View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. News
May 6, 2008

Are celebrity baby pictures worth millions?

The millions of dollars that American celebrity mags are reputedly paying for stars’ wedding and baby pictures are only marginally beneficial, the New York Times suggests today.

Once considered ethically questionable, paying a fortune for a celebrity’s family snaps has now become fairly routine among US celebrity weeklies, particularly Time Inc’s People and the US version of Northern & Shell’s OK!.

Newsstand sales of a magazine with a an exclusive cover can increase sales but rarely enough to justify a payment of $1 million (£500,000) or more. Even at full price, each additional copy generates less than $2 (£1) in extra income.

The record probably belongs to the issue of People that featured pictures of Angela Jolie and Brad Pitt’s baby Shiloh which sold, it’s said, 800,000 copies more than usual. The parents reputedly gave the $1 million dollars they were reported to have received to a charity.

By comparison Christina Aguilera and her new baby on the cover of an issue in February did not do much for People’s sales.

“It’s always a bit of a gamble” Sarah Evans, editor of the American version of OK!, admitted to the New York Times.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

Mostly a big exclusive sells an extra 300,000 to 500,000 copies – producing less than an extra $1 million in revenue. But they can boost website traffic. The Lopez twins attract about 4 million viewers in a single day to People.com.

But that’s just in the United States – there is also the question of international rights.

Northern & Shell’s OK! has more than a dozen foreign versions around the world including the UK version. It was this foreign readership that supposedly spurred the company to pay a reported $2 million for exclusive pictures of the wedding of “Desperate Housewives” star Eva Longoria and Tony Parker.

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network