Magazine launches & events 1975-1989

Writers News

20/20

Description of the editor: 'Don Atyeo was a blunt Australian of scabrous good humour who could out-Kelvin MacKenzie' by later Time Out editor Dominic Wells in the British Journalism Review (2006, issue 3).
Time Out profile

Opera Now

TV Guide

25 March 1989. Murdoch Magazines, London. 40p; 60pp. Ed: Ian Birch
Jason Donovan cover – fronting a feature and a competition to win a part in Australian soap Neighbours. The title was given a £5m advertising budget and the target circulation was set at 350,000-400,000 copies. A 48-page sample title was stitched into the March 18 issue of News of the World's Sunday magazine to promote the launch.

Rupert Murdoch's interest in the sector was based on a move in the US and the fact that the UK duopoly for TV listings held by Radio Times and TV Times was to be broken up.

In 1988, News International had bought Triangle Publications, which owned TV Guide, the market leader in the US selling 17m copies a week (it was founded in 1952). The company decided to bring the concept to the UK, with managing director Liz Rees-Jones announcing in January 1989 that it intended to launch a title to take advantage of the breaking up of the listings monopoly. This was triggered by a European Commission ruling. Several other publishers, including Emap, were also planning launches – in fact 'a flood' of launches was expected in the sector.

Media Week (6 January 1989) reported: 'The Commission's ruling relates to a complaint by Irish publishers Magill, which had tried to publish a weekly TV guide in competition with TV Times and Radio Times – which circulate widely in the Republic. The Commission has ruled that TV and Radio Times' tight rein on schedule information was contrary to Article 86 of the EC Treaty. This ruling will now have to be considered by the UK Government, which is bound by the Treaty.'

However, when TV Guide launched it could only carry details of cable and satellite listings – the terrestrial pages were merely summaries of the week's 'essential viewing'. Murdoch had to wait for legislation to break the monopoly held by Radio Times and TV Times. In December, Murdoch raised the guaranteed circulation of TV Guide by 30,000 to 150,000 copies a week. It was selling 190,335 copies a week at the time. However, in the same month, the company signalled a U-turn by deciding to turn the title into a subscriptions-based monthly for satellite TV alone in March 1990 when the duopoly on terrestrial TV listings lifted. A tough economic climate, Rupert Murdoch's debts and the £50,000 charge by Independent Television Publications for its listings put paid to the ambitious plans.

In fact, recession set in, interest rates rose and the debt from the US Triangle deal nearly sank Murdoch. He sold off most of his magazine assets in the US and the UK.

See TV Choice  

TV and film magazines

The Software Show

Spring 1989. BBC/Redwood Publishing, London. Free supplement with Acorn User. 52pp. Group ed: Tony Quinn; ed: Geoff Bains.
Countdown presenter Carol Vorderman was on the front cover of this magazine produced to support BBC TV's Software Show, a day long live programme about computers which she presented. Several pages were the result of DTP packages used on the show, from Apple Macintosh, Amstrad PCW and Atari ST.
BBC Magazines profile
Redwood Publishing profile

BBC Holiday '89

Ziggy

1989 (publication date unclear). Big Mags, West Drayton, Middx; £1; 48 pages. Editor: Stuart Blair
"Not for boring bastards easily offended" – an attempt to do Viz with more topless women. Double-page colour centre spread devoted to 'Blind Reader's Wives' with Bouncing Bertha from Sheffield

GQ

Riva

Raw (Rock Action Worldwide)

31 August-13 September 1988. Fortnightly. Rogue Magazines, 3a Kendall Place, London W1. £1. Stapled. 60pp.
Ed: Malcolm Dome; Managing ed: Dante Bonutto; Art: Mike Simister
The first issue of this heavy metal title came with a free Ozzy Osbourne flexi disc in clear plastic mounted on the front cover. Features covered AC/DC, Metallica and a report on the Donington 88 festival. The centre spreads was a poster of Deep Purple's Ian Gillan promoting the magazine's 'best of' poll.

The associate publisher was former pop star Jonathan King, shown dressed in a schoolboy costume playing a guitar. In 2001, King was jailed for four indecent assaults and two serious sexual offences on boys aged 14 and 15. He served half of the seven-year term.

In April 1989, Emap bought the title, which claimed a circulation of up to 35,000. Sales rumbled along at 25,00-30,000 but the title always trailed behind Emap's weekly Kerrang (which it had bought when United Consumer Magazines was closed by the Express newspapers group in 1991). In 1995, Emap took Raw off the shelves for several weeks and relaunched it in October with a sample issue free with monthly Select. The aim was to base the title on pictures and news to complement Emap's Select an additional, more frequent, read. However, it closed within five months.
Teen magazines

Arena

Summer/Autumn 1988. Wagadon
Issue 8 shown
Wagadon profile
Men's magazines history

Hello!

17 May. Weekly. 75p. Ed: Maggie Goodman
The Spanish publisher of Hola! circulated dummies of the magzine in February with a scheduled 12 April launch, but this was set back to May. The target circulation was 250,000 with a larger than A4 format, 148 pages, and ad/ed ratio of 33/67 (per cent).

Hello! marked the opening of a new niche, seeing itself as 'The only Good News weekly' witth an escapist format and its subjects giving aproval of the photographs. "We are bought as a treat,' Maggie Goodman told the Independent, 'like a box of chocolates.'

The magazine was part of a trend for European publishers to expand into the UK ahead of the country's entry into the European Community. It was printed in Madrid but with the last editorial being flown out on Thursday afternoon to be on sale in the UK the following Tuesday.

Hello! profile
Celebrity price war

Excel

April 1988. White Line Publishing. Ed: Rod Fountain
Main coverline "How to spot a bullshitter" led to its advertising being banned on the London Tube and the editorial mix under was seen as too yuppy; it soon folded (although the title would be used again more than once in the next decade)
Men's magazines history
Men's magazines A to Z

3D

More!

Computerland

M&S Magazine

It was estimated that two-thirds of ABC1 women aged 25-44 shopped at M&S at least once a month and the magazine followed customer magazine-catalogues from Harrods, Habitat and Laura Ashley. The editor was Felicity Green, who had worked on the Daily Mirror, Express (where Redwood co-founder Chris Ward had been editor) and Working Woman and was an editorial consultant for the Telegraph. Redwood art director Mike Lackersteen, who had been at Good Housekeeping, led the design team.
More on Women's glossies A to Z
Redwood profile

The Digger

9 October 1987. General Publications. 55p. 40pp. Ed & publisher: John Mulcahy
Attempt at Private Eye competitor. Used better quality, coated paper to attract colour advertising. The initial print run of the Digger was reported as 120,000 copies. It was published as a fortnightly on alternate weeks to Private Eye. The first issue had 15 ad pages, including Renault (the four colour centre pages), Ryanair and the Observer. The Times reviewed the first issue and described it as a smooth but ugly pastiche of Private Eye, aimed at yuppies. In April, however, the magazine missed an issue amid financial problems. It was reported that about £100,000 was needed to keep it afloat, but Al-Fayed Investments and Time Out refused approaches. Despite the May 22 issue coming out, the magazine was forced to bring in a liquidator.

Educational Computing

October 1987-2004? Redwood, London. Controlled circulation/subscription. 68pp. Ed: Tony Quinn; publisher: Simon Goode
Acorn User had a big readership in schools that it wanted to build on and schools were crying out for advice on using the computers that were being given. The problem, for a new, small, publisher was the cost of distribution. So Acorn User's editor, Tony Quinn and publisher, Simon Goode, approached computer educational adviser Mike Bostock for guidance on a deal with local education authorities: they would take free magazines in bulk and distribute them to schools. Redwood would make its money from advertising. Over 90% of the UK's LEAs signed up for the deal. It was a unique idea and from it a quarterly called School Computer User was launched. At about the same time, Emap had decided to close its subscription-based monthly tabloid format Educational Computing (the publisher of which was Tom Moloney, who became chief executive of Emap in 2005). This had been running for several years and had a subscription base of almost 10,000 copies, so Redwood bought the title. Redwood combined School Computer User's distribution model and editorial strategy with the name Educational Computing. The magazine's name was later expanded to Educational Computing and Technology and it was sold to ITT Publications.

Bella

The launches of titles by both Gruner and Jahr (Prima and Best) and Bauer were marked by the strategy of establishing copy sales before advertising. This was a well established method in Germany, but new to the UK. G&J was willing in to spend up to £10m on Prima before getting any return. Prima was launched with only 12 pages of advertising out of a total of 140 pages, but had 204 pages by autumn 1987, almost half of which were advertising.

Practical Parenting

April/May 1987. Family Circle/International Thomson, London. 80p; 100pp. Ed: Davina Lloyd
A spin-off from Family Circle. The first of a 'practical' series of titles, the others being Practical Hairstyling & Beauty, and Practical Health & Slimming, that were sold in supermarkets alongside Living and Family Circle. Jill Churchill, editor of Family Circle, was editor-in-chief of the titles. Practical Parenting went monthly in March 1988 and was sold to IPC in May. By mid-1989 it was selling more than 150,000 copies a month and won the PPA's Consumer Publication of the Year award.

The high birth rate at the time led to a boom in such titles. The Argus group was the sector leader with Mother, Mother & Baby and Parents, but IPC wrested control.
IPC profile

Q

A tip-on cover sticker promoted a 56-page CD review booklet that was tipped on to a bound-in subscription card
Music magazines A to Z
Emap profile

Capital Magazine

The dummy issue shown here was made up of two identical 16-page sections that were stapled together with a cover.

The publisher was Sally Cartwright and the advertisement director Stephen Hart. Cartwright had been publisher of Ideal Home and Woman's Journal at IPC and went on to become managing director of Harmsworth Publications (Associated Newspapers) in 1988 and then publishing director of Hello! in 1990.

Electronic Publishing Now

Computer Images

Amstrad Action

October 1985. Future, Somerton, Somerset. £1; 100pp. Ed: Peter Connor. Pub: Chris Anderson
Aimed at Amstrad CPC games market. Chris Anderson had been editor of Personal Computer Games and Zzap! 64 in London. He moved to Somerton and founded Future with Amstrad Action. The magazine focused on games reviews and playing them rather than typing in listings, which was a core element of the user magazines. The top of the front cover reads: 'Power-packed reviews each month on the amazing CPC 464 and 664.' To the left of the vertical masthead is another selling line: 'The mouldbreaking magazine from Future Publishing.' The editorial describes how the title was written on Amstrads and sent by modem to the typesetters, who returned typeset copy for the editors to paste up. Anderson was known as 'Ayatullah' by the staff and named newspaper tycoons Robert Maxwell and Rupert Murdoch as his heroes.
Future profile

Country Living

Summer 1985. National Magazines. £1. 160+4pp.
Ed-in-chief: Charlotte Lessing; GH Group art director: Marie-Louise Avert; Editor: Jane Kirby; art ed: Francine Lawrence; Publishing Dir: Brian Braithwaite

National Magazine profile

The Hit

Max Headroom on City Limits

Duck Soup

MicroMath

Big K

Fast Lane

BBC Wildlife

The corporation retained many of the staff, including the editor. The sub-A4 format was also retained but the price rose from 75p.

Kidman Cox stayed as editor until 2004 when the BBC put the magazine under the control of its Origin Publishing division, which it had recently bought. She carried on judging the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition.
BBC Magazines profile

Personal Computer News

Micro Update

Your Computer invents cover disc

TV Choice

Time Out still pressed ahead with a campaign to publish listings in the face of legal action from the BBC and ITV.

Acorn User

July 1982- spring 2005. Addison-Wesley/Redwood/BBC/Europress. Editor: Tony Quinn
Successful title for BBC Micro users. Sold a year later to founders of contract publisher Redwood Publishing, a company later taken over by the BBC. Launched BBC titles such as Good Food and Gardeners' World
BBC Magazines profile
Redwood Publishing profile

Executive

Sky

• gatefold front cover;
• cut-down page widths to delineate sections;
• 4 internal gate-folds.

Options

Science Now (part work)

Interiors

In 1984, World of Interiors was voted consumer magazine of the year and Min Hogg editor of the year. Wendy Harrop, art director, was runner-up in the design section. In December, Harrop was appointed editor and creative director.

In 1985, Kelly persuaded Condé Nast and the Financial Times to join with him in launching Business magazine. In 1988, Kelly sold his interest (20%) in the two titles to Condé Nast. This was because of his success in bringing US title W to the UK as a fortnightly. It was selling 40,000 copies under editor Jane Procter within 18 months of its launch (Queensgate Publications).

Hogg stepped down from World of Interiors in 2001, to be replaced by her deputy Rupert Thomas. By then it was selling 65,000 copies a month.

Kicks

November 1981. Teenage Kicks, London. 50p; 48pp Ed: Bert MacIver; design: Andy Dark.
The first issue of Kicks covered music, fashion, film and advice on sex problems. It also published the lyrics and music to 'Play to Win' by Heaven 17. Annabella Lwin, 15-year-old singer for Malcolm McLaren's New Wave band Bow Wow Wow was on the cover with an interview by Debbie Geller of US magazine Rolling Stone. Only the centre 8 pages and cover were printed in colour
More at Music magazines history

City Limits

During the dispute, Time Out staff had produced a protest news sheet called Not Time Out and this is referred to in the blue star on the front cover of the first City Limits, which says 'Incorporating "NOT...".'

The launch issue's editorial states: 'Six months, innumerable dismissals, several writs, threats, recriminations, sit-ins, lock-outs and undignified rumbles later, we have brought you City Limits – a paper that we think you'll agree was worth the fight.'

Cartoonist Steve Bell's Maggie's Farm switched from Time Out with the first outing in City Limits portraying Norman Tebbit ripping off an interviewer's head on Maggie's order 'Get him Psycho!'

Art director Carol Warren employed design consultant David King to establish an immediately recognisable cover style on a low budget. Christopher Wilson interviewed King for a 2003 issue of Eye and described his work so: 'His graphic style – an easily recognisable mix of explosive sans serif typography, solid planes of vivid colour and emphatic rules – reworked for the New Left in Britain the graphic language of the Russian Constructivists.' Jeremy Leslie's book Issues: New Magazine Design features a spread of City Limits covers. King had a unique collection of Soviet imagery. The collection was acquitted by the Tate museum in 2016.

Not ... (Time Out)

April-October 1981.
Not ... was produced by the staff of Time Out who were sacked. It was a free, tabloid format newspaper printed by East End Offset. Issue 17 was subtitled 'City Limits minus 4' because by then the staff had raised funding to relaunch in a magazine format. Under the headline 'City Limits out on October 8', the front page splash (alongside a photo of Labour MP Tony Benn reading an earlier copy of the free paper) stated:

'The new magazine produced by more than forty of the sacked staff of Time Out will be on the street on October 8. ... The cover price for 84 pp will be 40p – 10p cheaper than the old Time Out.'

The Greater London Council under left-wing leader Ken Livingstone funded the title. So it was ironic that the launch of City Limits was made possible by legislation brought in by the Thatcher government (from issue 18):

'Our new company will comply with the Tory government's new Small Business Start-up Scheme. This offers massive tax advantages both to private and business investors.'

City Limits was expected to have a turnover of £1.25 million in its first year.

Time Out profile
Exhibition with City Limits and Time Out covers

The Face

Jerry Dammers of the Specials was the first issue cover subject for The Face. The photo was taken by Chalkie Davies

Now!

Personal Computer World

Sell Out

Private View

Private View modelled itself, at least visually, on Private Eye, but its agenda was attacking pornography laws, the police and the way the press reported on adult book dealers. The publisher was David Sullivan, one of the biggest porn barons in Britain and boyfriend of porn actress Mary Millington. (In 2010, Sullivan bought a half stake in West Ham FC, the ground being 2 miles away from the Forest Gate house were Private View was published).

The first feature, by Doreen Millington [later Whitehouse editor], is a diatribe against the press:

'I am fed up with the way the national press treat the adult book dealers – we all know that they use SEX to sell their papers; yet they refer to adult book dealers as 'Merchants of Menace', 'Porn pushers', etc.'

The distributor was Walton Press (Sales), 7 Grenville Rd, London N19.