• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 6, 2007

Stuff magazine will be folded into Maxim by the end of the year, according to a media trade pub on Friday.

Reported in Mediaweek, the news was attributed to an unnamed source claiming familiarity with the plans of the publications' new owners, Kent Brownridge and the Quadrangle Group. At press time, a spokesperson for Stuff magazine did not return calls for comment.

If true, the news marks further consolidation in the young men's category, which saw the demise of Emap's FHM and shopping mag Cargo in 2006. While Maxim and Stuff have both fared better than these rivals, they have also struggled with declining ad pages and single-copy newsstand sales in recent years, only recently rebounding.

From a high of 1,223 and 756 ad pages in 2002, respectively, Maxim and Stuff steadily eroded through last year, when Maxim reported just 930 pages and Stuff 615. These declines, and the folding of down-market competitor FHM in December 2006, have spurred speculation that the young men's market is over-saturated.

Such speculation has only been encouraged by the titles' mediocre newsstand sales. In the second half of 2006, Maxim's newsstand sales sank 12.1%, compared to the same period in 2005, to about 450,000. Stuff fell 34.9% to about 176,000.

Stuff's October issue is said to be its last.