EMAP and Channel 4 have joined forces to create a new digital business for the youth market, in a strategic cross-media move aimed at enhancing both companies’ positions in the digital age. The first project will be a multi-platform dedicated website bringing together the two group’s print and television strengths within the sector.
EMAP’s portfolio of youth magazine titles, including J17, Bliss, Smash Hits, Looks, and Nintendo, will be linked to Channel 4’s youth programming zone, T4, which includes series such as Hollyoaks and Dawson’s Creek. The launch of C4’s new entertainment channel, E4, will include a dedicated teen zone and create further links between the two groups.
The news was announced as EMAP reported ‘normalised’ pre-tax profits for the year ended 31 March 2000 of £184.3 million, an increase of 14% compared to the same period last year. Operating margins for the group exceeded 20% for the first time and revenues increased by 25%, largely due to the acquisition of Petersen, now renamed EMAP USA.
A further £75 million will be spent on digital projects this year. EMAP digital is now a separate arm within the company (see EMAP Announces Digital Plans) and has already formed a number of alliances to enhance its digital presence (see EMAP Appoints Head Of Digital Operations). The deal with Channel 4 shows the increased importance of cross-media deals in the digital age, a factor referred to by director of UK consumer advertising at the group, Tom Toumazis, at the PPA Conference earlier this year (see New Media Is Hot Topic As Prime Minister Headlines PPA Conference).
To enable deals of this kind the group has created market-focused networks of its core brands, thus allowing the group to form a more flexible approach to its markets. EMAP advertising, in particular, has been formed to service key advertising agencies and their clients over its entire portfolio of assets and delivered over £2 million of new revenue from cross-media deals which would not have been possible under the old structure.
Other cross-media alliances have included a venture linking EMAP Espirit, the group’s healthcare sector, and IPC, to launch a new health and baby exhibition, and the launch of KissMix and QTV, which take the group’s radio and music magazine brands onto a digital TV platform.
Chief executive of the group Kevin Hand, said: “In the last 12 months we have radically reshaped our business so that throughout the Group we are now organised by media networks focused on particular markets. Not only does this give us a structure which is ideal for the future, but also provides the template for boosting revenues.”
EMAP: 01733 568 900 Channel 4: 020 7396 4444
