Interview today facing exactly the same problem

Mondadori France threw the sponge. Three years after having bought Emap France, who held the male magazine "FHM", the Group decided that the number of 19 November would be the last. Despite a radical repositioning began in 2006, the monthly remained structurally deficit, losing 2 million euros per year for three years, with a turnover between 4 and 6 million. This is bad news for the world of men's press, which undergoes full whip advertising recession, while it was already in a serious structural crisis-related, inter alia, competition from Internet. Last September, the sector had already been assigned by the judgment of "Maximum" 1633 editions, and the filing of balance of CSEP, who edits including "Interview": Jig by a liability of EUR 8 million, society of Gérard Ponson was placed into receivership, with a six-month observation period.

"The segment of the male press never really found its place in France", said Sophie Renaud, Director of the press in Aegis Media Expert expertise. In fact, among the many titles created in France at the end of the 1990s, very few are still there. In addition to "fhm" (launched in 1999) and "Maximum" (launched in 2000), also died: "M Magazine" (closed in 2001), "Men's Health", (order in 2005, prior to be taken up in 2008 by Editions 1633) or even "Max" (closed end of 2006).

"Female man".

Most of these monthly is us-were launched on a "mix" practical advice, people, trash and luxury. This concept has encountered a strong success, until competition from Internet brutally breaks the model, from 2004-2005: no need, in effect, to purchase a magazine to have access to the latest scandals people or mostly photos of women in undress... Sales then collapsed: between 2005 and June 2009, dissemination of "fhm" France moved from 158.985 to best 94.133, the "Interview" of best 196.721 501.418, according to the OJD. It is based on this observation that Mondadori attempted to reposition "FHM" as of 2006, leaving content "potaches" and "charm" to become a "female man". Objective: get in line with a positioning more "prati only and trend". The objective was to modify the distribution of revenues, previously focused on the dissemination (60 of turnover), passing to an advertising model: the decline in sales, planned and undertaken according to the group, had to be offset by the arrival of advertisers interested by the target of the young men of twenty to thirty-five years. But "fhm" never found its market. "Interview" today facing exactly the same problem. Gérard Ponson, CEO of CSEP, relies heavily on its Internet site and the opening of the market for gambling online, scheduled in the summer 2010, to find new recipes.

Are magazines top of range, such as "The Optimum" (Editions Jalou) or "gq", declined in France by the Condé Nast group since February 2008. With content more magazine, mode, or "news", they rely on revenue from advertising (75 of the turnover for "The Optimum" for example). And therefore suffer the collapse of the market: the male generally saw their advertising revenues of 9.6 between January and September 2009, a little less than all of the magazines (-13 according to raw data from TNS Media Intelligence). With a broadcast France paid for best 45.976 on June 30, 2009, "The Optimum" remains profitable, according to the Editions Jalou. "GQ", which displays the dissemination of best 74.645 to June 30, it is perfectly "in line with our expectations and is expected to reach the end of 2010 balance", said Xavier Romatet, CEO of Condé Nast France. Benefiting from the excellent image of his group ("Vogue"...) to advertisers, "gq" has rather resilient to the crisis with advertising revenue has fallen by 5 this year after a great year 2008, according to Xavier Romatet.