EMAP unveils junior Heat for ‘gossip hungry’ teenagers

EMAP’s new celebrity-driven teenage weekly, codenamed Project Monkey, is to be called Sneak.

The title, which will be on the shelves on April 30, is planning to undercut the market, with a price of 90p. The initial print-run is expected to be 100,000 copies.

Sneak – which is planned as a “younger” counterpart to EMAP Elan’s successful weekly, Heat – will be aimed at teenagers “hungry for gossip and entertainment-led stories”, according to the company.

The launch editor is Jennifer Cawthorn, former editor of Attic Futura’s Sugar. The title comes under the aegis of EMAP Performance, which publishes music titles such as Q, Kerrang and Mojo.

Last week EMAP Elan announced the relaunch of Bliss magazine, another title aimed at the teenage market, in an A5-size format. Sneak, however, is expected to be quite different to Bliss, with a more irreverent take on music and celebrities. It also plans to be unlike EMAP’s fashion title, Elle Girl.

BBC Worldwide’s Star magazine, a similar concept to Sneak, was shut down in October last year. This year, BBC Magazines closed its L&K magazine, formerly Live & Kicking. It will be replaced by another title, called It’s Hot, which will be a more general entertainment title for teenagers.