The Advertising Sales Team has been appointed by Sports First to
handle its ad sales. Bruce Settle, the managing director of AST, will
head a four-strong sales force dedicated to the newspaper. The Sunday
sports newspaper, which launched in March, published its first ABC last
week of 67,000.
The Paramount Comedy Channel is following up the success of its themed
weekends with an event weekend scheduled every month next year, starting
with a Frasier Weekend on 16 January. The channel found that the events
boost ratings, attract new viewers and provide sponsorship and
advertising opportunities.
Chrysalis Radio has announced a 72 per cent increase in turnover to
pounds 18.4 million in Chrysalis Group’s preliminary results for the
year ending 31 August. The radio division last year made a loss of
pounds 1.9 million. The two Heart brands in London and the Midlands, and
the Galaxy network, have gone into profit.
Future Publishing is launching a Sony Playstation magazine aimed at
seven- to 15-year-old boys, entitled Playstation Max. Future already
holds a 61 per cent share in the Playstation magazine sector. The
76-page monthly title launches on 18 December with a print run of
165,000, initially selling at 99p and settling at pounds 1.70.
The children’s cable and satellite channel, Fox Kids, has commissioned
the broadcast research consultancy, Paradigm, to research the channel’s
activities in the UK and its plans for digital television.
A consumer health magazine is being launched in January by Phase IV
Communications, called Home Healthcare Magazine. Aimed at women between
25 and 45 years old with young families, the magazine will be
distributed in doctors’ waiting rooms and other healthcare centres. It
will be published six times a year and have a print run of 120,000
copies. The Whisky Publishing Company has launched the first consumer
magazine dedicated to whisky. The bi-monthly title, called Whisky
Magazine, will have a cover price of pounds 3.95 and be distributed in
newsagents, distiller visitor centres, specialist retailers and hotels
worldwide.
The contract publisher, BLA, has been appointed by Home Service, a
subsidiary of South Staffordshire Water, to launch its customer
magazine. The pilot 16-page issue has been distributed to 250,000
households.
Carolyn McCall, the commercial director of Guardian Newspapers, has been
promoted to deputy managing director. She will work alongside the
managing director, Caroline Marland, on newspaper developments and
launches within the new media division.
Emap Active’s Nintendo Official Magazine has teamed up with London
Transport to produce the first scratchcard-style bus tickets. Passengers
buy a normal bus ticket, then scratch off a panel to see if they have
won a number of prizes, including N64 consoles, games and subscriptions
to the magazine. There are two-and-a-half million prizes, and the
tickets are produced in association with Tickex Promotions.
Two computer games publishers, Future Publishing and Imagine Media, have
formed a joint venture in Germany to launch PC Gamer in the spring. This
is the first stage in a strategic alliance to create a global computer
magazine publishing operation.
A Mori survey of senior board members of the UK’s top 500 companies
reveals that Sunday Business is seen as the third most useful Sunday
newspaper for keeping them informed on business matters. It ranks behind
the Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph, but is ahead of the Observer, the
Independent on Sunday, the Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Express.
