''HUMO'' is a popular

Dutch-language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. ''Afrikaans'' i ...

Belgian weekly radio and television supermarket tabloid.

History and profile

''Humoradio'' (meaning a portmanteau of 'humor' and 'radio' in English) was first published in 1936 as a Dutch-language counterpart to ''Le Moustique'', now '' Télémoustique''. During World War II between 1940 and 1944 ''Humoradio'' was not published. In 1958, when television started to reach a larger audience in the country, the magazine was renamed as ''Humo''. The magazine is published on a weekly basis. ''HUMO'' as it is recognized today started emerging from 1969 on, when Guy Mortier became its chief editor. He gave the magazine its playful comedic tone, put more emphasis on articles about rock music and shaped it into a magazine that appealed to a left-wing, progressive audience. During Mortier's term many classic columns, interview series, annual cultural events and comic strips that are still considered to be part of "Humo" today saw the day of light. Among those is the annual ''HUMO's Pop Poll'', organized since 1967, which lets readers elect their favorite people, radio shows, TV shows, music groups,... of the year. Another recurring event is Humo's Rock Rally, an important Belgian contest for young rock bands,. Humo also sponsors the

Rock Werchter Rock Werchter is an annual music festival held in the village of Werchter, near Leuven, Belgium, since 1976 and is a large sized rock music festival. The 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2014 festivals received the Arthur award for ''best festiv ...

festival since its conception in 1977. In 2003 Mortier retired. ''HUMO''s home cartoonist is Kamagurka, whose style influenced the overall cult appeal of the magazine. The magazine's mascots, Bert and Cowboy Henk, are creations by him, both featured in weekly comics series. The owner of ''HUMO'' was Sanoma and was published by Sanoma magazines. In May 2015 the magazine was acquired by

De Persgroep DPG Media Group is a Belgian media company also active in the Netherlands and Denmark. It is owned by the Van Thillo family and employs some 6,000 people. Divisions The DPG Media Group operates through three national subsidiaries: * DPG Media ...

Circulation

Since 2002 ''HUMO'' has had a declining circulation rate. During the period of 2006-2007 the circulation of the magazine was 278,000 copies. The magazine sold 320,000 copies on 23 September 2008 when it offered a free copy of ''Goddamned Days on a Goddamned Planet'' which was an unpublished new novel of Flemish author Dimitri Verhulst. During the first quarter of 2009 the circulation of the magazine was 256,558 copies. The magazine had a circulation of 215,409 copies in 2010 and 197,105 copies in 2011. It was 166,732 copies in 2012. The 2013 circulation of the magazine was 150,232 copies.

Past and present contributors to "Humo"

Journalists

* Herman De Coninck * Yves Desmet * Marc Didden * Guy Mortier * Herman Selleslags *

Serge Simonart Serge may refer to: * Serge (fabric), a type of twill fabric * Serge (llama) (born 2005), a llama in the Cirque Franco-Italien and internet meme * Serge (name), a masculine given name (includes a list of people with this name) * Serge (post), a hi ...

* Rudy Vandendaele

Columnists

* Herman Brusselmans *

Willy Courteaux Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and sc ...

* Patrick De Witte * Arnon Grunberg * Gerrit Komrij * Tom Lanoye * Hugo Matthysen * Jan Mulder * Kees van Kooten *

Guido Van Meir Guido is a given name Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Switzerland. The mea ...

* Rudy Vandendaele

Cartoonists

* Jonas Geirnaert * Gummbah * Jeroom * Kamagurka ('' Bert'', '' Cowboy Henk'') * Ever Meulen * Herr Seele ('' Cowboy Henk'') * Peter van Straaten

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Humo 1936 establishments in Belgium Magazines published in Belgium Weekly magazines published in Belgium Dupuis titles Dutch-language magazines Satirical magazines published in Belgium Magazines published in Flanders Listings magazines Magazines established in 1936 Music magazines Television magazines