Buzz sets its sights on a big-time expansion with a national reach.

Los Angeles' Buzz magazine is looking to expand its circulation by more than 50 percent this year, not on its home turf but in New York and other major metropolitan centers around the country.

Buzz Inc. is also launching new book, online and television ventures in 1995.

Company officials said the goal is to turn the 4-year-old monthly magazine, which focuses on celebrities, culture and Los Angeles-area news, into a nationwide multimedia operation. Already, Buzz distributes about 20 percent of its 80,000 copies outside of the Los Angeles area, Editor-in-Chief Allan Mayer said.

"If people outside of Los Angeles want Buzz," he said, "let's go get them."

Buzz officials maintain that 95 percent of the magazine's readers are college educated, with an average household income of $171,000 a year.

But unlike other publications in the "city magazine" category - like Los Angeles magazine and Texas Monthly - Buzz claims that 80 percent of its advertisers are for national, not local, companies and products. Traditionally, ads from local boutique shops, restaurants and services are the core of city magazines' advertising.

Therefore, Buzz plans to capitalize on that national strength by boosting circulation outside of the Los Angeles area, said Mayer. Expanding in Los Angeles would entail lowering the percentage of high-income readers that Buzz advertisers are seeking, Mayer said.

"The way for us to grow without diluting our demographics is to expand geographically," Mayer said.

Circulation on the rise

Therefore, starting with its March issue, Buzz will up its monthly nationwide circulation to 125,000 copies. Most of this increase will come in New York, where Buzz plans to have an increased newsstand presence and additional direct-mail subscriptions. Later in the year, there will be similar circulation pushes in Chicago, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle.

Mayer said the magazine's editorial direction will not be modified.

"What attracts readers to Buzz is the way in which it reflects the distinctive voice and vision of L.A.," he said, "and that will not change."

But not everybody in the world of magazine publishing is convinced. One magazine industry observer, who asked not to be identified, said Buzz's circulation in Los Angeles is already limited - Mayer said it is roughly 64,000 readers - and wondered why the company is not looking to increase its hold on Los Angeles instead.

"I see it as an admission of defeat on two fronts," the source said. "One, they can't seem to grow their local circulation, and two, they can't seem to crack the local ad market.

"Buzz is putting out a very good magazine, but it has not set Los Angeles on fire - through no fault of its own, but because Los Angeles is fireproof when it comes to magazines."

Venturing out

In looking to the future, Los Angeles-based Buzz Inc. has also created Buzz Books, a publishing imprint that will be distributed by St. Martin's Press. The imprint will publish six to eight titles a year.

Buzz Online, an expanded interactive version of the magazine, will debut on the Internet this month as well. Los Angeles-based online developer MetaWire assisted in taking the magazine into the interactive world. Mayer said several advertisers have already shown an interest in developing interactive advertising packages to go with the online magazine.

And Buzz is considering the world of television as well, following the primetime airing of Buzz TV, a news magazine show that ran nationally on CBS last August with a 4.0 Nielsen's rating, a lacklustre showing but adequate for the time slot it had. Buzz TV producer Pinnacle Communications, in conjunction with Buzz, announced that talks are under way with two major television networks and a national syndication company to turn Buzz TV into a half-hour magazine series.

"Buzz magazine has created a unique franchise among upscale readers and advertisers," said Buzz Inc. President and CEO Eden Collinsworth. "Now is the time for us to actively develop that franchise and take advantage of its potential profitability."

But others in the magazine world wondered if such plans are a bit lofty for a magazine with fewer than 100,000 readers.

As one industry source said, "They are trying to parlay a franchise that apparently not too many people recognize."