Unit 01 – AO5: Magazine Ownership and Distribution

Magazine Ownership

Total Film

Company Total Film is published by Future Publishing (PLC) It has offices in the UK in London and Bath – owns the US company Future US and Future Australia. They published over 150 magazines and over 40 websites. They have a contract publishing division Future Plus, but magazines and websites is there main source of revenue.

Structure Head of offices in Bath Satellite offices in San Francisco, London, Sydney The company is divided up in terms of types of magazines: Technology Computing Games Film Music Future Women Photography Creative & Design Sport Auto Handpicked Future

Little White Lies

Company Little White Lies is published by Church of London, a privately owned company.

Their offices are in East London. They currently published two magazines – LWL and Huck. Other revenue sources include graphic design, marketing,

contract publishing and event management.

Structure Church of London is split up into 3 Magazine teams Little White Lies Huck Contract publishing – creating bespoke magazines for companies Design Agency Creating posters, brochures and prospectuses Event Organiser Organising specific movie events and festivals.

Sight and Sound

Company Sight and Sound is published by the British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to promote British film and TV, use it as a record in terms of contemporary society and promote its education. BFI is a non-profit organisation.

Structure BFI BFIʼs headquarters are on the Southbank in London Within the BFI there are teams working on the following. The London IMAX cinema The London Film Festival BFI Education – Events and Publishing BFI Archive BFI – Production, UK Film documentaries.

Distribution

Total Film

Physical Distribution 13 issues a year Available UK wide at: supermarkets, newsagents at £3.90 Subscriptions - £25.99 from official Future site (37.99 from

Myfavouritemagazines.co.uk) ABC 78,000

Digital Distribution iPhone App launched Aug 2010 - £1.49 Interactive iPad edition launched June 2012 PDF Newstand version – subs £27.99 Zinio and Lekiosk

Analysis Total Film is a mainstream film magazine designed to appeal to the largest audience possible. To ensure the biggest possible revenue stream the magazine is distributed nationwide, everywhere you would expect to see a mag available. Subscriptions are pushed very hard with online and in-mag promotions, as well as a 50% discount. They have embraced digital distribution by alternate version for iPad, iPhone and PC – all with a similar price. This is a distribution model to maximise revenue and ensure brand awareness and high sales.

Little White Lies

Physical Distribution Bi Monthly Available at selected Newsagents, art-house cinemas (Picture House) and bookshop priced £4.25 – was originally launch exclusively in Borders. Subscriptions - £21.00 a year for six issues from the official site

Digital Distribution iPhone App Aug 2011 – reviews and link to blog Digital version of archive all available on the official site for FREE ABC 16,000

Analysis The magazine is only bi-monthly and available in selected stores – partly do to a low circulation but also as LWL is an aspiration magazine that is conscious of being seen in the right places. There is some appreciation of digital distribution with the app – but the app is reviews and links to blog post rather than being an interactive digital mag – this suggests the mag, the physical item is more important than the brand or

content. The fact that the archive is available for free is an interesting business move – LWL is about design appreciation – Church of London can attract more readers by making existing content available for free and attract business for their contract publishing and event business.

Sight & Sound

Physical Distribution Monthly Available in most newsagents, selected bookshop, art-house and independent cinemas and at the BFI. Price: £3.90 Subscription – 12 issues for £38.00 BFI members save 35% on subscription cost. Circulation 22,000

Digital Distribution The BFI has an online digital archive. There is no app, iPad version or interactive digital app.

Analysis The remit for Sight and Sound it to the critical voice of the BFI (the institution). but mainly provide full production credits for every film that has a theatrical release in the UK and a full plot synopsis. It serves as a national record of cinema in the UK. As it serves this purpose in magazine format, there has been no rush to go to digital – this is comparison to Total Film whoʼs main remit is make money – BFI are a non-profit organisation.