AOL puts Ventura titles on Net

Attic Ventura teenage titles Sugar and TV Hits are to be published as online magazines through an exclusive deal with AOL UK.

Under the terms of the deal, to be announced later in the week, Sugar will launch on AOL UK on October 15 and TV Hits in December.

Sugar is the UK’s best-selling teen magazine and TV Hits is targeted at 11- to 19-year-olds.

Sources say the deal may well lead to the launch of other Ventura titles in online format. The group also owns B, Shine, Real Health & Beauty and Boyzone magazines. Inside Soap, Ventura’s TV soap title, went online through AOL in 1996.

The deal comes as AOL unveils its new subscription model in an attempt to break into the UK market. It is offering subscribers flat call rates of 1p per minute to fight off competition from free ISPs such as Freeserve.

A study by Fletcher Research showed that 61 per cent of Internet users under the age of 17 are female.