Bauer Media axes Dolly print edition
Bauer Media has axed the print edition of Dolly just seven months after the publisher took it to a bi-monthly print edition with a mobile-first focus.
The magazine – which launched in 1970 – had a January to June circulation of 30,010 according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulation figures.
Nick Chan, CEO at Bauer Media, said in a statement: “Dolly readers predominantly engage with the brand on digital and social platforms and they do so with greater frequency than is possible with a bi-monthly magazine – this means it’s no longer feasible to continue publishing the magazine on a regular basis.
Anything & anyone left at Bauer?
For over two decades my then client Bonne Bell was a consistent advertiser and promotional partner with Dolly, in print and then, additionally, digitally. Sad to see the magazine go but obviously it’s no use persevering with a medium if the audience no longer relates to it. Would be great if there were sufficient audience interest to support at least an annual print edition.
Not surprised. They should have closed it a year ago instead of putting a band-aid on the haemorrhage. From all reports it’s lost its way in the last year anyways, not like what we grew up with.
Is there a growth story at all at Bauer? It seems to be endless cuts and rationalisation.
Well, that’s about it for the magazine industry, yeah? Dolly was the entry way into consumption of the format for a lot of people. If the industry today looks like a smaller, leaner version of what it did five years ago, in 2021 it will be unrecognizably different.
There are plenty of magazines that have broken business and distribution models. In my view, Dolly and Girlfriend both face huge issues as magazines with a cover price.
They are supposed to typically target a female teen/youth/young adult audience. Can’t remember the last time I saw someone that fit that demographic walking into a newsagent to buy a magazine or newspaper.