Magazine launches & events 1996
Magazines listed by cover date with most recent at top. Also with alphabetic links to magazines on the right. Launches in other years. |
StuffDecember/January. DennisJanuary/February 199 was the last issue, having reached an ABC sales figure of 64,183, against a target of 80,000. Then bought by Haymarket> Haymarket profile Dennis profile Men's monthlies case study |
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NeonDecember/January. Emap Metro. £1; 116 pages. Editor: Adam HigginbothamAnother film magazine Competition on half-cover Emap profile |
RotationsNovember/December. Rotations UK. £2.95. Editor: Steve EdwardsRound, die-cut format with CD. Packaged in plastic bag with card backing (to stop it rolling off the shelves?!) |
EscapeNovember/December. Dennis. £2.50; 108 pages. Editor: Mark HighamInternet for men with focus on finding 'babe' sites. Jennifer Aniston on the cover. First version pulled for legal reasons Dennis profile Men's monthlies case study |
Elle 'see-through' bra advertDecember. Emap/Hachette. £2.30; 228 pages. Editor: Marie O'RiordanHelena Christensen cover by Kim Knott. Main feature: 'The 10 most glamorous people in the world'. Claims to be 'The world's biggest-selling fashion magazine' Bra advert used acetate sheet with T-shirt that could be turned over to reveal the bra Emap profile Women's monthlies profiled Women's monthlies covers |
Uri Geller's EncountersNovember. Paragon. £2.99; 84 pages. Editor: Geoff Harris.Cover gift: quartz crystal 'empowered' by the spoon-bending man himself Paragon profile |
 Exclusive interviews with big names, such as this one with George Michael, are key to The Big Issue's success |
The Big Issue's George Michael exclusive11 November 1996. Issue 207. 80p. 48pp.Editor: A. John Bird John Bird turned The Big Issue into a mainstream weekly and in 1993 won the BSME's Editors' Editor of the Year award. The title was launched in 1991 to give homeless people a way of earning money rather than begging. Its strapline was 'Coming up from the streets'. Exclusive interviews with big names, such as this one with George Michael, were key to his strategy. Its sales in London were 132,787 copies a week. |
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T3 – 'Tomorrow's Technology Today'November. Future. With card tag. £2.95. 124 pages. Matt finish to coverFuture profile Men's monthlies case study |
Sky SportsNovember. Haymarket for Sky TV. £2.25; 148 pages. Editor: Jon HottenCover tagline: 'from the publishers of 442' (Haymarket's football monthly) Haymarket profile Contract publishers Magazine industry structure |
 Michael Caine – who owned Langan's restaurant in London – was on the cover of the first Eat Soup |
Eat SoupOctober/November. IPC. £1 first issue. 164pp. Editor: David BurnhamMarketed as 'Food, drink and travel from the makers of Loaded' witth the strapline 'Too much of a good thing can be wonderful'. With reader questionnaire. Michael Caine – who owned stakes in Langan's restaurant and The Canteen in London – was on the cover of the first Eat Soup with an interview by Emily Pride and portrait by Harry Borden. The cover image showed Caine as Harry Palmer in the film version of Len Deighton's book, The Ipcress File. Deighton himself wrote cookery books and his characters often cook in both the books and films. In an interview for Campaign (14 June 1996), editor-in-chief Alan Lewis said the idea was to create a lifestyle magazine with ‘a whiff of the early days of Playboy, when it fulfilled a lifestyle role for a whole generation of men’. The initial print run was quoted as 70,000 with IPC aiming for a settle-down circulation figure of 45,000. However, Eat Soup was seen as before its time and closed within a year. |
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Now24 October. IPC. 30p introductory price. Glossy. 60 pages.Editor: Lynn CardyAustralian actor Mel Gibson on the cover. £50 vouchers for reader feedback In May 97, took over Gruner + Jahr's Here! IPC profile Women's weeklies case study Celebrity mags price war |
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MinxOctober. Emap Elan. Special price: £1. Editor: Toni RodgersFor girls with a lust for life. Closed in 2000 Women's monthlies profiled |
 Wallpaper September 1996 established a Tyler Brule industry that continues with Monocle |
WallpaperSeptember/October. £3; 164 pages. Editor/founder: Tyler BruleInfluential lifestyle magazine sold to to Time Inc in June 1997. Brule left after clashes with new managers once title placed under control of IPC in 2002, AOL-Time Warner having taken over the UK publisher in 2001 IPC profile Men's monthlies case study Men's magazines A-Z |
Marketing Week new media sectionSeptember 13. CentaurAn indication of the growing importance of the worldwide web for marketing purposes |
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Punch rebornSeptember. £1.75; Liberty Publishing. Editor: Peter McKay'New Punch, new danger' cover line aping political advertising by Conservatives attacking Tony Blairs strange eyes. Company owned by Mohamed Fayed, owner of Harrods. Failed to attract enough readers despite relaunch as A4 and several different editors. Closed in 2001 |
ExtractJuly/August. Extract Enterprises. £2.50; 100 pages. Editor: Ben ArogundadeSilver ink used on cover |
Here!10 June. Gruner + Jahr. Cut price: 35p (70p). 68 pages. Editor: Jane Ennis.Weekly with glossy cover. Later taken over by Now (see above) Gruner + Jahr profile Women's weeklies case study Celebrity mags price war |
 Fun Online summer 1996  Fun Online - German edition autumn 1995 |
Fun OnlineSummer. Egmont Interactive. £3.50 with CD; 68pp. Ed: Richard Burton'PC magazine for multimedia kids.' UK version of German title launched in autumn 1995 |
CipherApril/May. Cipher. £1.95; 52 pages. Editor: Joan L Smith |
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Blah BlahApril. Ray Gun Publishing. £2.50; Editor: Marvin Scott JarrettDamon Albarn vs Irvine Welsh cover. UK spin-off from US RayGun, designed by influential David Carson |
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BizarreMarch/April. John Brown Publishing. Ed: Fiona JeromeLater sold to Dennis John Brown profile Dennis profile Men's monthlies case study |
DempstersSpring. Stroudgate Publishing. £2.40; 152 pages. Editor: Deep Singh Attempted to build on reputation of Daily Mail gossip columnist Nigel Dempster. 20-page pull-out guide to the season. Actress Emma Thompson on the cover. Didn't last long |
Spirit |