Bauer Media closes Australian Cosmopolitan magazine

Bauer Media has closed the local edition of young women’s magazine Cosmopolitan after 45 years of publication in Australia.

Cover of Cosmopolitan magazine for December 2018.

Bauer Media has closed the local edition of young women’s magazine Cosmopolitan after 45 years of publication in Australia, one of the most famous titles to yield to the onslaught from digital media.

The publisher’s chief executive Paul Dykzeul announced the local December issue of the 132-year old international fashion brand will be the last.

“It has not been an easy decision to make, however, the commercial viability of the magazine in Australia is no longer sustainable,” Mr Dykzeul said in a statement.

The move follows a string of magazine closures at Bauer, once owned by the Packer family under its previous incarnation ACP Magazines.

It is the latest warning sign that the shift to digital media is threatening to kill young Australian women’s love affair with print magazines.

“Magazine closures are never easy, desirable or done without careful consideration for all of those involved,” said Dykzeul.

“We have to ensure that we are continually reshaping and defining the business so that our readers of today, and those of tomorrow, remain engaged with the content we publish and the platforms upon which we deliver. We are incredibly proud of the brand and the people who have been involved and represented over the last 45 years.”

Aimed at women aged 18 to 34, Cosmopolitan’s local edition is published under licence from storied US publisher Hearst, which became a global player in the 1960s partly on the back of the title’s huge success.

The local edition has launched the careers of scores of journalists and editors as well as adjacent brands such as the 30-year old COSMO Bachelor Of The Year event.

In the 1960s, Hearst remade Cosmopolitan with frank and often brash stories for young women, transforming the title into one of the most profitable and popular magazines in the country.