• by Michael Shields , July 13, 2004

It's a storyline as sensational as any celebrity expose you might find gracing its covers: Magazine industry diva takes helm of tawdry tabloid, revitalizes mix with new glossy ad-friendly look that sends newsstand sales soaring and the tongues of industry wonks wagging. The only problem with the story is that someone forgot to write a happy ad sales ending for American Media's recently revitalized Star Magazine.

Redesigned and re-launched in April under the oversight of ex-US Weekly savior Bonnie Fuller, Star is approaching newsstand sales of one million copies a week, while the magazine builds a new subscription base using blow-in cards for the first time. It's also become the talk of magazine industry intelligencer and the title to keep an eye on within a closely watched celebrity magazine category.

But despite positive consumer feedback and heightened industry buzz, advertisers have yet to flock to Star's huge audience. According to the latest figures from the Publishers Information Bureau, total ad pages for the title are down 25 percent year over year through June. Meanwhile, rival US Weekly appears have actually built its share of market by taking business away from Star, with its pages up a whopping 27 percent during the same period.

Michelle Myers, Star's new vice president and publisher, says that the re-launch may have occurred too late in the year to yield immediate benefits. "From what I can see, we missed planning season in a lot of cases," she said.

Myers believes it is just a matter of time before advertising catches up with the book's audience. "Circulation is incredible right now," adding that the book's rate base will increase to 1.35 million in January.

Advertisers may be simply waiting to see how the business responds to all the changes. "It's a wait and see attitude I think," said Brett Stewart, senior vice president-director of the strategic print unit at Universal McCann. He says Star's sales team has been aggressive. "They are selling hard in certain categories."

Overall the celebrity-gossip category is showing great volatility. While US Weekly's circulation really skyrocketed during Fuller's tenure, it still finished 2003 with a circulation of over 1.3 million readers, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Meanwhile, In Touch Weekly, which has only been around since November of 2002, has seen circulation surge 77 percent in the first half of 2004 to an estimated 750,000 per week, according to the publishers own estimates.

"The circulation growth has been astronomical," says new publisher Robert Davidowitz. "I almost want to say legendary."

In Touch makes no bones about who it is going after. "We are just scratching the surface," he said. "We are beginning to take market share from US."

Even category giant People has felt a slight dip in ad pages, down 5 percent for the year, though it inherently plays in a different space given its tremendous size and far higher price tag. "We are not in that category," said Nancy Valentino, People's director of communications. "We are more in the league with the top five books in the world."

But People's editorial has been affected by the celebrity-focused books, says Davidowitz. "If you compare their covers from a few years, you'll find that their covers now look a lot like ours," he said.

As for Star's slow advertising build, the magazine's lingering reputation as a supermarket book may be holding it back, says, Davidowitz "They have a history of being a tabloid," he said.

Most advertisers appear to be okay with Star's content, though some "do have some concerns about particular stories in a particular issue," according to McCann's Stewart.

Regardless, consumers' continuing interest in all things celebrity may drive the market in the long run. "We are a culture that has an insatiable appetite," says Star's Myers.

Yet even she recognizes that it is possible that a shakeout could occur in the publishing world. "It's a very competitive category," she said. "Only the strongest books will survive. There may not be room for all these books."

However, in a business that continues to undergo change, where just a few years ago US was thought to be near dead, any such predictions may be risky.

"The magazine market in this country is evolving at such a fast pace, I loath to make any judgments," Stewart added. "We're all going to wait and see."