- High street retailer WHSmith is to make its first move into magazine publishing by launching 24 branded one-off lifestyle titles, produced by John Brown Contract Publishing. The magazines will provide advice on subjects such as getting married and buying houses and will retail at £2.99 in WHSmith stores. The first four will appear in January, with four more titles appearing in each following month. WHSmith, along with Tesco, were at the centre of a distribution row recently over their plans to establish their own national distribution network, posing a potential threat to small retailers and press freedom (see PPA Announces “Blueprint” To Answer Distribution Concerns)
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- NRG, a magazine produced by the company of the same name, is to make its first appearance in health clubs, leisure facilities, medical practitioner waiting rooms and beauty salons on December 11. A complimentary glossy magazine, it will carry health fitness, lifestyle, nutrition and beauty features contributed by various industry professionals and is aimed at men and women. The quarterly title will usually have a distribution of 50,000, although 2 million copies are to be printed during the first year. The publishers are estimating that the “pass along” readership ratio will be 4:1, giving a potential readership of 8 million over the first four issues. The title will carry both regional and national advertising, with larger advertisers being given the chance to be included in a directory on the accompanying website, www.uknrg.com, which will also carry an online version of the magazine editorial.
- The Blair Government has once again shown signs of gremlins in its popularity machine this week, over a women’s magazine it plans to launch in conjunction with Natmags title Good Housekeeping will be sent a free copy of Voices, while a further 40,000 are to be made available in doctor’s surgeries.
- The re-design given to the Saturday edition of Times (see Saturday Times Unveils New Look) is to be completed with a new monthly football magazine called The Football Handbook. The title will be distributed free on the second Saturday of each month from 14 October. It will be a 64 page, programme sized supplement offering editorial such as analysis of the Premiership season, TV listings, betting, statistics and a column by Times sports columnist Danny Baker. The launch of the Football Handbook will receive a radio advertising campaign and sampling at Premier League matches.
Launches Brief
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High street retailer WHSmith is to make its first move into magazine publishing by launching 24 branded one-off lifestyle titles, produced by John Brown Contract Publishing. The magazines will provide advice on subjects such as getting married and buying houses and will retail at £2.99 in WHSmith stores. The first four will appear in January,…
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