Hearst closes Real People magazine after 16 years

Hearst UK is closing Real People magazine after 16 years.

The weekly magazine, which reports on “true life stories that will leave you moved, amused, shocked, infuriated and horrified”, will print its final issue on 20 January.

Its small team will be relocated within Hearst where possible, the company said.

It comes just over six months after Hearst revealed plans to make a fifth of its UK staff redundant and closed Town & Country UK magazine.

Hearst’s other UK titles include Cosmopolitan, Elle, Red, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, Prima, Men’s Health and Women’s Health.

Simon Horne, Hearst UK interim chief executive and president of Hearst Europe, said in a statement: “As we continue to invest in and produce the highest-quality content on all platforms, we’re also making decisions – sometimes difficult ones – to position the business for future growth. After careful consideration, we have decided to propose closing Real People with the final issue going on sale 20 January 2022.

“We would like to thank Karen Bryans, editor, and the talented team working on Real People for all their hard work and commitment. We have now entered a period of consultation with the small number of people affected. We will ensure they are supported with great care throughout the process, and work with them to look for suitable opportunities within the business where possible.”

A spokesperson declined to comment further on the number of staff affected.

In 2020, the latest ABC figures available, Real People had an average circulation of 84,934, a decline of 14% year-on-year. Some 83,176 of overall sales were newsstand sales and 1,758 were subscriptions.

In 2020 Real People sat roughly in the middle of the pack among women’s weeklies, landing just below Future’s Woman’s Own (ABC total, 95,524) and above Reach’s Ok! (84,320). Scroll down for a full ranking of the market (2021 figures are due to be released next month).

According to its media pack, Real People’s core demographic was women aged between 25 and 44. It billed itself as the best value read for “busy young mums and working women”.

Real People launched in January 2006 under ACP-NatMag, a joint venture by NatMag (Hearst’s former guise) and Australian publisher ACP, to meet what executives felt was a demand from 8m dissatisfied ‘true-life’ fans.

NatMag took full control of the title, along with Best and Reveal, two years later. Celebrity magazine Reveal closed in 2018 following a drastic circulation collapse, but Best – billed as a celeb title for “smarter women” aged between 45 and 64 – is still going.

Hearst staff were told last May that, although the company was in a strong position, it needed to transform into a more modern organisation and invest in growth areas – mainly digital advertising, e-commerce and print subscriptions – because of the way the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated consumer trends.

2020 women’s weekly market:

Publication	Publisher	2020 ABC average per issue	Paid single copies	Paid subscriptions	Free copies
Take a Break	Bauer Media	369,449	369,449
Woman’s Weekly	Future Publishing Ltd	205,091	171,269	33,822
That’s Life	Bauer Media	156,454	156,454
The People’s Friend	DC Thomson Media	150,704	110,606	39,719	379
Chat	Future Publishing Ltd	150,288	147,042	3,246
Bella	Bauer Media	141,758	133,640	6,143	1,975
Closer	Bauer Media	106,308	91,286	10,406	4,616
Woman	Future Publishing Ltd	103,323	98,809	4,514
New!	Reach Magazines Publishing plc	96,561	88,144	3,471	4,946
Woman’s Own	Future Publishing Ltd	95,524	89,961	5,563
Real People	Hearst UK	84,934	83,176	1,758
OK! Magazine	Reach Magazines Publishing plc	84,320	73,178	11,142
Best	Hearst UK	84,130	79,189	4,941
My Weekly	DC Thomson Media	74,927	62,408	11,088	1,431
Heat	Bauer Media	73,455	56,596	11,527	5,332
Love It!	ACH Publishing	69,320	69,320
Pick Me Up	Future Publishing Ltd	63,877	63,877
The Lady	The Lady	22,007	7,622	12,723	1,662