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Magazines by cover date with most recent at top. Alphabetic list on right.
In development
- Project Spitfire, traditional women's weekly from IPC
- Film weeklies from IPC and Emap
- Emap to launch Italian fashion weekly Grazia in UK
- Lusso luxury lifestyle from design house
PRD
- KO! men's weekly and shopping title B Happy from
OK! stable Northern & Shell
- Easy Living, Conde Nast 'grown-up' glossy for women aged
30-59
- National Magazines talking to Rodale (Men's Health) about
UK launch
- Music title from IPC, to exploit success of Uncut
- UK version of Dennis US music title Blend
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FT Creative Business
weekly closes
The Financial Times has closed its pullout media
section Creative Business as a weekly after four years.
The 14 December issue was the last. It will appear monthly in
the New Year, with two pages inside the paper devoted to the
media and creative industries each week. The supplement failed
to attract much advertising and the move is part of a cost-cutting
drive. The Telegraph closed its media section earlier
in the year and the Times reduced its media coverage
on Fridays. However, the Independent launched a media
section in September to compete directly with Media Guardian
on a Monday.
www.ft.com/creativebusiness
FT (Pearson) profile
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Bauer closes men's
weekly Cut
The Take A Break publisher closed Cut in December
after poor sales, reported to be as low as 20,000 a week, just
a tenth those of Zoo and Nuts. Adds to a list
of failed launches in past two years, including Real
(sold to Essential Publishing in the summer), Lounge
(March 2004 launch) and Three-Sixty (winter, 2002).
Cut launch
Bauer profile
Men's weeklies
Men's monthlies case study |
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BBC to sell Eve
and other magazines
The BBC is to close or sell off magazines not related to
its programmes and end the practice of advertising its titles
on television. Those derived from programmes, such as Top
Gear, will be retained, as will those in 'key BBC programme
genres': children, food, gardening, history, home interest,
music, science and wildlife. The BBC will sell Eve, What
to Wear and from the Origin group, which the BBC bought
less than year ago. This goes some way to answering criticism
from competitors. As part of BBC Worldwide, the corporation's
commercial arm, the magazines have revenues of about £145m
a year, making it the third-largest UK magazine publisher.
Origin
profile
BBC Magazines
profile
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Future in buying spree
December saw Future Network buy Beach Magazines and Publishing
(Junior,
Junior Pregnancy & Baby and Wedding Day), for £3m
(half subject to meeting targets) and What Laptop from Crimson
Publishing. At its annual meeting, the company said it planned to
double in size within four years.
Future profile |
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Online time 'overtakes magazine reading'
9 November 2004. Europeans spend more time online than reading
magazines, according to research commissioned by the European Interactive
Advertising Association (EIAA). The study placed web usage at 20%
of media time, above both magazines (8%) and newspapers (11%), and
not far behind radio (30%). TV took the largest share of people's
media time (33%) but a third of those online claimed to watch less
TV as a result of using the web.
EIAA
press releases
Research
by Millward Brown
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Design accolade for
Marchbank
Pearce Marchbank has been appointed one of the 200 Royal
Designers for Industry by the RSA (among them David Hillman
and Simon Esterson). He made his name with Time Out's
iconic covers. Emily King described how the magazine's logo
came about in Eye: 'The Time Out logo is created
from two sets of slightly out-of-focus Franklin Gothic characters
shot as line, the smaller reversed out of the core of the larger.
Marchbank ran the resulting typographic halo through a half-tone
filter, lending it the appearance of a gentle glow, suggestive
of a radiant neon sign.' The logo was intended to be a stopgap,
but 32 years later is still seen on city guides and editions
of the magazine in the US, as well as London. His design consultancy
is Studio Twenty
www.rsa.org.uk
RSA
article on new RDIs
Eye
magazine profile
Cover secrets
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NME attacked over
'cool' drug-taking icon
27 Nov, IPC, London, £1.80, 84pp, ed: Conor McNicholson
The choice of ex-Libertines singer Pete Doherty as NME's
top 'movers and shaker' in music for 2004 prompted drugs charity
Addaction to express its fear to the press that this would influence
readers, saying: "Young people are vulnerable to hard drugs."
The band topped the charts in September with their second album
- while Doherty received a suspended four-month jail sentence
for possession of a flick knife. Last year, he spent two months
in jail for burgling ex-bandmate Carl Barat's home. NME
assistant editor Malik Meer said it was Doherty's talent that
earned him the title. www.addaction.org.uk
www.nme.com
IPC profile
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Lenticular covers
- flavour of the month
Two magazines hit the shops in the middle of November with
lenticular covers. Top Gear
(Dec, BBC Worldwide, London, £3.75, 340pp; ed: Michael
Harvey) had a 3D effect Ferrari cover, while NME (27
Nov, IPC, London, £1.80, 84pp, ed: Conor McNicholson)
went one better with a 3D cover of Pete Doherty, formerly of
The Libertines and now Babyshambles, with O2 advert in 3D on
the back. Ribbed plastic is used to make the eye see two images,
to produce the effect. Can appear crude as image has to be printed
separately and stuck on usual cover. Technique long used in
promotional work, and Shine did it in 2001. Lenticular
printing for NME by Hive
Associates
www.nme.com
www.topgear.com
BBC Magazines
profile
IPC profile
Cover Secrets
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Scarlet and Erotic
Review
November, Scarlet Publishing, London. £3.50; 100pp.
Ed: Emily Dubberley
'For women who get it', the 'it' in question being sex. A mix
of features, lingerie fashion, and erotic images and fiction.
'It's designed for intelligent women, who are sexually confident,
but know that there's always something new to learn.' Publisher
Gavin Griffiths previously worked on Erotic Review, and
'saw a gap in the market for a young and funky sex title for
women'. Erotic Review has gone through a turbulent time,
having been bought by Felix Dennis and then sold on to Alton
Russell International, publisher of Penthouse and Focus,
whose pornographic reputation caused editor Rowan Pelling and
many of the staff to resign.
www.scarletmagazine.co.uk
Dennis profile
Women's monthlies profiled
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Reveal
23-29 October (in shops Oct 19), Nat Mags, London. 45p (£1);
100pp. Ed: Sarah Edwards
Reveal aims to be 'the ultimate glossy women's weekly package
offering four great magazines in one: celebrity, real lives,
lifestyle and TV listings for just £1.'
Editor Sarah Edwards said it 'has all the gloss, pace and glamour
of the celebrity weeklies coupled with the emotional punch of
the most successful real life titles.'
On 12 October, 600,000 free copies were distributed through
Tesco, WH Smith Travel and independent retailers. In addition,
the £16m earmarked for marketing ran to a TV campaign
starting on 17 October
Nat Mags profile
Women's weeklies case study
Women's magazines covers
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Spectator editor in Bigley row
The 16 October 2004 issue of the political weekly ran a leader
about the 'mawkish sentimentality' of the people of Liverpool in
holding a 2-minute silence for Ken Bigley, the engineer murdered
in Iraq. The reaction to the death of Diana was also 'a manifestation
of our apparently depleted intelligence' that boded badly for the
UK. This might have stayed in the realms of fair comment, but strayed
into the appalling and inaccurate. Other comments included: Liverpudlians
having 'a prediliction for welfarism' and 'a shared tribal grievance'.
It went on that the city had failed to acknowledge the role played
by its own drunken fans when '50 Liverpool football supporters'
died (it was 96) at Hillsborough stadium in 1989; that 'the police
became a convenient scapegoat' for the tragedy; and 'the Sun newspaper
a whipping-boy for daring, albeit in a tasteless fashion, to hint
at the wider causes of the incident' (the paper said fans robbed
victims, urinated on police and attacked a PC who was giving the
kiss of life; it apologised but sales halved and have yet to fully
recover). Spectator editor Boris Johnson - also a Conservative
MP and shadow spokesman on culture - had to go to Liverpool to apologise.
A few weeks later he lost his shadow post for misleading the Tory
leader about an affair
www.spectator.co.uk
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Test Drive Monthly
November, Dennis, London. £1.80 (£3.70); 268pp.
Ed: Mike Askew
A beefy issue with a gatefold front cover to kick off this What
Car? competitor and add to Dennis's stable of weekly Auto
Express and flash car monthly Evo. Promises every
new car in the UK pictured, reviewed and rated. What Car?
and Top Gear responded with cover mounts
Dennis profile
Car magazines case study
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With free Napster
trail
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Rip & Burn
November, Haymarket, London. £3.30; 164pp. Ed: Matt Snow
The offer of a free 30-day trial with the new, paid-for version
of Napster, and Eminem on the cover are clear signs that this launch
is aiming at MP3-carrying youth
Haymarket
profile
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Sells 521,200
a week
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Nat Mags in UK
deal with Australia's ACP
The National Magazine Company is forming a 50:50 partnership
in the UK to produce weekly magazines with Australian Consolidated
Press. ACP is the country's biggest publisher and is owned by
media tycoon Kerry Packer. It publishes Australia's best-selling
weekly women's magazine, Woman's Day, and Australian
Women's Weekly (a monthly) among its portfolio of 120 titles.
It distributed a UK version of the latter several years ago,
but to little effect. NatMags only has one weekly, Best,
which it took over from G+J in July 2000. NatMags parent Hearst
and ACP already have a joint venture in Australasia to publish
Cosmopolitan, Harpers Bazaar and She
www.acp.com.au
Nat Mags profile
ACP profile
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Hair Style - Future
diversifies
October, Future, Bath. £2.70; 132pp. Ed: Becky Skuse
Future, which is heavily based on computer and gaming titles,
diversifies into beauty sector with monthly aimed at 20 to 40-year
old women. Print run 0,000. Further, it bought Spanish Homes
Magazine for £1.5m. The title was first published
in 1991, turned quarterly in 1997 and bi-monthly in 2003. Future
said the business was more dependent on advertising than on
circulation revenue. In August, Future bought PC Zone
(launched in 1993) and Computer & Video Games, with
its website, from Dennis. The company closed C&VG
- originally launched by Emap and regarded as the UK's oldest
games title - but kept the website
Future profile
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Allergy - newsstand launch
September, Ink Publishing, £3.25
The publisher claims 30% of the population suffers from an allergy,
so being sold in supermarkets should make sense. Had been launched
in January as a controlled circulation title with a print run of
100,000 copies distributed by mail, doctors' surgeries and allergy
clinics. Published in partnership with Allergy UK
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European Business
September, Ink Publishing, London. 132pp; £3.25. Ed: John
Lawless
Magazine 'for movers, shakers and dealmakers' aims to help readers
understand the organisations and forces underpinning and driving
business. 108,000 circulation across Europe at selected newsagents
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Trade reports
said Cut sold poorly
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Cut men's weekly
[later closed]
12 August. H Bauer, London. 60pp; 50p (£1)
The German publisher behind Take a Break and Bella
took a different route to the weekly men's market from IPC and
Emap on the day that ABC figures showed the existing titles
averaged half-a-million sales a week in their first six months.
The print run was said to be 700,000. The new title takes 'the
best' from newspapers and magazines (including Emap's Zoo).
This strategy had been used by Dennis with The Week and
the Guardian for several years with its Editor
supplement. The first issue culled from 54 papers and 185 mags
for a mix of news, humour, gadgets, quizzes, sport, cars and,
of course, women, although the flesh count was refreshingly
low. Had been called 'Project Sue' and 'Project Squint' in the
press. Emap's Zoo responded with a 'new look', 108 pages
and a price cut to 50p. IPC stuck to the high ground with a
16-page 'Babe vault' section (total pagination 92 + 16).
Rumours of a poor reception dogged the magazine and Media
Week said it was 'set for a do-or-die relaunch' in mid-October
after sales fell to 20,000 copies. It was seen as a 'downmarket
version of Dennis's The Week'
Bauer
profile
Men's weeklies case study
Men's magazines
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Marie Claire and
Elle downsize
Marie Claire has reduced the size of its September issue
pages (388 pages plus gatefold) to the US version of A4, cut
its cover price to £2.50 and released a 'travel-sized'
version in the London commuter area. Brad Pitt was on the cover
of the IPC title - only the second male to hold the position
(the other being David Beckham). Hachette UK's Elle
has also gone dual size.
IPC
profile
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Jack
from April 2003
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Jack to close
Dennis Publishing is to close men's style magazine Jack
, barely a year after buying it as part of a takeover of James
Brown's I Feel Good company. The latest audited sales figure
was near 40,000, but the market had become 'trickier', said
the company, and Jack's publishing model was no longer
viable. In 2003, it was relaunched
in a larger format from the 'handbag' size of the original.
Dennis profile
Men's monthlies case study
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Max Power redesigns
and bursts £4 barrier
August. Emap Automotive, Peterborough. 292pp. £4.25. Ed:
Rog Payne
The top-selling boobs and babes car modification magazine has
a new look, some new sections - and 26p added to the cover price
(almost £1 more than the likes of FHM). A DVD of
'cars, fit birds and ill behaviour' was added to attract buyers
Emap profile
www.maxpower.co.uk
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BBC Magazines may
be sold off
Speculation that BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial
arm, may be sold increased after chief executive Rupert Gavin
announced on 16 July that he was resigning. No decision had
been taken on a sale, he told the FT, but he wanted to be able
to mount a buy-out if it happened. The magazines division makes
profits of about £20m on sales of £130m. The establishment
of the division in the late 1980s through buying Redwood Publishing
was controversial and the BBC has been criticised for some launches,
such as Eve, that were not based on programmes.
Greg Ingham, chief executive of Future Network, made a critical
submission to the
BBC Charter Review in March. He said the BBC's strategy
had been 'to buy with taxpayers' money third party commercial
assets in areas [that] it has no right to be in'.
BBC Magazines
profile
Future
profile
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Mizz Summer Special
Summer. IPC Connect, London. 132pp. £2.50. Ed: Sharon
Christal
Specials have long been a feature of women's weeklies and comics,
but are rarer in other markets. This one has 8 pages of postcard-sized
pin-ups, Posh & Becks photo and a competition to win a modelling
contract
IPC
profile
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Silly season for
women's magazines
The silly season usually describes that time in August when
all sorts of weird and wonderful stories are dug up to fill
the pages of the newspapers. This year, it's come early - but
to the covers of women's glossies. They have all gone bananas
with cover mounts. There is everything a girl could want to
kit her out for summer. Company has a black bikini (it
did a boob tube in 2000), B a vest, New Woman
a sarong and Cosmo a pair of flop-flops. Then Glamour
has sunglasses (black or mock tortoiseshell frames) and
Zest a shape-up book. To keep it all in, Elle
offers a beach bag, as does In Style. For those who can't
get away, console yourself with a summer-in-the-city CD from
Eve or classic film music from She. Finally, if
there's nothing in this little lot to read, Red has
a copy of OK!
Women's monthlies profiled
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Gardenlife
July? (not dated; no barcode; given free with London's Evening Standard).
Seven Publishing Ltd, London. 144pp. £2.90. Ed: Paula McWaters
'Gardening shouldn't be about jobs; it's about enjoying yourself,'
so proclaims the editor, who doesn't want readers to feel guilty
about the things they haven't done. Gardening as lifestyle -
an approach not tried since IPC failed with the classy
New Eden in 1999. Two big sections anchor this mag:
16 pages from TV presenter Alan Titchmarsh on getting the best
from your garden and a 12-page cut-out 'hands-on' section for
early summer. Latter section, by Gay Search, is on heavier matt
paper and cut to a smaller size than the rest of the magazine.
Heavy promotion for next issues:
- 50p off vouchers for Aug to Sept issues on page 3;
- more vouchers on insert card;
- bound-in subscription card offering 3 free issues and 30% off.
Also, 6-page reader survey. Second launch for the company after
Delicious.
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Wallpaper goes online
Wallpaper* has launched a website as an extension of the lifestyle
magazine. It will be updated weekly with features on interiors,
design, travel, architecture and fashion.
www.wallpaper.com
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Sleaze and Jockey Slut close
Swinstead Publishing has closed its style magazine Sleaze,
formerly Sleazenation, after eight years. The magazine had
been relaunched in March - when Emap's The Face closed. Jockey
Slut has also closed.
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What to Wear
Summer. BBC Worldwide. 156pp. £1.80. Ed: Lucy Dunn
'Handbag' format. Aims to mix catwalk trends with no-nonsense
style guidance. Published quarterly to coincide with each season's
fashion collections. Gives fashion-conscious 18 to 30 year-old
women practical rules of style based around shopping for their
shape. Created by the Eve team, and built around BBC2's
What Not to Wear, with presenters Trinny Woodhall and
Susannah Constantine as contributing editors www.bbcmagazines.com/whattowear
Women's monthlies profiled
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Sauce
Summer (quarterly). Sauce Guides Ltd. 100pp. £2.97. Ed: Simon
Difford
'For the dedicated barfly and cocktail fan.' A5-ish format. Reviews
bars (Red, Opal, Salt, Taman Gang and Kingly Club in London), drinks
and cities.
simon@sauceguides.com
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Celebrity Living
June. IPC Southbank, London. 148pp. £1.80. Ed: Tammy Butt
Shows readers the homes of the rich and famous and then asks
experts to explain how to recreate the look. Second launch in
this sector, after Celebrity Homes
IPC
profile
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Blink
June. Parallel Sky, Reading. 112pp. £3.20. Ed (Publisher &
Editorial Director): Adrian Grant
I always worry about magazines where so much is invested in one
person: it suggests a fear of losing control and inability to delegate.
Difficult things to do. The P&ED admits to his worries: not
wanting his entertainment magazine to be seen as a 'lads' mag. Editorial
track record comes in the form of Rebecca Martin (ex GQ Active
and Jump ); with photographer Harrison Funk running the visuals.
Large format (315 by 255mm) and unusual cover make it look different
(though is covering part of your masthead on a first issue a good
idea?); big black and yellow slash across cover ensure you know
it's new. Broad content: film; music; style; gadgets; icons; travel;
health; sex. It focuses on film (cover plus 7 of 9 content page
pics) and music (cover CD of Livin Out Loud sampler); difficult
to see how it could do justice to everything. Three competitions
flagged on cover (why is the big prize always a Rover?). Second
issue date of June 29 (launched first week of May) suggests bi-monthly.
Nice paper; smells good.
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Total Golf
On the shelves first week in May (no cover date). IPC Media
(Country & leisure division), London. 140pp. £1.99
special price in a plastic bag with green bag towel (£2.99).
Ed: Michael Harris
It looks rather unprofessional not having a date on the cover,
almost as if IPC couldn't make up its mind when to launch. In
fact, the title will be published every six weeks from May to
October. The company has committed itself to doing four issues,
to see how things go - the same tactic BBC Worldwide is using
with its Easy series. It looks more practical than the other
recent golf launch, Golf Punk, and
the editorial appears takes a swipe at it: '...we won't be boring
you with stories of the time we blagged a trip to the Caribbean,
glad-handed a B-list celebrity or spent the day trying to have
a hole in one..'. However, both aiming to attract a 25-35 male
reader.
IPC
profile
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19 - closes
May. IPC Southbank. 132pp. £2.40. Ed: Helen Bazuaye
Even an invitation for the editor to 10 Downing St and a 'hot
new look' were not enough to save the young women's glossy.
IPC blamed the closure on the changing market: 'The boundaries
between the teen market sub-sectors have become blurred and
sales patterns suggest that readership at the older, young women's
end appears to have migrated to the fashion and celebrity markets.'
The closure also means the loss of a rare black editor in the
magazine world. Follows closure of Emap's J-17
IPC
profile
Women's monthlies profiled
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Celebrity Homes
May. Merricks Media, Bath. 148pp. £2 (special price). Ed:
Lynnette Peck
The fascination with all things celebrity continues. This is likely
to become a busy niche however, with IPC about to launch its own
Celebrity Living. 'David & Carrie Grant's Private Fame
Academy' was cover lead.
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Sorted - closes
May. Sorted Communications, Brighton. £2.50. Ed: Piers Townley
After just four issues, the monthly for boys aged 12-16 has closed.
The fifth issue, featuring a cover interiew with David Beckham,
was at the printers. In a report in the Press Gazette, editor
Piers Townley (who had been deputy for the launch issue) blamed
the profligacy of the founder and chairman Russell Church, saying
a 200,000 print run for the launch had been 'commercial
suicide'.
www.sortedmag.com
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Striker asks for readers' cash to stave off closure
Computer-generated cartoon weekly hopes to raise £450,000
by selling shares to readers. Otherwise, issue 40 in June will be
the last. The comic, which spun of from the Sun cartoon in
August 2003, also sells its strip to
Zoo
The title closed in 2005 (BBC report)
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Celebrity magazines in price war
IPC's Now has cut its cover price by 20p to £1 in a
bid to maintain its position as the top-selling celebrity weekly,
now just 30,000 copies a week ahead of Emap’s Heat
. As well as Now, Closer, New! and Star all using
price as a prime selling tool. The magazine has also launched a
younger version - Teen Now
More details and sales
figures
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NatMags and Rodale in Men's Health
deal
11 May The National Magazine Company and Rodale International
set up a partnership in the UK, ‘NatMag Rodale Ltd’.
The joint venture will publish Men’s Health and
Runner’s World under long-term licence from Rodale
International
www.menshealth.co.uk
Nat Mags profile
Men's monthlies case study
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Home Cinema
May. Haymarket, Teddington. £3.95; 148pp. Ed: Andy Clough
'The AV magazine you've always wanted'. 'From the makers of
What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision'
Bagged with IHome, 'intelligent, interactive, interiors'; 36pp.
(£1.95). Ed: Andy Clough
A tricky market this. Future launched Digital Home in
2003 and Carlton Stanhope Media came out with Future Home.
However, the former took over the
latter before the year was out.
www.homecinemamag.com
Haymarket
profile
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Chrono
May. Octane Media, London. 44pp. Free with Octane. Ed: Robert
Coucher
Looks like more of an attempt to pull in expensive watch advertising
than a real attempt to launch a magazine. Steve McQueen on the cover
www.octane-magazine.com
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Easy Decorating
Spring. BBC Worldwide, London. 100pp. £1.99. Ed: Julie Savill
Essential skills, techniques and tips from this BBC quarterly. BBC
now has three titles in this series: the others being food and gardening.
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Great Container Ideas
Spring. IPC Country & leisure, London. 100pp. £3.30.
Ed: Tim Rumball
The gardening sector is becoming increasingly segmented. This
is IPC's latest attempt, launched on the back of Amateur
Gardening. Charlie Dimmock on the cover, along with an anemone
bulb mix free gift.
amateurgardening@ipcmedia.com
IPC
profile
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Teen Now
Spring. IPC Connect, London. £1.50; 92pp. Ed: Jeremy Mark
Spin-off for younger readers from Now. Follows trend
of teen glossies: Cosmo Girl (2001) and Elle Girl
(2001); and teen celeb mags Emap's Sneak (2002) and the
BBC's failed Star (2000-01). Cover photo of Britney Spears
linked to article on celebs who are single. Eight pages of posters,
including centre-spread poster of Orlando Bloom. Lots of pages
of house ads: for relaunched 19, Mizz and Now.
Plus page reader survey and subscriptions advert.
IPC
profile
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Golf Punk
April/May. KYN, Brighton. £3.50; 132pp. Ed: Tim Southwell
The former Loaded deputy finally gets the backing to launch
a magazine, in this case for the sort of golfers whose attitude
does not fit in with the more snooty clubhouses. 'Now [carrying
a set of golf clubs] is more akin to having a surfboard under your
arm,' says the editorial. Lead feature is a failed attempt to follow
up on a Loaded article where Southwell played Tiger Woods.
Follows in footsteps of 2002's Putt (2002) and Bogey
KYN profile
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PC Action
April. Live Publishing International, Macclesfield, Cheshire. 116pp.
£4.99 (with games demo DVD). Ed: Nick Walkland
It's the DVD on the cover that the readers are forking out a fiver
for here. The printed content looks pretty much standard and it's
difficult to see the title standing out against established competition
from the likes of Future.
www.pcaction.co.uk
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Clash
Mar/Apr. Vibe Media, Dundee. £2.50; 100pp. Ed: Simon Harper
About music, fashion and the things that clash in life.
Unusual format: 250mm square. Franz Ferdinand cover. Unusual feature:
eight-page article on history of Vibe magazine, out of which
Clash grew.
www.clashmagazine.com
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Stag & Groom
Mar/Apr 2004. Hanage, London. £4; 132pp. Ed: Dominic Bliss
Joins a shelf-full of weddings titles for women, including offerings
from the likes of Cosmopolitan. For speech advice, honeymoons,
great wedding suits and the stag weekend. Editorial strategy summed
up by: 'Reclaim the wedding: Watch out, ladies. The boys are back
in business.' Tip: 'If you're a best man, give yourself stuff to
do to keep busy. Select 10 women, plan a compliment for each one
and allocate them all time slots in your afternoon. Include at least
two grandmothers.'
editor@stagandgroom.com
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Grand Designs
March. Media 10 Ltd with Channel 4 and Talkback. £3; 164pp.
Ed: David Redhead
Spin-off magazine from the TV series 'bursting with the breadth
and depth that an hour-long TV show cannot strectch to'. Included
dual subscription offer with Icon or Party magazines.
www.granddesignsmagazine.com
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Aspire
April/May. Pearson Communications, London. £2.95. Ed:
Celine Loader
"Lifestyle for today's woman of colour". Another title in the
growing market for ethnic magazines. US film actress Halle Berry
on the cover
Women's monthlies profiled
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The Face had a lacklustre time at Emap. Kelis & Andre 3000 were on the cover of the final 172-page issue (number 88 of volume 3)
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The Face and J17 - to close
March 22. Emap announces the closure of The Face, once the
embodiment of cutting-edge youth culture. Emap bought the title
in 1999, along with Arena, from Nick Logan's Wagadon. Logan
had launched The Face in 1980 using his own money after
Emap turned the idea down. Iconic design by Neville Brody. Strong
music base; developed into fashion bible for the 1980s.
Just Seventeen was launched in 1983 and started up a market
for general interest teen magazines.
May will be the last edition of J17 (on sale 12 April). The
Face was suspended with immediate effect, with the May issue
on sale 8 April. Both closures were blamed on the changing marketplace
and falling sales.
Internet Magazine and Here's Health also closed
Background to The Face launch
Emap profile
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Inside Edge
April. Dennis, London. 124pp. £3.99. Ed: James Hipwell
Gambling magazine that hit the streets just before the Cheltenham
horse-racing festival. Contributors include Nick Leeson, whose
"investment" strategies brought down Barings bank, with a poker
column
Dennis profile
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Sleaze - relaunch of Sleazenation
March (cover not dated). Swinstead, London.172pp. £3.20.
Ed: Neil Boorman
Sees itself as "a vaguely anti-corporate style magazine", despite
its level of advertising. Cover price has not changed since 2001.Uses
glossy paper for 64-page photography-heavy section. Removable sticker
of contents on cover
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Quintessentially
March. Produced on behalf of Quintessentially (UK) Ltd by Luxury,
London. 116pp. £4. Ed: Lucia van der Post
Aimed squarely at the market pioneered in the UK by the FT's monthly
How to Spend It magazine supplement, which van der Post
used to edit. Large format with A5-sized magazine held in by an
elasticated string. Off-the-wall photography and design.
mark.carson@luxurypublishing.com
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Navigator*
Spring/Summer (next issue August). IPC Media, London. 156pp.
£5.99. Ed: Richard Cook
Brand extension as travel magazine from Wallpaper Group. First
development since founder Tyler Brule left. Almost a cross between
a Nota Bene-style directory and magazine, covering 10
cities, each with a separate, colour-coded section. Price and
'new' logo stuck on cover as labels. Small A4 format
www.wallpaper.com
IPC
profile
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Klub Knowledge - expands
March. Music HQ Media, Watford. £3.50. 196pp (+ gatefold).
Ed: Bill H.
After five years as an A5, London-only clubbing magazine, Klub
Knowledge expands size and distribution. Use of colour bands
in margin to differentiate sections
www.ukclubbing.com
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Lounge
March. H Bauer, London. £1.60. 68pp. Ed: Kevin Whitlock
Quiet launch for puzzle monthly in women's weekly format from publisher
of Take a Break and That's Life.
H Bauer profile
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Media Week - redesign
27 January - 3 February. Quantum Business Media, Croydon. £2.40.
72pp. Ed: Tim Burrowes
Weekly trade magazine switches from tabloid newspaper format to
outsized A4 magazine. Adopted 'First in the know' on the masthead.
www.mediaweek.co.uk
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Sorted
February, Sorted Communications, Brighton. £2.50; 100pp, plus
A1 poster (Whiplash computer games and School of Rock
film). Ed: Martin Klipp
Monthly for teenage boys
www.sortedmag.com
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Zoo Weekly
22 Jan. Emap, London. Free at WH Smith (£1). 100pp. Ed:
Paul Merrill
IPC's Nuts beat Emap to the news-stands by a week. Emap
responds with same launch strategy, but doesn't declare its
hand on price (later priced at £1). The difference between
the two mainly being Zoo 's use of female flesh - far
more of it, including bare nipples. Emap's 'Project Tyson' pinched
Chat editor Paul Merrill from IPC in December. Both publishers
claimed investments of £8m, in Emap's case to attract
initial sales of 150,000. Emap said Zoo would target
16-30-year-olds. Emap has a stranglehold on the monthly men's
market with FHM selling more than twice as many copies
as IPC's Loaded. Further, it had developed expertise
in consumer weeklies, a traditional IPC strength, with Heat
and Closer.
Contents breakdown
www.zooweekly.co.uk
Emap profile
Men's monthlies case study
Men's weeklies
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Nuts
16 Jan. IPC Ignite, London. Free at WH Smith (usual price £1.20
(second issue 60p). 100pp
Ed: Phil Hilton
'World's first men's weekly,' claims the cover with '100 action-packed
pages!' Phil Hilton, former Later editor, rejoined IPC
from Emap in March 2003. IPC's first big launch since it was
taken over by US group Time Warner in 2001.
Contents breakdown
www.nutsmag.co.uk
IPC
profile
Men's monthlies case study
Men's weeklies
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Bang - closes
January, issue 10. Future, London. £3.30. 132pp
Ed: Dan Silver
Despite changing editor, Future's effort to break into mainstream
music market failed after less than a year. Press Gazette
reported attempts to merge with X-Ray
Future
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FHM Feb 2004 issue held a surprise ...

... it dropped down to reveal High Street Honey 2003 Kayleigh Pearson in all her glory
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FHM - drop-down cover
February (issue on shelves before end December!) Emap Consumer Media,
London. £3.30; 198pp (+gatefold). Ed: David Davies
I've seen many variation on covers - gatefolds, double and triple
gatefolds, holograms, cut-outs, embossed - but never a drop-down.
This cover folds downwards to three A4 pages deep to reveal FHM's
High Street Honey winner, Kayleigh Pearson. Otherwise, it's likely
to be more of the same from the men's best-seller, judging by a reader
survey. (Best covers: Girls Aloud, May; Halle Berry, January; Lisa,
best of British, September; Jennifer Lopez, April). The problem with
such in-magazine surveys is that they are self-selecting and so tend
to reinforce existing publishing strategies - meaning potential readers
do not get a look in
FHM profile |
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