First Issue Review – Heat
A new television listings magazine? Surely there are enough. Well that’s what I thought on being assigned to review this latest offering from Emap. They must surely have been aware of the ill-fated Film & TV Week, launched two years ago to the month and surviving a grand total of 10 weeks (see Newsline). Indeed Newsline‘s words at the time highlight just what a bold move Emap Metro are making with this new title: “It also now appears that the market could not sustain the launch of another weekly TV listings title…”
Front Cover – HeatStudy of the special preview edition reveals that there is far more to Heat than TV listings. It is packed (to the point of being cluttered) with entertainment and showbiz news to the extent that it can, on first glance, seem like just an extended version of the ‘showbiz’ pages you find in the Sun, Mirror or Daily Star. Further reading uncovers similarities in style and content with another Emap Metro publication, Sky. The news section is simply full of celebrity gossip of varying degrees of interest.
Some of the previews are worth a look, for example ‘exclusive’ shots of a new music video and even Heat’s own forthcoming TV ad campaign. One page entitled ‘Screen Grabs’ (“TV moments you might have missed”) certainly does grab the attention with an hilarious shot from This Morning featuring Richard M looking his most serious and attentive best as he observes the resident doctor inspecting another man’s nether-regions! Unfortunately articles like “12 reasons why Mick’s (Jagger) careful with his money” and yet another story about how an American rap star (in this case Wu-Tang Clan’s ODB) is in trouble with the police (yawn!) are not worth the ink wasted on them.
The Sky comparisons gain more credibility when discovering the Christian Slater interview (with accompanying full page picture). Further delving finds an extended article on Cameron Diaz – “What makes her The World’s Most Beautiful Woman?”…
Heat tries to cover in some detail all entertainment genres. Indeed it appears to borrow bits from other more specialised magazines (which ones? Try doing a search on ‘Emap Metro’ in the Press database!). In the pages devoted to reviews, critics of the latest albums and live performances feature (although in a brief format). It appears that advertisers take this part seriously with a double page promoting current and forthcoming tours, usually only found in specialist music titles, sandwiched within this section. Similarly the magazine offers its opinion on recent films, videos and books. It must be said though that the video and computer games review page is so sparse that it really is pointless in its current form. A welcome inclusion though is some reference to websites of interest, including official homepage mentions for the well-established Internet lovers, the Beastie Boys and David Bowie.
Eventually you reach what the magazine is meant to be all about – television. There are previews on what will soon be shown. These are divided into genres – drama, comedy, entertainment, sport and films. Sport apart (about as in-depth as the section devoted to computer games) these work very well and provide an interesting, informative read with the film previews being particularly well set out (in contrast to the earlier cluttered pages). The inside back page features ‘TV Heroes’ – a nostalgic look at retro television characters. In this case it’s John Barron of Reggie Perrin fame (“from the days of the quality British sitcoms”, as I’m always reminded). As for the listings themselves – well, what can I say? You’ve seen it all before. The primetime programmes are focussed on and there are ‘picks’ for each day. Sounds familiar?
As you would expect Heat is a light, entertaining read. Because it’s gossip that goes beyond that which would interest the bored housewife it just may work. The subject matter included, allied with the explosive £4million ad campaign, could well attract a young adult readership wanting an easy weekly browse. People who do not normally purchase a separate TV listings title could be attracted to this if they are prepared to pay the £1.25 cover-price on a weekly basis.
Advertisers in this ‘Exclusive Preview Issue’ include: The Box Music Television, Peugeot, Asahi lager, Britannia Music and Channel 4.
Reviewer: Kevin North.