OK! plans to launch title in the States

Northern & Shell is planning to expand its OK! brand overseas and is talking to publishing houses in the US and Australia about joint licensing agreements.

The news follows the company’s decision to create a Spanish version of OK! The magazine will compete directly with its arch-rival Hello!, which publishes under the name Hola!, in its home market.

Northern & Shell advertised for an editor for the Spanish OK! last week. The title is expected to be running within the next year.

Stan Myerson, joint managing director of Northern & Shell, comments: “The OK! brand is very strong in this country. We want to license OK! abroad and are looking at the Australian and American markets.

“We are in negotiations with a number of companies. Given the right partner, I think this would work very well.”

OK! magazine is facing legal action from its rival Hello! after it sent out a mail shot to advertisers which claimed that OK! had sold more copies than Hello! earlier on this year.

The celebrity weeklies market is showing healthy growth in the women’s market compared to flat figures for established glossy magazines.

Northern & Shell’s OK! magazine had a circulation increase of 50.4 per cent to 214,162 for the six months from January to June this year, compared with its competitor Hello! which rose 1.6 per cent to 506,027 for the same period.

Time Warner, which publishes People and celebrity weekly In Style in the US, is looking to enter the market and is testing celebrity formats for European markets.