OK not quite so OK, it seems

In light of the recent abrupt closure of Weekly Scoop by Torstar and the impending launch of Hello! magazine by Rogers, it's worth paying attention to how such celebrity titles are doing south of the border. An article in Ad Age says that OK, published by U.K. press baron Richard "Dirty Dick" Desmond, is not doing as well as Desmond promised and that many in the media think the whole idea of an American OK will tank. There are rumours about that the magazine, which has been hugely successful elsewhere, is not even reaching its 400,000 rate base.

Desmond, meanwhile, blames anemic ad sales and swirling rumours on jealous backbiting from his rivals, referring to American Media CEO David Pecker as "shifty".

"In an interview with Advertising Age, his more specific accusations included a statement that Time Warner was trying to protect People magazine by "putting out a lot of shit" about OK. And, surprisingly, he claimed that OK will report average paid circulation of 534,000 for the first half of 2006 in its inaugural publisher's statement to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. That would be an astounding success for a new title moving into a crowded market.

"What about reports on both sides of the Atlantic that OK sales were soft and uneven? 'You can tell all those wankers to f--k off,' he said cheerily, 'because these are the figures.' "

One of the speculations about Weekly Scoop's closure was that Torstar was frightened off by the whole celebrity area going soft, with a lot of price-cutting. OK was one of those that cut its price recently from US$3.29 a copy to US$1.99.