• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, December 14, 2006

After a year of plummeting ad sales and declining circulation, the U.S. edition of lad mag FHM is closing shop, publisher Emap Consumer Media announced on Wednesday. The title, launched in 1999, will see its last edition this March.

There were signs of trouble in recent months--both in staff and circulation.

The biggest blow was the firing in September of three editors, an art director and its fashion director. Higher-ups gave the ax to Elisabeth Dick, a fashion editor; Meghan Conaton, an associate editor; Mark Yarm, an associate editor; Sean Johnston, an art director; and Anthony Wright, the title's first fashion director. The move, turning its back on the mag's roots as a men's fashion guide, apparently sacrificed its core mission in a last-ditch attempt to broaden its appeal.

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, for the six months ending June 2006, paid subs declined 1.8% to about 883,000 compared to the same period last year, while newsstand sales dropped 6.6% to about 368,000. In the previous six months, newsstand sales had dropped 8.8%.

Figures on ad sales from the Publishers Information Bureau were even more damning. In January-November 2006, ad revenue by rate card fell 15.3%, while ad pages tumbled 19.7%. However, the trouble dates back to at least October 2005, when the mag registered its first decline, with ad pages falling 9.5%.

Confronted with a softening young-men's market beginning in 2005, FHM and the other big-name lad mags--Maxim--and Stuff--gambled on rather different strategies. FHM headed downmarket by publishing increasingly risqué covers, such as porn star Tera Patrick in a black-leather bikini bottom and elbow-length leather gloves.

Opening an online casino and firing the fashion team were other steps taken to broaden the mag's reach. But the shift seems to have backfired, alienating both retailers leery of too much skin and advertisers skeptical about the value of the low-brow demo.

Earlier this year, the landlord of New York's Grand Central Terminal asked the main Hudson News retail stand to cover three successive FHM covers--a significant setback, given the number of media executives that commute via the station every day.

In addition, carmakers and high-end fashion brands avoided the title, which began selling pages at steeper discounts. Rumor has it the October issue sold at more than a 90% discount from rate-card figures.

In the rival camp, Maxim and Stuff shrugged off the "lad mag" moniker and tacked upstream, adjusting editorial content to follow readers into their late 20s and targeting affluent young male professionals. From 2005-2006, the median income of Stuff's readers rose from $59,527 to $61,535, according to MRI. More telling, the number of male college graduates increased 38%.

Stuff magazine publisher John Lumpkin emphasized the need for magazines to change without devaluing their product. "What it tells us about the category is if you don't innovate, you die. That's why Stuff sharpened our tone to reach this particular kind of young guy."

Although the demise of FHM can only boost Stuff's stock with brands trying to reach young men, Lumpkin was gracious: "It's a shame to see what happened. We had a healthy rivalry with them, but it's never good to see a magazine fold."