A victim of market forces, Emap-owned FHM magazine has decided to shut down its U.S. print edition after seven years. Various reports had the magazine's ad pages down this year by 20% to 22% which is pretty dramatic for a single title. The FHM retreat caps a rough and tough year for magazine publishers. It started back in April when Hachette pulled the plug on Ellegirl and about six weeks later Time, Inc shuttered Teen People. Both of the teen titles still live online and I would think FHM will also have some sort of identity online, but I didn't read anything confirming that. According to the most recent Top Ten List report, FHM was the 8th most popular magazine title among teen and college men, but considerably behind other male titles like Playboy and Maxim. It's not guaranteed, but there is a relative likelihood that Playboy and Maxim get small bumps in male readers, but nothing too crazy to break the bank.
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