FHM Bottoms Out

END OF LA VIDA FHM

FHM, the six-year-old beer-and-babes magazine, is shutting down. Emap, which publishes the 1.25-million-circulation title, announced the move this morning. "The decision is consistent with the group's strategy of focusing resources on faster growth platforms and has been taken in light of the difficult trading conditions in the U.S. market," says a release from the company, which sold its other U.S. titles to Primedia in 2001. "The U.S. online site ... which forms an important part of the brand's ongoing and increasing international presence, will continue to operate."

While the British version of FHM is No. 1 among so-called "lad" magazines in the UK market where it originated, its American offshoot never approached market-leader Maxim in popularity (possibly in part owing to Maxim owner Felix Dennis's decision to launch a flanker title, Stuff, to eat up available consumer space prior to FHM's arrival here).