EMAP halts masthead TV test with HTV

EMAP and HTV West have suspended tests on masthead programming after failing to find a network willing to commission the shows.

EMAP lan and HTV West were attempting to get two masthead TV shows for Bliss and J17 onto ITV2, the ITV digital network. However, ITV2 did not commission either programme.

A spokesman for HTV West says: “We were in talks with EMAP about masthead programming, but neither of the ideas we tried were commissioned. We have now put these talks on hold.”

The spokesman adds: “Masthead programming is still an exciting proposition. We are looking to open up talks with EMAP again, or with other players in the magazine market.”

Young women’s titles, Bliss and J17, are two of EMAP lan’s strongest magazines. J17, with ABC sales of 243,000, is one of the strongest titles in the company’s magazine division.

One media agency print director says: “Both shows would have been positioned as youth versions of the Cosmo Show. They would have been young and lively – a bit like the BBC’s Live and Kicking.”

Paul Green, a director of Broadcast media consultants Inside Broadcast, says: “All of the magazines are testing masthead television at the moment.

“They are trying to see which formats best bring their magazine to life on screen.”