First Issue Review – BBC Family Life

BBC Family Life is yet another magazine targeted at ABC1 women. However, it claims to be the first magazine to reflect all aspects of family life and is aimed towards the younger mother with primary school aged children. The magazine is broken into various different sections including the ‘usuals’ such as family health, food, education, buys and fashion. A further section is titled Family Focus, which includes some original articles such as ‘How your children’s position in the family can affect their personality’ and also contains articles which focus on real-life families, although little attention is paid to family structures other than nuclear.

The BBC’s contribution comes in the form of regular slots from familiar TV faces including Watchdog‘s Alice Beer & Ainsley Harriott from Can’t Cook Won’t Cook. A 7-page guide to the best all-weather family attractions is also included as is a summary of the latest family products. Both are useful but it is assumed that the reader has a fairly high disposable income.

When given a chance this is an interesting and informative read let down sometimes only by its lack of originality. The magazine aims to appeal to the middle class mother and the individuals featured reflect this target audience as do the advertisers, which in this issue include Kellogs, WH Smith and Sensiq. The layout and design is bright, simple and colourful. The magazine retails at £1.95 with 132 pages and an ad:ed ratio of 20:80.

BBC Family Life has all the ingredients to be successful in its intended marketplace although whether it can find an audience in such a competitive area has yet to be established.