Johannesburg - The publishers of South African men’s magazine FHM have refused to confirm whether the magazine will be shutting down.
Speculation was rife this week that the men’s lifestyle magazine would be closing following declining sales and advertising support.
The magazine has been around for the last 15 years, and was considered one of South Africa’s most profitable men’s magazines. A number of popular magazines in South Africa have folded in the last few years due to declining revenue and circulation figures.
In December 2012, iconic sports magazine Sports Illustrated was forced to cease operation, while health and wellness title Shape closed in October 2012.
In May 2013, Playboy SA also announced it would end its print run and go digital, after the “hurdle of conservative readers” had proved too much for the magazine.
In July, Media24 Magazines confirmed that it would cease to publish business-to-business magazine, AdVantage, after 20 years of circulation.
Media24 News then announced in October 2012 that its Afrikaans Sunday tabloid, Sondag, would also be closing.
Jacques Breytenbach, General Manager of Lifestyle at Media24 Magazines, would not confirm or deny whether FHM would be the next magazine in line to be shut down.
“Media24 Magazines are in consultation with both the editorial team of FHM magazine and the licensor (Bauer Media UK) regarding the future of the magazine in the Media24 stable,” said Breytenbach.
“We do, however, consider these consultations as confidential and we are unfortunately not at liberty to divulge any further information at this stage. We will only be able to do so once the consultations have been concluded.”
Louis Raubenheimer, acting editor of the magazine, told Beeld this week that the magazine would close.
Raubenheimer was quoted as saying: “All that I can say is that it’s very sad.” He said that at least one more issue of the magazine would be published.
Saturday Star