Neglected children - children's magazines

"The children's market has been neglected for a long time," says Tommi Lewis, editor of Disney Adventures, the two-year-old start-up from W.D. Publications, Inc. Twenty years ago, says Lewis, children's magazines barely had a presence on the newsstand, as publishers felt it was more effective to reach its audience through school plans.

But my data show that since 1985, over 50 new kids' titles - ranging from one-shots to monthlies - have hit the newsstands. That seems to bear our Lewis's contention that a better-educated generation of baby-boomers place a higher value on reading when it comes to their kids, and are willing to spend on magazines.

Although the survival rate for children's magazines is higher than that for the average publication, not all new kids' titles enjoy the same measure of success. Even such a savvy and well-heeled media company like MTV Network flopped when it tried to introduce Nickelodeon, a print companion to its kid-TV channel. The venture lasted one issue before being folded. It's back on the drawing board and may be relaunched in March 1993.

Is there room for more children's magazines? Lewis says "yes" and offers her advice for a new start-up: "Try to write up. Kids like to emulate an older age," she says. But while the magazine's attitude must be slightly "hipper-than-thou," editors can't get too far ahead of their audience. "Kids must feel a sense of ownership in the magazine," she cautions. And to further complicate the equation, editors must also recognize who is paying: "Make sure that the magazine will get the parent's seal of approval."

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