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Magazine launches & events 1975-89

Magazines listed by cover date with most recent at top. Also with alphabetic links to magazines on the right. 

Writers News
October 1989. David & Charles Publishing. 40 pp. Ed: Richard Bell

Opera Now
April 1989. Opera Now Enterprises. £2; 108 pp. Ed: Mel Cooper 

TV Guide front cover TV Guide was Rupert Murdoch's attempt to break into weekly TV listings in the UK as a European ruling forced Radio Times and TV Times to relinquish their monopoly on programme listings

TV Guide
25 March 1989. Murdoch Magazines, London. 40p; 60pp. Ed: Ian Birch
Jason Donovan cover – fronting a feature and a competition to win a part in Australian soap Neighbours. The title was given a £5m advertising budget and the target circulation was set at 350,000-400,000 copies. A 48-page sample title was stitched into the March 18 issue of News of the World's Sunday magazine to promote the launch.

Rupert Murdoch's interest in the sector was based on a move in the US and the fact that the UK duopoly for TV listings held by Radio Times and TV Times was to be broken up.

In 1988, News International had bought Triangle Publications, which owned TV Guide, the market leader in the US selling 17m copies a week (it was founded in 1952). The company decided to bring the concept to the UK, with managing director Liz Rees-Jones announcing in January 1989 that it intended to launch a title to take advantage of the breaking up of the listings monopoly. This was triggered by a European Commission ruling. Several other publishers, including Emap, were also planning launches - in fact 'a flood' of launches was expected in the sector.

Media Week (6 January 1989) reported: 'The Commission's ruling relates to a complaint by Irish publishers Magill, which had tried to publish a weekly TV guide in competition with TV Times and Radio Times - which circulate widely in the Republic. The Commission has ruled that TV and Radio Times' tight rein on schedule information was contrary to Article 86 of the EC Treaty. This ruling will now have to be considered by the UK Government, which is bound by the Treaty.'

However, when TV Guide launched it could only carry details of cable and satellite listings - the terrestrial pages were merely summaries of the week's 'essential viewing'. Murdoch had to wait for legislation to break the monopoly held by Radio Times and TV Times. In December, Murdoch raised the guaranteed circulation of TV Guide by 30,000 to 150,000 copies a week. It was selling 190,335 copies a week at the time. However, in the same month, the company signalled a U-turn by deciding to turn the title into a subscriptions-based monthly for satellite TV alone in March 1990 when the duopoly on terrestrial TV listings lifted. A tough economic climate, Rupert Murdoch's debts and the £50,000 charge by Independent Television Publications for its listings put paid to the ambitious plans.

In fact, recession set in, interest rates rose and the debt from the US Triangle deal nearly sank Murdoch. He sold off most of his magazine assets in the US and the UK.

See TV Choice  


The Software Show
Spring 1989. BBC/Redwood Publishing, London. Free supplement with Acorn User. 52pp. Group ed: Tony Quinn; ed: Geoff Bains.
Carol Vorderman was on the front cover of this magazine produced to support BBC TV's Software Show, which she presented. Several pages were the result of DTP packages used on the show, from Apple Macintosh, Amstrad PCW and Atari ST.
BBC Magazines profile
Redwood Publishing profile


BBC Holiday 89 BBC Holiday '89
Spring 1989. Issue 2 shown. Redwood/BBC Enterprises. £1.75; 100 pp perfect bound. Ed: Juliet Walker
'BBC Good Holiday guide'. Precursor to BBC Holidays in 1992 under Ramune Burns
BBC Magazines profile
Holidays and travel magazines

GQ magazine first issue GQ
December/Jan 1989. Conde Nast, London. 
Paul Keers launches long-established US men's title (Gentlemen's Quarterly) in UK. Tory politician and founder of Haymarket Publishing Michael Heseltine on the cover
Conde Nast profile
Men's magazines history

Raw heavy metal magazine first issue cover
Rogue Magazines' Raw was bought by Emap within 7 months of its launch. The first issue carried an Ozzy Osbourne flexi disc cover mount

Raw (Rock Action Worldwide)
31 August-13 September 1988. Fortnightly. Rogue Magazines, 3a Kendall Place, London W1. £1. Stapled. 60pp.
Ed: Malcolm Dome; Managing ed: Dante Bonutto; Art: Mike Simister
The first issue of this heavy metal title came with a free Ozzy Osbourne flexi disc in clear plastic mounted on the front cover. Features covered AC/DC, Metallica and a report on the Donington 88 festival. The centre spreads was a poster of Deep Purple's Ian Gillan promoting the magazine's 'best of' poll.

The associate publisher was former pop star Jonathan King, shown dressed in a schoolboy costume playing a guitar. In 2001, King was jailed for four indecent assaults and two serious sexual offences on boys aged 14 and 15. He served half of the seven-year term.

In April 1989, Emap bought the title, which claimed a circulation of up to 35,000. Sales rumbled along at 25,00-30,000 but the title always trailed behind Emap's weekly Kerrang (which it had bought when United Consumer Magazines was closed by the Express newspapers group in 1991). In 1995, Emap took Raw off the shelves for several weeks and relaunched it in October with a sample issue free with monthly Select. The aim was to base the title on pictures and news to complement Emap's Select an additional, more frequent, read. However, it closed within five months.
Teen magazines


Arena
Summer/Autumn 1988. Wagadon 
Issue 8 shown
Wagadon profile
Men's magazines history

Excel men's magazine 1988
The coverline 'How to spot a bullshitter' led to advertising for Excel being banned

Excel
April 1988. White Line Publishing. Ed: Rod Fountain
Main coverline "How to spot a bullshitter" led to its advertising being banned on the London Tube and the editorial mix under was seen as too yuppy; it soon folded (although the title would be used again more than once in the next decade)
Men's magazines history
Men's magazines A to Z 


3D
April 1988. Emap, London. Controlled circulation; 56 pp. Ed: Chris Cunningham
Subtitle: desktop, design, communication. With advertiser response card and survey to register for free copies 
Emap profile

The Digger magazine cover October 1987
The Digger got off to a good start with 15 pages of advertising in a 40-page first issue, but closed down within a year
The Digger
9 October 1987. General Publications. 55p. 40pp. Ed & publisher: John Mulcahy 
Attempt at Private Eye competitor. Used better quality, coated paper to attract colour advertising. The initial print run of the Digger was reported as 120,000 copies. It was published as a fortnightly on alternate weeks to Private Eye. The first issue had 15 ad pages, including Renault (the four colour centre pages), Ryanair and the Observer. The Times reviewed the first issue and described it as a smooth but ugly pastiche of Private Eye, aimed at yuppies. In April, however, the magazine missed an issue amid financial problems. It was reported that about £100,000 was needed to keep it afloat, but Al-Fayed Investments and Time Out refused approaches. despite the May 22 issue coming out, the magazine was forced to bring in a liquidator.

Educational Computing October 1987
Educational Computing was born out of a merger of Redwood's School Computer User and Emap's Educational Computing tabloid newspaper
Educational Computing
October 1987-2004? Redwood, London. Controlled circulation/subscription. 68pp. Ed: Tony Quinn; publisher: Simon Goode
Acorn User had a big readership in schools that it wanted to build on and schools were crying out for advice on using the computers that were being given. The problem, for a new, small, publisher was the cost of distribution. So Acorn User's editor, Tony Quinn and publisher, Simon Goode, approached computer educational adviser Mike Bostock for guidance on a deal with local education authorities: they would take free magazines in bulk and distribute them to schools. Redwood would make its money from advertising. Over 90% of the UK's LEAs signed up for the deal. It was a unique idea and from it a quarterly called School Computer User was launched. At about the same time, Emap had decided to close its subscription-based monthly tabloid format Educational Computing (the publisher of which was Tom Moloney, who became chief executive of Emap in 2005). This had been running for several years and had a subscription base of almost 10,000 copies, so Redwood bought the title. Redwood combined School Computer User's distribution model and editorial strategy with the name Educational Computing. The magazine's name was later expanded to Educational Computing and Technology and it was sold to ITT Publications.

Bella 1987 first issue cover
Bella was based on US title Woman's World

Bella
October 5, 1987. H. Bauer. 29p;52pp.
Ed: Dennis Neeld 
Bella was Bauer's British version of US title Woman's World. LHS Brompton ran a mail drop promotion wherby 2 million copies were put through doors, mainly in London. It was estimated that three weeks after the launch, Bauer was printing 1.2m copies and selling about 680,000 of them.

The launches of titles by both Gruner and Jahr (Prima and Best) and Bauer were marked by the strategy of establishing copy sales before advertising. This was a well established method in Germany, but new to the UK. G&J was willing in to spend up to £10m on Prima before getting any return. Prima was launched with only 12 pages of advertising out of a total of 140 pages, but had 204 pages by autumn 1987, almost half of which were advertising.


Electronic Publishing Now
April 1987 
Aimed at booming Macintosh-based DTP market. Editor Bruce Smith (ex-Acorn User deputy)

Practical Parenting
April/May 1987. Family Circle/International Thomson, London. 80p; 100pp. Ed: Davina Lloyd 
A spin-off from Family Circle.

Putting Your Amstrad to Work
September/October 1986. Focus Investments 
Aimed at users of Amstrad wordprocessing systems with bundled printer

Computer Images  October 1985
Computer Images - launch issue above and as a quarterly a year later below
Computer Images October 1986
Computer Images
October 1985. Emap McLaren, Croydon. £3. 56pp.
Ed: Bob Swain. Pub: Michael J. Eades
Supplement sent to readers of Audio Visual and Television and Video Production. By October a year later it was a quarterly. 

Amstrad Action October 1985
Amstrad Action - a keyboard is reflected in the monster's eye
Amstrad Action
October 1985. Future, Somerton, Somerset. £1; 100pp. Ed: Peter Connor. Pub: Chris Anderson 
Aimed at Amstrad CPC games market. Chris Anderson had been editor of Personal Computer Games and Zzap! 64 in London. He moved to Somerton and founded Future with Amstrad Action. The magazine focused on games reviews and playing them rather than typing in.listings, which was a core element of the user magazines. The top of the front cover reads: 'Power-packed reviews each month on the amazing CPC 464 and 664.' To the left of the vertical masthead is another selling line: 'The mouldbreaking magazine from Future Publishing.' The editorial describes how the title was written on Amstrads and sent by modem to the typesetters, who returned typeset copy for the editors to paste up. Anderson was known as 'Ayatullah' by the staff and named newspaper tycoons Robert Maxwell and Rupert Murdoch as his heroes.
Future profile


Duck Soup - tabloid paper that was folded in half to show A4 cover for newsagents' shelves
Duck Soup
April 1985. Duck Soup Pubs, London. £1; 32pp. Eds: Tom Johnston and David Austin.  
Tabloid newsprint cartoon title. A3 format folded to A4 to fit newsagents' shelves

MicroMath
Spring 1985
Journal of the Association of  Teachers of Maths

Big K April 1984
Big K - later issues featured a cartoon series drawn on an Apple Macintosh, below
Bik K computer cartoon spread Shatter 1984
Big K
IPC Magazines, London. April 1984. 85p. 108pp. Ed: Tony Tyler; pub dir: John Purdie 
Games title with free cassette. Based on readers typing in games listings. First issue had programs for the Commodore Vic20 and 64, Oric, BBC/Acorn and Sinclair Spectrum. In issue 12 (March 1985) it launched a comic strip - Shatter - drawn on an Apple Macintosh, which claimed to be a world first (by Mike Saenz, Peter B. Gillis and Mike Gold). 

Fast Lane april 1984
Fast Lane - the first issue of the
Fast Lane
April 1984. Business Press International (IPC). 116pp + gatefold cover. 90p. Ed: Peter Dron (ex-Motor). Porsche 911 Carrera supertest on the cover with 6 pages inside. BMW M635 (4 pages); VW Golf GTi pitted against Nissan Cherry Turbo, Vauxhall Astra GTE and Ford Escort XR3i (6 pages). Other coverage: 360bhp twin-engined VW Scirocco, BMW K100, BMW 318i , Toyota Corolla GT Coupe, Audi 200 Turbo, Renault 25
BBC Magazines profile

BBC Wildlife
November 1983. BBC Publications and Wildlife Publications, Bristol; £1; 56 pages. Editor: Rosamund Kidman Fox
BBC Magazines profile

personal Computer News
Personal Computer News - issue 88 of the weekly from Nov 24 1984
Personal Computer News
March 1983. VNU. Ed: Cyndy Miles. Publisher: Felix Dennis
Weekly consumer title covering all the then-incompatible home computers such as Sinclair Spectrum, BBC Micro and Commodore 64
Dennis profile

Micro Update February 1983
Micro Update covered all the machine formats and put women on its covers to appeal to male readers
Micro Update
February 1983. Argus, London. 75p; 124pp. Editor:  Paul Liptrot
A feature on the British computer the Oric, reveals it was named after Orac, from the Blakes Seven TV series. 

Your Computer - invents the cover disc
December 1982. IPC, London; 60p;164 pages. Editor: Toby Wolpe. 
At at time when computer discs were unknown outside the world of mainframes, micro owners typed listings in by hand. With this plastic disc, played at 33.3 rpm, computer programs could be input as binary sounds. Disc held games for the Sinclair ZX81
IPC profile


TV Choice was closed by legal action over listings copyright

TV Choice
November 1982. 25p
TV programme guide launched by Mr Michael Storey with an initial print run of 100,000. The publishers had to give temporary High Court undertakings that the magazine would not contain material copied without authority from BBC or ITV schedules. However, TV Choice was forced to suspend publication in January 1983 after both ITV Publications and BBC Publications alleged that the magazine had breached their copyright.

Time Out still pressed ahead with a campaign to publish listings in the face of legal action from the BBC and ITV.

A title with the same name was launched in Bauer in 1999.
IPC profile


Acorn User  July 1982 first issue
Acorn User one of the many machine-specific titles that thrived in the 1980s. It eventually closed in 2005
Acorn User
July 1982- spring 2005. Addison-Wesley/Redwood/BBC/Europress. Editor Tony Quinn. 
Successful title for BBC Micro users. Sold a year later to founders of contract publisher Redwood Publishing, a company later taken over by the BBC. Launched BBC titles such as Good Food and Gardeners' World
BBC Magazines profile
Redwood Publishing profile

Executive men's magazine May 1982
The cover girl was Janine Andrews for Executive's first issue

Executive
May 1982. Fragilion, London; 85p; 100 pp. Ed: Brian Keogh.
"For the man of today." Playboy-style magazine 
Men's magazines history
Men's magazines A to Z


 

Sky
April 1982. News International and Hachette. 65p; 86pp (numbered). Ed: Ian Birch. Design Consultant: Malcolm Garrett
Nick Kamen and Charlotte Lewis cover
special page formats
Men's magazines history
 


Interiors first issue cover
Interiors - the first issue; it was later bought by Conde Nast to become World of Interiors

Interiors
November1981. Pharos Publications, Chelsea, London. £1.50; 208 pp. Editor-in-chief: Min Hogg;
Publisher: Kevin Kelly
Kevin Kelly set up Interiors and by 1983 it was half owned by Condé Nast and had changed its name to World of Interiors. In April that year, the magazine ran TV advertising, with spots on Channel Four alongside repeats of Brideshead Revisited. The magazine had increased its circulation from 40,500 to 43,436 with 5,000 more copies going to the US.

In 1984, World of Interiors was voted consumer magazine of the year and Min Hogg editor of the year. Wendy Harrop, art director, was runner-up in the design section. In December, Harrop was appointed editor and creative director.

In 1985, Kelly persuaded Condé Nast and the Financial Times to join with him in launching Business magazine. In 1988, Kelly sold his interest (20%) in the two titles to Condé Nast. This was because of his success in bringing US title W to the UK as a fortnightly. It was selling 40,000 copies under editor Jane Procter within 18 months of its launch (Queensgate Publications).

Hogg stepped down from World of Interiors in 2001, to be replaced by her deputy Rupert Thomas. By then it was selling 65,000 copies a month.


City Limits first issue cover 1981
City Limits first issue cover in David King's constructivist style

'Psycho' Tebbit in action

City Limits 12 April 1990
A late City Limits cover with a photograph of US writer William Burroughs from 12 April 1990

City Limits
October 9-15 1981. London Voice Ltd, 313 Upper Street, Islington, London N1. Distributed by New Statesman. 40p. 92pp. Ed: John Fordham
City Limits was launched by many of the former staff of Time Out (referred to, in an Private-Eyeish way as Another London Magazine) who had left during a protracted dispute after owner Tony Elliot ended the system of equal pay for all staff. The launch issue's editorial states: 'Six months, innumerable dismissals, several writs, threats, recriminations, sit-ins, lock-outs and undignified rumbles later, we have brought you City Limits - a paper that we think you'll agree was worth the fight.'

Cartoonist Steve Bell's Maggie's Farm switched from Time Out with the first outing in City Limits portraying Norman Tebbit ripping off an interviewer's head on Maggie's order 'Get him Psycho!'

Art director Carol Warren used design consultant David King to establish an immediately recognisable cover style on a low budget. Don McCullin interviewed King for Eye and described his work so: 'His graphic style – an easily recognisable mix of explosive sans serif typography, solid planes of vivid colour and emphatic rules – reworked for the New Left in Britain the graphic language of the Russian Constructivists.' Jeremy Leslie's book Issues: New Magazine Design features a spread of City Limits covers. King has a unique collection of Soviet imagery.

City Limits folded in the early 1990s.
Time Out profile
Exhibition including City Limits and Time Out covers
 


personal computer world April 1978
The UK's first magazine for microcomputer enthusiasts - in the days when you built your own
Personal Computer World
April 1978
UK's first micro magazine
Computer magazine history

Sell Out first issue cover from Time Out
Sell Out first issue cover. It was a spin-off from the London listings magazine Time Out
Sell Out
April 1975. Best Brands Ltd, 374 Gray's Inn Rd, London WC1X 8BB. 40p; 68pp; A4 format. Ed: Janet Street-Porter; publisher: Tony Elliott
Spin-off from Time Out's Sell Out section, which listed bargains and carried consumer information. Marketed as 'an indispensable survival guide.' The cover used spot red but all the other pages were in mono on uncoated paper. The cover matter was a thin card. All the listings in the magazine were free. The editor was Janet Street-Porter - Elliott's wife - who was later to make her name on radio and television and, in 1999, as editor of the Independent on Sunday newspaper. In 2002 she became the paper's editor-at-large and writes a column.
Time Out profile

Ziggy
Publication date unclear. Big Mags, West Drayton, Middx; £1; 48 pages. Editor: Stuart Blair. 
"Not for boring bastards easily offended"

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