The American edition of OK magazine is cutting its news-stand price by 50 cents to be more competitive in a declining market.
The title, owned by Richard Desmond’s Northern and Shell, will sell for $2.99 – approximately £2 – the same price as In Touch and Life & Style and a dollar cheaper than People and US Weekly.
The drop in price from $3.49 is considered a bold move for a magazine that has been so unprofitable.
Since its launch three years ago it is estimated the US edition has cost Northern and Shell at least $100m. When it launched, Desmond said he was prepared to lose $100m before it turned a profit
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Northern and Shell boss Richard Desmond is reported to have jetted to New York last month after newsstand sales of the American edition of OK magazine fell below 500,000.
Newsstand sales of OK in the first six months of this year rose 19 per cent from the same period last year – but the market is getting tougher.
The title’s new US editor, Kent Brownridge, is optimistic that by the year’s end the magazine will be doing better.
“I’m selling a lot better than I was a couple of weeks ago,” he told the New York Post recently.
On the tabloid front, American Media, which publishes The Star and National Enquirer, is reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy. Recently it failed to meet the deadline on a $21m interest payment.
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