Following the ITC’s recent relaxation of masthead programming regulations (see ITC Extends Masthead Programming To Terrestrial), a number of publishers have become involved in a project for a digital television channel called the Magazine Channel.
Plans for the channel are still predominantly on paper although a number of publishers have expressed interest and the developer of the channel, Headwater Cross-Media, is currently looking for finance from the City.
IPC Magazines, the UK’s largest consumer title publisher, is involved in the project although it has no equity holding in the creation of the channel. Colin Reeves-Smith, international business development manager at IPC, told Newsline that he was very interested in the project but, as the largest player, would like to see “some level of exclusivity in the schedule”.
Whilst Reeves-Smith believes that it is too early to comment on programme formats, he says there is room for masthead programmes of magazines which might not be considered the most obvious. Titles like Loaded and Marie Claire, he says, would be quite tricky to translate into a televisual format.
Headwater is currently negotiating with British Digital Broadcasting (BDB) hoping to get carriage for the channel on the company’s digital terrestrial broadcasts. BDB is scheduled to begin broadcasting this Autumn.
Other publishers believed to be involved in the Headwater project are Haymarket Publishing, DC Thomson and British European Associated Publishers.
Current ITC regulations prevent masthead programmes from referring to the ‘parent’ publication directly in the programme itself, and content is not permitted to be transferred from the printed publication to the television programme. The Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) is lobbying the ITC to relax these rules even further.
Headwater Cross-Media: 0171 357 7334 IPC Magazines: 0171 261 6575
