Spin-Off Magazine And Website For BBC Family History Series
The BBC’s hit series Who Do You Think You Are? is to get a spin-off magazine and a website to coincide with the start of its new series on September 6.
Wall to Wall have licensed the use of the brand and programme content to BBC Magazines Bristol for the new magazine and website.
Claire Hungate, director of commercial and legal Affairs for Wall to Wall Media Ltd, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for us to build on the strength of the WDYTYA? brand and extend the community of family history enthusiasts that loyally watch the show.
Who Do You Think You Are? magazine will make its newsstand debut on 25 September. The 100 page full-colour glossy magazine will be published 13 times a year and have an initial print run of 50,000 copies.
It will feature family and social history, along with expert practical advice, exclusive celebrity extras from the TV series, and a regular section on local history.
Andy Benham, publishing director, said: “With over six million people tuning in for the last series of Who Do You Think You Are?, the world of family history has never been more buoyant.”
The website, www.bbcwhodoyouthinkyouare.com, launches on September 6 to coincide with the start of the new series.
It will host new celebrity TV content including unseen footage and exclusive family history tutorials. The site will also provide full details of the latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are? magazine, an essential guide to getting started, a forum, blog, podcast, and a comprehensive social history of Census year 1841 to help put findings into context.
Here, visitors will also be able to link to the UK’s largest family history website www.ancestry.co.uk, which will act as the www.bbcwhodoyouthinkyouare.com data provider.
Andrew Davies, online publisher, said: “We’re seeing the exciting evolution of specialist magazines with this title. Its fully integrated editorial mix means that digital activity has never been so important as we look to build a community of enthusiasts who can use both broadcast, print and online resources to fulfil their family history needs.”
The launch of both magazine and website is being supported by a major marketing campaign within the BBC magazines portfolio, reaching an audience of 2.3 million potential readers through print, and 1.4 million through online marketing activity.
The magazine will also receive an eight-page leader in the October issue of BBC History Magazine, and an eight-page digital magazine has this week been distributed to over 200,000 recipients.
BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk