Hearst plans to close celebrity weekly Reveal amid a drop in circulation that has seen sales halve over four years, the magazine publisher has announced in a memo to staff.
Reveal was launched in 2004 and is described by Hearst as “the reader’s best friend: fun, gossipy, and full of advice on everything from fashion and beauty to diets and cocktails”.
A spokesperson confirmed today the publisher is proposing to close the magazine and said the last issue will go on sale on 2 October this year.
They declined to confirm whether any staff members were at risk of redundancy, but said a 30-day consultation period has begun.
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In a memo seen by business media website Campaign, Hearst UK president and chief executive James Wildman told staff: “Reveal’s sales are no longer sufficient to make it commercially viable.
“We’ve explored alternative solutions but as Reveal’s celebrity market is particularly challenged on the newsstand, we cannot see a viable way of continuing to publish the title profitably.”
At its peak in the first six months of 2007, Reveal reached a circulation of 347,257, according to ABC. The latest figures show sales of the magazine, priced at £1.25, have fallen to 82,247 – a year-on-year drop of 18 per cent and a fall of 50 per cent in the past four years.
The brand now has a bigger reach on social media – 126,000 Twitter followers and 95,000 Facebook likes – although its website closed in 2016.
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