IPC shuffles titles to focus on leisure
IPC Magazines has rejigged its magazine portfolio, moving titles between publishing companies, to strengthen its position in key leisure markets.
IPC’s Music and Sport division is losing all its sports titles to IPC Country & Leisure Media, and is likely to be rebranded as a men’s entertainment group because the reshuffle leaves it with music titles such as NME and Melody Maker and men’s lifestyle magazines Loaded and Later.
Rugby World, Golf Monthly, Women & Golf, Shoot, World Soccer and Soccerstars will transfer to Country & Leisure from May 22 and come under the direction of publishing director Hamish Dawson.
The division’s sporting titles, based in Croydon, which include the cycling and motors portfolios and Superbike, will be the responsibility of general manager Simon Owen from May 8. Link House Magazines, also based in Croydon, will be rebranded Focus Network.
Country & Leisure will have six networks: focus; country and country pursuits; wine; special pursuits; sport; and the newly-created marine division for the yachting titles which will be headed by commercial director Paul Williams.
The division will lose Amateur Gardening, Your Garden and New Eden to IPC SouthBank Publishing, where they will join the home interest group headed by publishing director Yvonne Ramsden.
IPC Country & Leisure managing director Sylvia Autonof says: “This restructure strengthens IPC’s leisure offering, enabling us to maximise the huge potential embedded within these important specialist markets.”
Venture capitalist Cinven, which owns IPC, is known to have received approaches from various media companies, including Telewest, to buy the magazine group.
