Hef: We're slashing
Playboy's rate base
Men's title will drop from 2.6 million to 1.5 million
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Oct 22, 2009
There was a time, decades ago, when Playboy was not just the leading men's magazine but in many regards the only men's magazine. It was so much bigger in all ways than any of its competitors.
That's not been so for some time, and it's about to become a lot less so.
Facing rising costs, fewer ad pages and declining circulation with the flight of readers to the internet, the magazine is slashing its rate base by nearly 40 percent, and this comes from the founder himself, Hugh Hefner, in a posting on Twitter earlier this week: "We're reducing Playboy magazine's rate base to increasingly focus on quality over quantity as we did half a century ago."
With a rate base of 1.5 million, down from 2.6 million, Playboy will slide to third place among men's titles, behind Maxim, with a total circulation of 2.5 million for the six months ended in June, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, and Men's Health, at more than 1.8 million.
The change takes effect at the beginning of next year with a combined January/February issue, a Playboy spokesperson tells Media Life. She says that as of now that will be the only combined issue next year. This year, the magazine combined the July and August issues into one.
Expect more cuts to come. The title has also been struggling to hold onto advertising in this protracted recession, without much success.
The entire men's category is suffering in that regard, down 31 percent for the first nine months of 2009, but Playboy sank further, by 36 percent, according to Publishers Information Bureau figures.
There's been talk of Playboy selling off the publication, but that would seem unlikely, considering Hefner's attachment to the title, which he launched six decades ago.
More likely it will continue to fade as the generations of men that once read the title move into retirement.
|
Circulation -- Men's titles
Averages for the six months ending June 30, 2009
|
|
Title
|
Issues per period
|
2009 subs
|
% chg
|
2009 newsstand sales
|
% chg
|
2009 total paid circ.
|
% chg
|
|
DETAILS
|
5
|
417,060
|
8.1
|
54,800
|
-24.6
|
471,860
|
2.9
|
|
ESQUIRE
|
6
|
615,229
|
0.3
|
97,713
|
-13.5
|
712,942
|
-1.8
|
|
GQ
|
6
|
706,624
|
0.4
|
227,409
|
7.4
|
934,033
|
2.1
|
|
MAXIM
|
6
|
2,186,888
|
3.7
|
350,242
|
-17.9
|
2,537,130
|
0.1
|
|
MEN'S HEALTH
|
5
|
1,355,714
|
3.5
|
503,929
|
-9.9
|
1,859,643
|
-0.5
|
|
MEN'S JOURNAL
|
6
|
645,460
|
1.3
|
64,964
|
-10.8
|
710,424
|
0.03
|
|
MEN'S FITNESS
|
5
|
604,883
|
|
101,600
|
-9.1
|
706,483
|
-1.4
|
|
PENTHOUSE
|
6
|
161,933
|
-35.7
|
69,140
|
-24.1
|
231,073
|
-32.6
|
|
PLAYBOY
|
6
|
2,302,243
|
-7.8
|
151,023
|
-25.7
|
2,453,266
|
-9.2
|
|
Source: ABC
|
|
Ad pages -- Men's titles
Jan.-Sept. 2009 vs. 2008
|
|
Titles
|
2009
$s
|
2008 $s
|
%
chnge
|
'09
pages
|
'08
pages
|
%
chnge
|
|
DETAILS
|
36,655,918
|
51,068,449
|
-28.2
|
541.46
|
845.82
|
-36.0
|
|
ESQUIRE
|
56,418,498
|
70,400,549
|
-19.9
|
477.77
|
626.53
|
-23.7
|
|
GQ
|
101,915,207
|
139,555,199
|
-27.0
|
748.73
|
1,115.39
|
-32.9
|
|
MAXIM
|
105,710,606
|
139,196,124
|
-24.1
|
421.69
|
590.48
|
-28.6
|
|
MEN'S FITNESS
|
39,512,927
|
48,156,974
|
-17.9
|
493.41
|
628.34
|
-21.5
|
|
MEN'S HEALTH
|
89,832,153
|
109,993,747
|
-18.3
|
521.83
|
687.07
|
-24.0
|
|
MEN'S JOURNAL
|
51,387,000
|
83,366,084
|
-38.4
|
537.14
|
920.82
|
-41.7
|
|
PLAYBOY
|
33,995,768
|
50,900,088
|
-33.2
|
206.45
|
321.79
|
-35.8
|
|
TOTALS
|
515,428,077
|
692,637,214
|
-25.6
|
3,948.48
|
5,736.24
|
-31.2
|
|
Source: PIB
|
|
|
|
