Future Enters Kids Market With Jetix Magazine
Future Publishing has announced plans to enter the burgeoning children’s magazine market with the launch of a new title called Jetix based around hit television shows such as Power Rangers, Spider Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The title is the first to come out of new division set up by the company especially to work on new launches in the increasingly competitive sector, which has seen significant rises in both retail and copy sales over the last year.
The division will be led by Cavan Scott in the role of editor, Karl Jaques as art editor and Richard Owen as deputy editor. Working with senior editor Mike Goldsmith, they will be responsible for the launch of Jetix magazine and will have an ongoing brief to identify new publishing opportunities for children’s magazine brands.
Jetix represents Future’s first foray into the children’s magazine sector and launches on 9 September with a coverprice of £2.99. The 52-page title will feature a range of puzzles, competitions and comic-strips based around popular television shows screened on the Jetix channel, which rebranded from Fox Kids earlier this year.
Commenting on the initiative, Goldsmith said: “By creating our own dedicated team Future is taking its entry into the kids sector very seriously. We see it as an extremely exciting and appealing sector to enter, not least as we have considerable experience creating youth magazines through our video games portfolio plus a strong heritage of creating high-value covermounts – crucial in this market.”
He added: “We believe the best way to establish ourselves in the children’s sector was to work with leading companies. We are very happy and proud to be working with Jetix, a name soon be on the lips of kids across the UK. The Jetix magazine enables us to talk about the key brands that matter to today’s kids and marks a solid start in the sector, with further announcements to come.”The already competitive children’s magazine market became even more crowded in July with the launch of two new titles from Egmont Magazines targeting younger readers. The publishing company unveiled Hot Wheels for boys aged six to ten and My Scene for girls of the same age (see Competition Hots Up With New Teen Magazine Launches).
Future’s decision to enter the sector represents part of an aggressive expansion policy set out by managing director, Robert Price, earlier this year. Price said that his business strategy is all about being “loud and proud” – with a raft of new launches and acquisitions to be expected over the next twelve months (see NewsLine Interview: Robert Price – Future Publishing).
Since then the company has been strengthening its internet operations with a raft of new appointments, acquired two UK games magazines from Dennis Publishing for £2.5 million and has announced its first foray into the highly competitive hair and beauty sector with the launch of a new monthly title targeting well groomed consumers (see Future Grooms New Hair And Beauty Title For Success).
Future Publishing: 01225 442 244 www.futurenet.com
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