Category Archives: Magazines

Hearst in content deal with social network firm

Hearst Magazines Digital Media division has entered into an agreement with instant messaging and social network firm Spleak, Media Week reports.

The deal will see content from titles including CosmoGirl and Teen distributed through the recently launched CelebSpleak application, which is now available on MySpace, Facebook, and AOL and MSN’s instant messaging services.

The app delivers ‘tattles’ – nuggets of celebrity news – and allows users to respond.

“There’s great value in both UGC [user-generated content] and professional, editorial content. Most of the time the two end up in conflict with one another, but Spleak has found the right way to combine the best of both worlds.” Morrie Eisenberg, CEO of Spleak Media Network, told Media Week.

Digital Spy: Digital Spy sold to Hachette Filipacchi

Hachette Filipacchi, publishers of Elle and Psychologies magazines, has acquired entertainment and media news site Digital Spy.

No changes will be made to the management and editorial teams of the site.

As part of the deal DS claims ‘significant investment’ will be made in the site to increase the breadth of its coverage.

Folio: US newspaper company, Tribune Co, launches magazine just for Kindle

US newspaper company Tribune is launching a second digital magazine exclusively for the Amazon Kindle ebook reader – a week after launching its first magazine of this kind.

A week after launching Opinionated, a political magazine aimed just at Kindle owners, Tribune has launched its second Kindle-specific title – a daily electronic magazine focused on pop culture – after partnering with PopMatters.com.

According to Folio, the magazine is targeting 18-to-34-year-olds and is available for a free 14-day free trial and $1.49 monthly subscription at Amazon.com.

Stuff magazine to hold Youtube auditions to find new tech reviewers

image of stuff.tv youtube page

Stuff magazine has revealed plans to recruit a technology reviewer/presenter for its magazine TV service, Stuff.tv, by holding auditions on Youtube.

Applicants have to upload a two-minute video of themselves reviewing an item of technology to the video-sharing website for a chance to win a six-month presenting contract and a prize of £10,000-worth of home entertainment equipment.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=D6Gfjopku9A]

Time Out launches Kuala Lumpur site, Hong Kong launch imminent

image of time out kuala lumpur website

Time Out has this week launched a new listings and entertainments news website in Kuala Lumpur and plans to launch a similar site in Hong Kong next month.

The online launches coincide with sister print title launches in the territories. Developments in Hong Kong will bring the total number of international Time Out web/print publications to 24 in 18 countries including Sydney, Kiev and New York.

Time Out, which also launched in Barcelona in January, plans seven further launches in 2008, including titles in Belgrade, Budapest, Bangkok and Jakarta.

New online launches for niche publishers Made Up Media and Magicalia

Digital sports publisher Made Up Media has added Eat Cricket to its portfolio of websites – its fourth launch since opening its doors in July 2007.

Under the editorship of Gavin Newsham, founder director of Made Up Media, the site will feature news, analysis and videos covering the sport.

Meanwhile niche publisher Magicalia has launched a website for its Popular Patchwork title.

Speaking to Journalism.co.uk in January, Jeremy Tapp, joint managing director of Magicalia, outlined the publisher’s strategy to expand in both print and online.

Tapp said websites backed by a print title had shown better growth than those that were online-only.

“For smaller magazines [those with 15k-30k circulation], their distribution channel is getting squeezed, because of a reduction in range by stockists and retailer,” he said.

“Magicalia’s only option is to reshape such titles so they have more dependence on subscriptions than on the news trade and to drive that using the web community by letting the knowledge of our readers lead the magazine.”

Hearst to close four magazine websites?

Hearst digital, the online division of NatMag, is to close four of its magazine websites, according to a report from New Media Age.

The report claims that the websites for Good Housekeeping and Country Living will be shut with their content used by allaboutyou.com.

The closure is intended to strengthen Hearst digital’s focus on five key online brands, NMA claims.