Future Publishing is launching a consumer title aimed at people who
dabble in online share trading and anybody who invests or banks on the
internet.
Internet Investor will debut on 13 December as a bi-monthly with a print
run of 50,000, 100-page pagination and a cover price of pounds 3.99. A
settle-down sales figure of 25,000-30,000 is anticipated and, if
achieved, it will increase to monthly frequency by the middle of next
year.
The title promises to be a practical guide to making money on the net
but will focus on how to use the web for investment rather than share
tipping.
Group publishing director John Weir, who was appointed to Future’s board
last week, is convinced that internet investing is about to take off in
the UK in a similar way to the US. ’Nasdaq is launching over here,
Thestreet.com launches in the new year and there will be more disposable
income from windfall shares and annual bonuses. All this means that
there will be even more interest in speculative online investing,’ he
said.
He added that, at least initially, active users of the internet would be
targeted rather than the financial audience of Money Observer and
Bloomberg.
Advertising sales targets include online brokers such as Charles Schwab
and DLJ Direct as well as upmarket online brands like Chateaux Online,
i-collector.com and e-bay.com.
Weir revealed that Future is refocusing on its four key markets - games,
football, music and computing - and promised ’some big, exciting news in
the new year in the business market.’
He added: ’We are going for big growth with an aggressive strategy to
reclaim the ground we have lost over the last couple of years.’
Last month Future launched Linux Answers, the software title, and Weir
claimed that the first issue has sold out in many areas and its 35,000
print run is being supplemented with a reprint. The magazine retails at
pounds 4.99 and is aimed at the users of Linux, a free to use rival
operating system to Windows.
Future has also announced that the publishers of the Living and Music
groups, Lynn Keddie and Simon Haisman, are to report to publishing
director Mike Frey. And head of contract publishing James Pembroke is to
report to advertising director Andrew Milbourn.
