Colin Grimshaw, Media Week, 17 July 2007, 00:00am

Free market awaits launch of men's mag

The growing free press market is set for a massive expansion with the launch of a half-million circulation men's magazine from a new company fronted by former FHM editor Mike Soutar and backed by film producer Matthew Vaughn and French Connection founder Stephen Marks.

The weekly magazine, carrying the working title Alpha One, will launch with an associated website in the autumn, possibly as early as September. It will be edited by Phil Hilton, the former Nuts editor.

Content, aimed at 18 to 35-year-old ABC1 men, will include sport, entertainment, motoring, travel and news and will be updated at 7am each day on the website.

The magazine will be distributed nationally to commuters in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and West Yorkshire, backed by a £2m marketing budget.

It will carry listings timed for the weekend with Thursday the expected distribution day. The content will not be localised at the start, but this is being looked at.

It is likely that the new title will compete with paid-for weeklies Nuts and Zoo, and the free weekly Sport.

Soutar, who founded a media start-up company, Crash Test Media, last October after leaving IPC, where he headed new magazine ventures, takes up the role of chief executive in the as-yet-unnamed company.

Karl Marsden, who resigned as commercial director of News International's News Magazines, joins as managing director. He was previously commercial director of IPC's men's division, Ignite!

Hilton, who was launch editor of Men's Health and Nuts, becomes editorial director. Tim Ewington, a research and strategy consultant, who has worked on print and digital launches for The Guardian, the BBC and Lastminute.com, joins as strategy & digital director. Matt Phare, formerly creative director for Emap's men's portfolio, is the creative director.

The investor group in the new company, which will have "a mid-to-high seven figure" financing, will be headed by former IPC chairman and Emap group managing director Sir David Arculus.

The investors are: GLG Partners LP, a British hedge fund; DC Thomson, the Scottish publisher; French Connection's Marks; and film and media company, Marv Partners, led by Vaughn and Kris Thykier. Vaughn was the producer of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Layer Cake and is married to model Claudia Schiffer.

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All Comments

Sarah Johnson - 24 July 2007

I am absolutely appalled to read this article. In fact, it's made me well up I am so overcome with disarray at what the hell this world is coming to. Not only do I have to stand putting up with some imbecile drooling over half naked, unimportant, self-obsessed, famous for doing sweet f.a. tart in the London lite then groping my ass and calling me 'sweetheart' as I disembark the tube, now he gets to see more tits on a daily basis without even paying.

When will you realise we make up over half the population and not everyone wants to be viewed in this way or subjected to the behaviour it encourages some men to enact on us as a result of this kind of 'entertainment'. Whilst I sympathise that there is a world of money to be had for those 'empowered' women that subject themselves to the unknowingly degrading behaviour, there's a damn sight in it more for the fat toffs degrading the rest of our sex. In our 'equal' world of industry, I suppose this goes... but how about listening to this? I DO NOT WANT TO BE VIEWED AS THESE WOMEN ARE. I DO NOT WANT ANYONE LOOKING AT ME IN THAT WAY. I do not want to be mentally categorized, subjected to groping, hollering, verbal abuse, or for there to be more envy & disdain more self loathing and hatred between other women. Not now, not ever. But what choice do I have when the advertisers will pay. Good for you. Can't wait for your daughters to deal with the consequences of the world you create, be it anorexia, self mutilation or surgery as they call it these days, general self loathing, depression and drug use. But then they'll be your rich bitch daughter probably socialising and sucking some piece of anatomy of some dumb football star - so my poor children will be subjected to learn all about their pointless, celebrity lives. Oh how the future looks promising.