading men’s monthly glossy title.
Weekly Zoo launched in 2004 at the same time as IPC’s now-defunct Nuts.
But the boom times for so-called lads’ mags have come to an end. Sales of Zoo fell by 20% to just 24,430 in the first half of the year, a tenth of its one-time sales. While the once-mighty FHM was also down by 20% year-on-year to 66,694. A decade ago it was the then Emap’s top selling title with sales of more than 580,000.
Bauer had previously shifted the printing of FHM from Wyndeham Group to its own print plant in Poland, in a move viewed as an attempt to cut costs. Zoo was printed by Polestar.
Although the Bauer statement announcing the suspension of both titles lauded FHM and Zoo’s combined digital audience of “over five million”, the publisher confirmed that the action included both the print and digital platforms.
