Bauer’s decision to close Arena today shuts the chapter on a 22-year-old rollercoaster ride never before seen in men’s magazines.
When Arena first hit the newsstands in the winter of 1986 the UK and its media was a very different place.
The year had started with the unveiling of ambitious plans to connect with mainland Europe via an undersea railway line called the Channel Tunnel, and had gone on to witness the marriage of Prince Andrew to one Sarah Ferguson.
There was a confident, capitalist swagger that seeped into ever part of society. Socks were fluorescent, gloves had no fingers and the likes of Madonna, Europe (Final Countdown) and Berlin (Take my Breath Away) provided the sound track.
Into this mix enters Arena, initially a quarterly magazine launched with the novel idea of targeting British males. The front cover of the launch issue featured a fresh-faced exciting young actor called Mickey Rourke.
It offered an eclectic mix of quintessential ‘male things’, including features on shaving, suits, Mike Tyson and, of course, supercars. But there was also recognition of the less obvious parts of the male-psyche – the low down on Paris, collectable art and, er, Joe Orton.
It’s easy to forget how ground-breaking it was to have a monthly lifestyle magazine specifically for men, who at the time were more concerned with hating Argentina’s cheating Diego Maradona. It was of the moment, a style magazine for men just when cash-rich British males were starting to really care about fashion, brands and lifestyle choices.
The brainchild of Nick Logan, the man behind Face magazine which had already made magazines more paletable to British males, it quickly cut a swathe through the women with big hair on the front covers of Vogue, Cosmopolitan and the like.
With no direct competitors, circulation soon soared past 60,000 and by the start of the 1990s was selling more than 90,000 copies each issue. Its rise was enough to prompt early investor Conde Nast to launch a British version of GQ in 1989, which quickly assumed top dog position.
NatMags’ Esquire also followed and while Logan didn’t know it, the magazine had already had its heyday.
Throughout the last decade, strong competition from both online and in print has seen Arena’s circulation tumble. By 2007, despite numerous redesigns and repositionings the magazine was still struggling to maintain circulation above 30,000, an important figure for any would-be advertiser.
In the last year the magazine has been further squeezed by friendly-fire, with Bauer’s other monthly FHM deciding to move into its more upmarket territory too.
In February’s ABC report for the second half of 2008 Arena’s circulation was up 16.4% year on year to 29,374, but the figure masked the fact only 17,000 were being actively purchased.
The writing has long been on the wall for Britain’s longest-running men’s monthly, as clear as over-sized 80s graffiti.
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