Primetime for medialand as The Apprentice takes on magazines

By Maisie McCabe, campaignlive.co.uk, Wednesday, 15 June 2011 12:30PM

Lord Sugar is to be joined by an array of medialand's finest on the BBC tonight in "the magazine challenge" on 'The Apprentice'.

The Apprentice: BBC show tackles freemium magazines

Among those starring in tonight's episode of aspiring business entrepreneurs are Claudine Collins, managing partner at MediaCom, Lindsay Pattison, chief executive of Maxus, and Richard Morris, deputy managing director at Carat for the magazine episode of 'The Apprentice'.

Lord Sugar will challenge his apprentice contestants to create a "freemium" (a quality free) magazine and pitch the concept to media agencies. Suitably, the activity will take place at Shortlist Media, publisher of the free Shortlist and Stylist magazines.

Other senior agency executives who will appear in what promises to be an entertaining encounter are Dominic Williams, press trading director at Carat, John Maloney, press trading director at Maxus and Luke Hills, press manager at Maxus.

Shortlist Media designers will help create the finished magazines before they are printed overnight and presented to the agency figures.

Mike Soutar, chief executive of Shortlist Media, said: "I'm excited and encouraged that, four years after launching Shortlist, freemium magazines have now reached the scale of success that an hour of BBC business programming can be dedicated to them."

Collins will also appear on Dara O Briain's ‘The Apprentice: You're Fired!' from 10pm on BBC Two, alongside Nick Hewer and comedian Jenny Éclair.

It is a big night for media TV as Northern & Shell chairman Richard Desmond's in-depth interview with CNBC will also be broadcast at 10pm. Desmond uses the platform to dismiss suggestions he is a porn baron and to discuss Rupert Murdoch.

However, many people in the industry will be forced to record the programmes as they clash with two of the biggest nights of the year for the industry - the PPA Magazine Awards, and the Advertising Association's President's Dinner.

Advertising stalwart, long time Campaign columnist and former creative director of J Walter Thompson, Jeremy Bullmore, will be honoured at the dinner and presented with the Mackintosh medal.

This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk