Observer mags to be relaunched

Guardian Newspapers is revamping the Observer’s Life Magazine and Observer TV listings sections to bring the weekly sections in line with its glossy monthly supplements.

Life Magazine will be renamed the Observer Magazine and change to a glossy format on April 21. Its size shrinks from 290mm by 372mm to 230mm by 300mm, but its pagination will increase.

The editorial content is being overhauled to create two sections. The front part of the supplement will include investigative features, photography and celebrity interviews, while the back section will be called “Life” and focus on lifestyle.

New sections include Real Life, which looks at modern day relationships, and a Love Life column by Mariella Frostrup.

Guardian Newspapers advertising director Stuart Taylor says that the changes will give more leverage for the sales team in the car, luxury fashion and beauty product sectors.

Observer TV will change from 128mm by 210mm to A5 with eight additional pages, making the pagination 48 pages.

The Observer Magazine will launch the same week that the newspaper publishes a 64-page standalone supplement called Drugs Uncovered, supported by a national television and radio campaign devised by Mother, with media handled by PHD.

The Saturday Guardian’s Weekend supplement changed to a glossy format in April last year. The Observer introduced a glossy sport monthly in May 2000, and a food monthly in April 2001.

The Observers’s average net circulation for September 2001 to February 2002 was 472,672, up 6.36 per cent year on year.

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