EMAP gossip mag Heat is launching a new “irreverent showbiz spin-off” aimed at ‘adults’ (ie an older readership than its current twenty-something market). It is expected the media group hope to topple the dominance of Hello! And OK! in this area. The news follows the launch of Sneak last April, dubbed the "baby Heat", which attempted to fill the gap in the market between teens and twenty-somethings addicted to showbusiness gossip. The ‘mature Heat’ should hit the newsagents later this year and Jane Johnson, former features editor of the Sunday Mirror, is tipped to be involved, though she has not confirmed anything. "Emap is known for doing the most thorough research in the market. It will be very well researched before they take the plunge. With the knowledge they've built up from Heat anything they do will be taken seriously," former editor of Hello! and the News of the World Phil Hall told the Media Guardian. "Hello! caters for the Daily Mail and Telegraph end of the market and OK! for the Sun and Mirror end, so it's hard to understand where the gap is, but if anybody can do it Emap can."
Jul 24, 2002
•
1 min read
Emap plan older Heat
Emap plans an older-readership showbiz spin-off of Heat to challenge Hello! and OK!, following the launch of its younger title Sneak.