Immediate Media readies new girls title, Blossom

Immediate Media Co, publishers of several BBC-related comics and magazines, has announced the launch of Blossom magazine, a new girls title, packed with educational content, aimed at 4 to 6 year-olds. 

On the newsstands from 29th May this four-weekly title, produced by Immediate’s award-winning youth and children’s editorial team, combines popular girls’ TV, book and toy brands with all seven areas of the Early Years Curriculum.

Tailor-made for the way girls learn, Blossom magazine will be pretty pastel in design and packed with things to make, art pages, challenging puzzles, and interactive stickers to be used in a special sticker section. Featuring its own four girl characters that will guide readers through the magazine, Blossom will show girls how to shine at different activities such as ballet, learning French, playing soccer and bug spotting! The magazine will also look at different jobs that young girls may aspire to.

Every month Blossom will carry an exclusive, high quality cover-mount designed to appeal to young girls. The launch issue comes with a design your own flip-flops kit and features popular book, toy and TV characters: Poppy Cat, Chloe's Closet, Ella Bella Ballerina, Little Princess, Emily Button and Tickety-Toc.

Pauline Cooke, Publisher of Immediate Media’s Pre-school titles, said: “Producing this exciting new title has been great fun. Each issue will give young readers the opportunity to explore their favourite books, TV programmes and toys whilst reinforcing what they’re learning at school. We’re looking forward to working with even more licencees and great brands to develop fantastic content to inspire little girls.”

Andrea Turton, Editor of Blossom magazine, adds: “Blossom provides pre-school girls with age-appropriate content that they understand, plus the sparkly cover-mount they love. Capturing little girls’ love for imaginative play, the title will keep readers busy and thoroughly entertained whilst pleasing parents by being an excellent learning resource.”

Blossom magazine will be priced at £2.75 and will be available at all major retailers and independents around the UK from 29 May.

Bob the Builder magazine celebrates 200th issue

Bob the Builder magazine, published by Immediate Media, is celebrating its 200th issue with the launch of a national competition to win a visit from Bob the Builder at your child’s nursery or school.

Bob the Builder is a four-weekly title pre-school magazine launched in November 2000 and is now published by Immediate Media Company on behalf of rights-owner HIT Entertainment. It has a circulation of 35,027 (ABC circulation figures July-Dec 2012).

The magazine is published under licence from BBC Worldwide.

Bob will be visiting the three lucky UK schools or nurseries picked at random from online nominations by parents and everyone at the three winning schools or nurseries will receive a free copy of the magazine. To be in with a chance, parents are invited to enter their nursery or school here.

The 200th issue of Bob the Builder magazine is packed with lots of activities to keep little builders busy. Readers can share two fun stories and do some pencil practice in a writing and letters workbook. The magazine comes with a sticker sheet to make a party scene for Bob’s crew and a healthy eating reward chart. Young readers can also make a tool belt just like Bob’s – there’s even a pocket for their free phone and keys that come with the issue.

“We're excited to celebrate the enduring popularity of Bob the Builder’s world with a magazine which allows fans to join Bob’s busy team," enthuses Andrea Turton, the title's editor. " It’s a great way to give something back to our readers with such a fantastic competition which we know will delight little fans.”

• The 200th issue of Bob the Builder magazine is now on sale in newsagents and supermarkets, priced £2.50. 

Doctor Who Adventures revamped as series returns to BBC

Coinciding with new episodes of Doctor Who hitting TV screens on Easter Saturday, Immediate Media Co is re-launching Doctor Who Adventures magazine and its website with a new logo, fresh design and brand-new features today, Thursday 28th March 2013.

With weekly sales of over 31,000 and ranked Number One in the primary boys magazines market, the title gives young Doctor Who fans a chance to tap into the world of their favourite Time Lord, his best friends and his greatest enemies.

Along with the regular strip drawn by John Ross - albeit in a younger style than before - the new-look Doctor Who Adventures also features a new comic, ‘Alien Babies’, by Jamie Smart, cool monster makes, a collectable Whoniverse guide, behind the scenes secrets and loads more!

The Doctor Who Adventures website will also carry extra videos, downloads and even more content.

To celebrate, the magazine is inviting kids to their ‘Monster Day Out’ event - the world’s first ever kids only Doctor Who event at the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff on Wednesday 3rd April. A day packed with monster fun, visitors can meet the show’s widely popular Sontaran, Strax (played as on the show by Dan Starkey), and find out how he feels about being called a potato head during a special Q&A session.*

“We’re really excited to be re-launching Doctor Who Adventures with a dynamic new look and fantastic new content," enthuses the title's editor Natalie Barnes. "This is a brilliant year for the show, and it’s great to be a part of it.

"Our Monster Day Out is the perfect way for us to give something back to our readers – and for them to come face-to-face with one of the Doctor’s most fearsome (and shortest) allies, Commander Strax!”

• Doctor Who Adventures magazine is priced at £2.99 and is available now at all major retailers and independents around the UK. Web: www.dwamag.com

• * Parents will need to register to ask a question during Strax's sesssion. What do you want to know about everybody's favourite Sontaran, Commander Strax? Would you like to know how he became a nurse? Or why he likes being a butler to Madame Vastra? Or how he gets his head so shiny? Then simply email Doctor Who Adventures at hello@dwamag.com and they'll pass your questions on!

Immediate Media to Launch Pre-Teen Boys Title, Mega

Immediate Media Co is to launch Mega magazine next Wednesday (6th February 2013), a new humorous and fun title aimed at 7 to 11 year-old boys which, from the look of it, emulates the format of titles such as Egmont's TOXIC and Titan Magazine's Totally... format.

The four-weekly title - priced at £2.99 - will focus on a different popular theme or brand each month, enabling it to tie in with current trends that appeal to this young audience.

Mega magazine will be packed with funny celebrities, cartoon characters, TV shows, facts, jokes, posters and competitions. In issue one, TV stars Dick & Dom reveal their  secrets, there's news from Cartoon Network's hit programmes Adventure Time and Regular Show, favourite boys brands Gumball, Almost Naked Animals and LEGO – plus the title's own "Mega Gang" kick-off their prank-fuelled comic adventures.

As with all titles in this sector Mega will feature a cover mounted gift - these aiming to reinforce the brand's fun value. The launch issue comes with a free joke kit containing a whoopee cushion, slimy snot splat, a bendy pencil and a toilet with 'fart putty'.

The title is being produced by Immediate Media Co's award-winning youth and children's editorial team, with art from Jamie Smart and others.

"We've had great fun producing this exciting new title," says Martin Stahel, publisher of Immediate Media Co's Pre-teen titles. "Each issue will give children the opportunity to explore a new or popular theme or brand, to keep the title fresh and current. We're looking forward to working with new licensees and fantastic brands to develop great content for this young audience."

Kevin Pettman, editor of Mega magazine, adds: "Mega contains everything young boys love and like to talk about in the playground. Capturing their enthusiasm for the latest trends and TV characters, the title will be full of our readers' heroes and the jokes and facts they can share with their friends."

"We’re going for a mix of licensed and unlicensed material, anything we think boys of that age would like," deputy editor Ned Hartley tells us. "It will be quite fluid, but Jamie Smart’s fab comic (and characters he created) will be a very important part of Mega."

• Mega magazine will be priced at £2.99 and will be available at all major retailers and independents around the UK from Wednesday 6th February.

Doctor Who Adventures arrives on iPad, iPhone

(Updated, #300 info corrected): Immediate Media has just released Doctor Who Adventures for iPad and iPhone, bringing the junior Who comic magazine to digital devices.

The title reaches its landmark 300th issue this week.

Described as "the ultimate magazine for kids that are crazy about monsters, aliens and that top Time Lord, the Doctor!" each weekly issue of Doctor Who Adventures comes "bursting with beasts, brain-teasers and big Who news".

Sadly, there's little emphasis in its marketing for the comic strip element of the title, although it is mentioned, the iTunes promo mildly enthusing: "Follow the Doctor’s adventures as he battles aliens, saves worlds and tries out new hats..." I have to say I find this a little disappointing.

However, if it's brain teasers, behind-the-scenes info (although we'd argue Doctor Who Magazine was by far your best port of call for that) and finding out a Dalek’s weak spot, how to knock out a Sontaran or survive a Weeping Angel attack - then DWA is for you.

That said, given the physical title's free Who-related gifts - some of which have been rather cool - we'd suggest this might be a title that's still got the edge when it comes to news stand presence.

A three month app subscription costs - £22.99 and single issue copies are also available within the App. The subscription will include the current issue if you do not already own it and subsequently published future issues. Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase.

• More about the app on iTunes

• Doctor Who Adventures Official web site: www.dwamag.com

 

Immediate Media get set to launch Horrible Histories magazine

 

Immediate Media is to launch Horrible Histories magazine on 18th October 2012, a humorous and fact-filled title aimed at curious 7 to 10 year olds.

With art from Martin Brown for initial issues, the new monthly magazine is based on the bestselling books by Terry Deary, and joins the successful Horrible Histories brand that includes the award-winning BBC television series and national stage show.

As the only comedy magazine based on fact for the primary market, Immediate tell us Horrible Histories is designed to engage children by concentrating on the wicked, weird and woeful things that have happened in history, with an underlying factual accuracy that will appeal to parents. The title is being produced by Immediate Media's award-winning youth and children's editorial team under licence from Scholastic Children's Books.

Combining the style and humour of the books, the monthly title will offer young readers a fun mix of jokes, cartoons, posters, competitions and games. Each issue will carry a high-quality, exclusive Horrible Histories covermount and around 50 fun Horrible Histories stickers.

In keeping with the brand's vile vision of history, Issue 1 comes with a free 'disgusting peasant pack' containing a fake nose, warts, boils and rotten teeth!

“We have really enjoyed working with Horrible Histories' publishers, Scholastic Children's Books, to develop this energetic magazine to extend the brand to appeal to existing fans and new readers alike," says Martin Stahel, publisher of Immediate Media's Pre-teen titles. "Children, both boys and girls, love the brand because it's funny and gory. Parents love the brand because it engages even the most reluctant readers whilst imparting accurate facts. This unique combination will expand the primary magazine category and offers retailers and advertisers a great opportunity to engage with this valuable audience.”

Kevin Pettman, editor of Horrible Histories magazine, adds: “The fantastic Horrible Histories brand has massive support from kids and parents, so it has been exciting to produce this hilariously horrid magazine. It has everything kids love: foul facts, scary quizzes and putrid pictures all backed up with factual accuracy which we know parents will enjoy too.”

“We are delighted to partner with one of the UK's leading magazine publishers on this hugely exciting venture," added Lisa Edwards, Publishing & Commercial Director at Scholastic Children's Books. "We will have a wonderful new offering for the legions of fans of the books, just as we are about to enter the 20th anniversary of their first publication.”

Horrible Histories magazine will be out every four weeks, priced at £2.99 and will be available at all major retailers and independents around the UK.

CBeebies Mag Goes Digital, complementing print edition

BBC Worldwide Digital Entertainment & Games, in collaboration with Immediate Media, has launched a digital version of their best-selling weekly pre-school title, CBeebies Magazine, on the Apple Newsstand on iPhone and iPad, priced at £2.99. 

A free five-page sample is available here on iTunes.

Aimed at children aged 3 to 6 years old, this is the first pre-school magazine app for the CBeebies brand. Packed with fun for "little learners,"CBeebies Magazine's first issue can be downloaded now in the UK.

"Creating a CBeebies Magazine app allows us to reach more families with fun, educational content," said Robert Nashak, EVP Digital Entertainment & Games, BBC Worldwide.

"We're thrilled to be able to bring the brand's magical pre-school world to the portable digital world in such a uniquely interactive way."

Developed by Immediate Media Co. and Mobile IQ and published by BBC Worldwide Digital Entertainment & Games, the CBeebies Magazine app offers parents and young children a chance to learn and play with a whole host of favourite CBeebies characters on a new mobile platform. Using a simple and flexible design process, the app brings an authentic CBeebies experience to children in a fun, safe and trusted environment.

Each activity in the app is based on an area of learning which supports early years learning and allows children to interact with CBeebies characters and shows including Mister Maker, Bob the Builder, Waybuloo, Alphablocks and many more.

The new app will have four issues a year, available on subscription for £9.99, and offers a range of features including:

·      A focus on six zones: stickering, colouring, workbook, let's move, story and reward charts

·      Activities that support areas of learning: literacy, math, feeling good, let's move, creativity and

finding out

·      Phonics

·      More than 50 fully interactive puzzles and activities per issue

·      Highly interactive interface which is easy and fun for children to use independently

·      Responsive to multiple input touch points: tap, touch, drag, stretch, swipe

·      Genuine CBeebies character sound effects

·      Informative parent zone for questions and tips

 "We're thrilled that the hugely recognised and trusted CBeebies Magazine brand has translated so well into an app," commenetd Pauline Cooke, Publishing Director of Pre-school at Immediate Media, "and believe we have created a product that's intuitive to how children learn and play.

"The CBeebies Magazine team were central to the development process and their educational expertise remains at the heart of this new product, which we think children and parents will love. There is an abundance of possibilities and opportunities for this app and we can't wait to explore its potential."

The app developers at Mobile IQ have previously worked in partnership with BBC Good Food and Focus Magazines' apps. The app uses PressRun (pressrun.com) which performs the heavy lifting conversion from artwork to HTML5, making the content highly portable across multiple platforms. Using HTML5 enables a 'single source' approach used to target both tablet and smartphone devices, resulting in the digital edition being incredibly interactive whilst only 1/10th the download size of many similar digital magazines.

Mike the Knight - Immediate Media's latest kids title

Immediate Media is to launch Mike the Knight magazine on 29th August 2012, an educational children's title aimed at children aged 3-5 years, based on the hugely popular CBeebies TV programme of the same name.

This new title - joining a stable of young children's titles from the company - transports children into Mike the Knight's wonderful and imaginative medieval world. Sticker pages, competitions, medieval historical facts and unique covermounts encourage role-play so young readers can 'Be a knight and do it right'!

Immediate say the monthly magazine will give Mike fans the opportunity to meet and interact with Mike and his trainee wizard sister, Evie, on their adventures. With a new mission to solve each month, the title is adventurous, reassuring and funny, using language that's as energetic and cheeky as the magazine's young hero.

The title is being produced by Immediate Media's award-winning youth and children's editorial team.

Mike the Knight is a 52-part CG-animated series bringing the excitement and enchantment of medieval times into the life of the modern pre-schooler for the very first time. In each action-packed episode, viewers are transported to a world filled with marvellous missions, castles, dragons, Vikings and trolls. Mike is an energetic, cheeky little knight in training, driven by his passion to help others and be the best knight that anyone can be.

With the triumphant motto "Be a Knight, do it right" the would-be hero is joined in his adventures by a host of characters including his trusty steed Galahad, two eccentric dragons, Squirt and Sparkie, and his sister Evie, a trainee wizard.

Pauline Cooke, publisher of Immediate Media Co's Pre-school titles, said, "We have really enjoyed working with the programme's creators, HIT Entertainment to develop an inventive magazine which allows young children to have fun and learn in an adventurous way.

"This is a great opportunity to strengthen our position within the shared boys and girls stand-alone market with a title which we know will enchant fellow young knights and wizards in training!"

Sara Oldham, Mike the Knight magazine's editor, adds: "Mike the Knight is the only pre-school programme to invite its viewers into a fantastical world of knights, wizards and dragons and it has captured the imagination of our young readers.

"We're delighted to be offering parents an exciting new magazine that invites their children to enter this world, while also encouraging them to develop the skills they need to succeed at school."

- Mike the Knight magazine will be priced at £2.50 and will be available at all major retailers and independents around the UK

Alphablocks, new Phonics pre-school title launched

Immediate Media, the company now publishing many former BBC Magazines along with new titles such as Rastamouse, has just launched another pre-school title. Alphablocks magazine aims to help the growing number of parents who want to support their child's reading and writing in a fun and creative way before they start school.

A survey of 1,000 UK parents, conducted on behalf of the magazine via Immediate Media's Parenting websites, found that 88 per cent of parents think it's important to help their child learn to read and write before they start school. This is even though just 43 per cent of the adults surveyed were helped to read and write by their own parents before starting school.

Aimed at pre-schoolers aged 3-5 years - and based on the popular CBeebies TV programme of the same name - Alphablocks magazine is the only title that supports phonics, a technique that helps children learn to read using letters and sounds. The title provides parents with an engaging and affordable resource that they can enjoy with their children and use to support their learning from an early age.

Phonics is now high on the government's education agenda, with all children to be given a phonics-based progress check in year one*.This survey's findings suggest that this may have influenced the current generation of parents who are now more concerned with giving their pre-school children a good grounding in literacy.

The survey also found that adults who had learned to read and write with their own parents had fond memories of the experience and wanted to instil the same positive attitude towards books and reading with their own children. They also wanted home learning to be fun and playful, rather than structured.

, editor "As we start the summer holidays, a lot of parents with young children will be thinking about giving their children a head-start before they start their first term at school," explains editor Stephanie Cooper. "Learning to read and write should be fun and a chance for parent and child to bond, share a sense of achievement and create happy memories of learning to read. Alphablocks magazine gives them the chance to embark on a learning journey together, through reading and making words all with the aim of giving children a strong, confident start with literacy."

- Alphablocks magazine is priced at £2.50 and is available now at all major retailers and independents around the UK.

 

Immediate Media grabs Rastamouse for new magazine

Rastamouse
© The Rastamouse Company Ltd

Immediate Media, the publishers of Doctor Who Adventures and more, is to launch Rastamouse magazine, a lively children’s title aimed at pre-schoolers, based on the popular CBeebies TV programme and books of the same name.

Following a deal with rights-owner DHX Media, pre-school smash favourite Rastamouse and his crime-busting mouse reggae band, The Easy Crew, will feature in a new four-weekly magazine for the UK, aimed at pre-school boys and girls from the age of four years upwards.

The first issue will go on sale in early summer.

Based on the successful books by Genevieve Webster and Michael De Souza, Rastamouse is a Cbeebies preschool hit features stories showing how people can get on and solve problems through understanding, love and respect. Rastamouse's ethos is to "make a bad ting good" to teach right from wrong, and help wrong-doers redeem themselves from their mistakes.

Mackinnon & Saunders, whose credits include Pingu and Bob the Builder, made the puppets for this fun-filled and already classic series. Working closely with director Derek Mogford,   the team adapted the designs from Webster and De Souza’s  books into functional three dimensional puppets.
   Reflecting the slightly ‘tongue in cheek’ humour that runs through the programme, Rastamouse magazine will also have a strong appeal to an older audience and parents.

Publishers Immediate Media say the new title is the only pre-school magazine that encourages children to investigate and solve a mystery and will encourage them to learn about respect, understanding and to foster self-confidence, through learning important detective skills whilst helping Rastamouse to solve a mystery. 

With stories, reward charts, stickers and incentives to make a bad ‘ting good, the magazine will contain activities for children to cut out and make. The editorial will be relaxed, chilled and very positive, helping children to feel they are part of the crime-fighting, mystery-solving team. 

“Rastamouse magazine is a very exciting addition to our pre-school magazine portfolio," says Pauline Cooke, Pre-school Publisher at Immediate Media. "It’s a really original programme, from its storylines to its look and feel. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed creating this magazine and we’re sure it will add something different to the market, that children will love.”

“Rastamouse’s unique brand of charm continues to attract new fans and partners to the property," adds Angeles Blanco, Director of Licensing at DHX Media. "The launch of Immediate Media Co’s standalone Rastamouse title will complement the products in the market and bring more Mouseland mysteries and an extra helping of Easy Crew entertainment and activities to fans of the country’s foremost skate-boarding musical mouse.”

• Rastamouse magazine will be priced at £2.50 and will be available at all major retailers and independents around the UK this summer.

• Rastamouse official web site: www.rastamouse.com


• Immediate Media: www.immediatemedia.co.uk

Beano Sales Are Up and Dandy Sales Are Steady

The Audit Bureau Of Circulations, the industry body for media measurement, have released the July to December 2011 sales figures for UK consumer magazines which include British comics. After rather a lot of doom and gloom six months ago when the sales figures for The Dandy in particular appeared to have collapsed, things have steadied for The Dandy while The Beano sales have increased.

Before blinding you with the numbers we should say that the ABC headline sales figures are the average sales for a title over the six month period and include both newsstand and subscription sales for the UK, Eire and other countries.

The Beano headline figures in the last half of 2011 are up by 3% on the previous period to 38333 average sales per issue with the subscriptions included in those numbers up by 10%.

After the shocking drop between the last half of 2010 and the first half of 2011, the headline figure for The Dandy in the last half of 2011 was 7489 average sales per issue, which is still a frighteningly low number but is actually a rise of 0.5% on the previous six month period. While this means that more people subscribe to The Beano by post than buy The Dandy from all the shops in the UK and Eire combined, it is interesting that subscriptions for The Dandy are actually up by 50% on the previous period.

The monthly BeanoMAX headline figures are down 9.6% to 22094 with its subscriptions down by4.6%. The interesting statistic that can be teased out of the BeanoMAX figures is that in other countries, ie outside of the UK and Eire, shop sales of BeanoMAX are almost the same as the shop sales for The Beano and The Dandy combined.

Egmont's TOXIC comic magazine has seen an uplift in sales from 40,503 to 41,521 for the reporting period, while Titan's Simpsons Comics is only marginally lower, from 64,882 to  64,078.

The move from BBC Worldwide to Immediate Media in November 2011 does not seem to have hurt young reader titles such as Toybox and CBeebies Weekly  - in fact many are up on the last reporting period.

Immediate enjoyed an excellent performance across its pre-school portfolio, up 24.1 per cent year on year (y-o-y). This includes excellent growth across the CBeebies portfolio including CBeebies Art, at 63,679, (up 23.4% y-o-y), and from CBeebies Weekly, at 55,516, up 2.2% y-o-y, as well as a strong debut from Octonauts magazine at 61,750. CBeebies Weekly remains the UK’s top children’s title in terms of circulation.

While not a comic, there's good news, too, for satirical cartoon-packed magazine Private Eye, with its sales at 230,000 fortnightly sales. The Guardian notes this is its highest circulation for more than 25 years as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Editor Ian Hislop, who credits the recent successes to the magazine's journalists and satirists said: "10% growth in a year, I feel like the chancellor – in his dreams.

"I would like to say it was down to my brilliance but the razzmatazz over the 50th birthday helped and there have been some great issues," he added. "The anniversary issue was a great cover. It was a very special year and a lot of our stories came good, whether it was hacking, or PFI or the Hartnett [tax sweetheart deals] story."

One final batch of figures from ABC that may be of interest are the sales figures for the Sunday Post newspaper (Commando by the way is not ABC rated). This Scottish Sunday paper is the home of The Broons and Oor Wullie and during January 2012 the average sales figures per issue were 302,388 which was made up of 215,861 issues in Scotland, 85,326 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined, 823 issues in Eire and 378 issues in other countries. Since it is generally accepted that Sunday papers are read by more than one person, that is a lot of potential readers of Wullie, Maw and the rest of the family.

• The Audit Bureau of Circulations website is here


• British Comic Sales Table on downthetubes

• The Beano and BeanoMAX website is here and subscription details are here for The Beano and here for BeanoMAX.

• The Dandy website is here and subscription details for The Dandy are here.