The British are often imagined as newspaper addicts impatiently waiting for the postman to deliver their paper on Sunday morning. Yet, it would be wrong to believe that they do not share a similar interest for the booming world of the magazine press. As we will see, the magazines sector in Britain is extremely dynamic and magazine readers are more and more numerous across the country. But before I begin explaining the dynamics and characteristics of the British magazine press, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that what we call "magazines" doesn't only refer to the numerous "consumer magazines" (that is to say "magazines grand-public") one is likely to find in every news stand! Magazines are in fact to be grouped into several distinctive categories which I will mention later on.
As you can see on the outline which I've handed out, I will first be focusing on the two main characteristics of the magazine press: its dynamism and the main actors of the magazine industry. To continue, I will present the different types of magazines and the leading titles on the market.
[...] FHM was a tremendous success in the 90's and Heat was the leading celebrity magazine in 2000. EMAP is also very active abroad and actually owns about 50 French Magazines including 20ans, Biba, Max, Science et Vie and of course FHM . EMAP used to publish the famous French magazine Elle, in collaboration with the Hachette Filipacchi Group, but Hachette broke-up the partnership and took back Elle, Elle Decoration and Elle Girl. EMAP is thus left with New Woman as the only major women's monthly magazine. [...]
[...] In comparison, The Spectator prints 10 times less copies! Customer Magazines Just a few words to mention what we refer to as “customer” magazines These are clearly part of commercial and marketing strategies. The objectives of customer magazines can vary according to sector, and according to the needs of individual clients. They may include: providing product information for the reader where products and services may be complex, promoting customer loyalty and enhancing brand image. Amongst these publications we could mention High Life, which belongs to British Airways or BMW Magazine etc. [...]
[...] A variety of publishers and publications Now looking at the main actors in the magazine world, we will see which are the leading publishers in Britain today. The leading publishers in Britain are: IPC Media EMAP and BAUER IPC Media, which used to be called IPC Magazines till the year 2000, is the largest UK consumer publisher, with approximately 22% of the market. IPC is locked in a battle with EMAP for leadership in the men's weekly market (Nuts vs Zoo Weekly). [...]
[...] As a result, many new TV magazines flooded the market and a new leader emerged: What's on TV, which is the most published magazine in Britain. Despite severe competition, increasing costs due to a greater number of channels, the TV listings sector is still going strong. However the greatest threat for these publications is the presence of free TV listings such as Sky Customer Magazine or Cable Guide. Finally, as far as news magazines are concerned, these are proportionately less important than consumer magazines. [...]
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