Hachette Filipacchi confirms sale of teen title TV Hits to Essential

by Joe Lepper, Brand Republic 01-Jun-05, 12:00

LONDON - Hachette Filipacchi UK has sold its teen entertainment monthly TV Hits to Colchester-based Essential Publishing.

The two concluded their talks for the sale of the entertainment title, which Hachette acquired when it bought Attic Futura from Australian company PMP for £40m in August 2002, earlier this week.

Kevin Hand, chairman of Hachette Filipacchi UK, said: "We are pleased to announce that Essential Publishing has acquired TV Hits! and will be taking the title into its next phase of development."

Brand Republic reported the sale earlier today, before news of the deal had been announced.

The sale of the title, which was launched in 1989, comes as latest ABC figures show that despite a period-on-period circulation rise of 3.3% to 103,658, the title has been in steady decline for some time. The magazine has lost almost 30,000 readers since December 2003 when it recorded an ABC of 130,164.

In joining Essential, TV Hits will become part of a consumer portfolio that includes women's glossy Real and The Party Magazine, which were bought from H Bauer and Bury House Publishing respectively last year.

Essential, formed in 1995, also publishes Your Home, which it bought from The National Magazine Company two years ago, Collect It! and Period House.

A spokeswoman for Hachette Filipacchi refused to confirm or deny that the magazine had been put up for sale.

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