Tiger Beat, the bible of preadolescent lust, is being revamped and relaunched after investors — including Nick Cannon — raised $2 million to restore the flagging publication back to its glory days (i.e., the mid-’90s, when the Backstreet Boys were peak cute). Thanks to this infusion of cash, future generations of tweens will still be able to enjoy features like “Stars on Cellphones” and “Cute Boys!”
According to the New York Times, the teenzine, which launched in 1965 during the pinnacle of Beatlemania, plans to undergo some major changes. While the print issue will remain basically the same as it has for the past 50 years, one of the new investors told the Times that Tiger Beat seeks to become a “media empire” built on the backs of young studs. Plans include a music tour, a radio channel, potential involvement with TV and film, a total overhaul of the website, and, of course, T-shirts with the vintage Tiger Beat logo to appeal to nostalgic tweens and teens.
While rival publication Oh My Vlog! might suggest social-media-crazed teens only care about Vine stars and YouTube vloggers, Tiger Beat seems confident that teens of today ultimately want the same things as the teens of yesteryear: posters of their favorite Disney stars and boy-band members and an editorial tone defined by the excessive use of exclamation points and OMGs.
