Cheap celebrity mags hurt by forced cover price increase

You can almost hear Bauer Publishing saying "I told you so!" to major U.S. wholesalers about being forced to raise cover prices. Under pressure from the wholesalers, hungry for more profit, cut-priced celebrity mags In Touch and Life & Style each raised their price to $2.99 (up $1) in November. As a result, the company has been forced to cut its guaranteed rate bases: In Touch was 1.2 million and now 1 milion (down 17%); Life & Style was 700,000 and is now 550,000 (down 21%), according to a story in MediaDaily News.

In the four weeks immediately following the price hike, newsstand sales slid an alarming 33%, but rebounded somewhat, with the decline narrowing to 23%. Almost all of the titles' circulation comes via newsstand sales.

Earlier this week, OK!, published by Northern & Shell, said it will raise its newsstand price again, from $2.99 to $3.49. Rival American Media's Star is set to rise from $3.49 to $3.99. Wenner Media's Us Weekly--which leads the pack of relatively new celeb titles--raised its price to $3.99 in October, a month before Bauer hiked prices at its 11 titles.

Canadian magazines do not traditionally offer a guaranteed rate base, tending to sell on audited circulation numbers.