The Slow Death of Magazines in the Philippines

IN a sudden move that caught many people by surprise, Summit Media announced that it was shutting down its magazine division.

Affected by the closure were the popular magazines FHM, Cosmopolitan and Yes, all of whom were leading in terms of circulation.

In a statement, the Gokongwei-owned company announced that it would shift to digital media which explained why it had to close down its magazine division.

As a result, FHM and Cosmo both ended up online through their respective websites, plus their respective social media accounts.

Summit also owns other websites such as Philippine Entertainment Portal, which provides showbiz updates; and Spin.ph, which is a standalone sports website.

Actually, a similar sports website, philsports.net, came out in the early 2000s and yours truly was one of the writers but it failed to catch on because at that time, internet wasn't easily accessible.

Both FHM and Cosmo were at the height of their popularity when they both closed down. FHM was the leading men's magazine of its time and since its launch in 2000, it has raised the bar on what a men's magazine should be.

Many female stars who wanted a sexier image turned to an FHM pictorial to boost their careers and FHM extensively promoted their cover girls through autograph signings mostly at Robinson's Galleria and guestings on TV and radio shows.

I was fortunate enough to attend a lot of these FHM autograph signings and the crowds were so huge that Summit had to hire a lot of bodyguards to protect the girls from onrushers.

The FHM 100 Sexiest Victory Party held every July was also a must-see event with all the cover girls wearing sexy clothes to impress the male audience.

Many other men's magazines tried but failed to topple FHM from its lofty perch, including Maxim and Pump, both of whom were edited by Eric Ramos, who ironically is a former FHM editor-in-chief.

As for Cosmopolitan, it set aside network rivalry by featuring stars from both ABS-CBN and GMA 7 as cover girls. It also had a lot of insightful articles that many girls loved to read about.

Cosmo had its own Bachelor Bash where the hottest hunks paraded in front of the screaming teenage girls.

Although it's sad to see both FHM and Cosmo end their print editions, we cannot blame Summit for its decision. With the Duterte government implementing new tax laws, it became difficult for companies to spend money on printing magazines especially with the rising printing costs. In addition, many people stopped reading magazines and can now easily get the latest news online through their smartphones. If Summit continued printing those magazines, their cover prices would have surely increased and with many Filipinos poor, they would rather buy food than spend their money on a magazine.

My sister even told me that here in the US, many Americans don't read magazines anymore although there is still Cosmo in print here. For its part, FHM had long closed down and many American males prefer reading either Playboy or Maxim.

I was also told that newspapers in the Philippines are seeing their sales go down also because of the internet.

Many magazine stores in the Philippines are also shifting their sales to selling imported comic books in order to stay afloat.

Changes in today's reading habits and technology have led to the demise of magazines in the Philippines. It's a sad reality that we all have to face.