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French magazine Têtu goes bust after making annual losses of over €1million
France’s best-known gay magazine, Têtu, has gone bust.
The magazine declared bankruptcy four months ago but has been seeking a buyer since that time. It also launched a social media campaign, #SaveMyTetu, in an effort to find new investors.
However, ahead of a final liquidation hearing on 23 July, staff have conceded that the search has proved unsuccessful.
Speaking to AFP yesterday, managing editor Yannick Barbe said, ‘We are forced to file for liquidation because there is no money coming in.’
Têtu (which translates as ‘stubborn’), was launched in 1995 by Pierre Berge, the longtime partner of Yves Saint Laurent.
However, it has consistently failed to make money over the course of its history, reports AFP and was sold by Berge for a symbolic €1 in 2013 to French publisher Jean-Jacques Augier.
At the time of the sale the magazine was making an annual loss of €2million ($2.2million). That was brought down to €1.1million ($1.2million) in losses in 2014, with figures for 2015 predicting a loss of €600,000 ($654,000).
Barbe said that circulation had fallen by 12.5% since 2010. The title was selling around 28,000 copies a month at the end of 2014.
France has also faced high-profile demonstrations in recent years against same-sex marriage and adoption (both now legalized), and Barbe felt the controversy over LGBTI issues had ‘made advertisers and potential investors nervous.’ As a result, the magazine had received no inquiries from ‘credible and serious’ buyers.
The post French magazine Têtu goes bust after making annual losses of over €1million appeared first on Gay Star News.
David Hudson
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