• Mediaweek, Monday, March 6, 2006 11 AM

Giant, self-described as a magazine for super-fans, has had trouble breaking into the competitive market for entertainment-related titles. Going up against the likes of Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Premiere, and others has proved daunting, perhaps all the more so because Giant has targeted those hard-to-get male readers.  "According a source familiar with the figures, Giant only sold 37,500 newsstands copies on average for the second half of 2005," reports Mediaweek. "That said, Giant's sell-through average is just 15 percent based on a newsstand draw of 250,000, well below the industry average of around 30 percent for an established title and high 20s to low 30s for a newer magazine."  All in all, not a pretty picture.  To help get things moving in the right direction, the magazine last week named a new editor, Smokey Fontaine, a pop-culture expert perhaps best known for his contributions to music journalism.  Fontaine says he hopes to bring more "boldness" to Giant.  He also says the magazine, under his stewardship, will also place more emphasis on music and A-list celebrities.

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