Emap has been running television spots in support of Closer, which it launched in September backed with a £10m budget. The weekly Closer combines celebrity news with real-life human interest stories and has been a hit since its launch.
Emap is already reported to have spent an estimated £3.8m backing Closer. Although the magazine is not yet ABC audited, it is thought to have a circulation of around 270,000 copies.
Desmond's Northern & Shell, the owner of Express Newspapers and OK!, revealed last week he was to launch a new weekly celebrity-focused title on February 20 (Thursday).
Called Wow!, the title will take also hit Emap's Heat and IPC's Now. It is understood to be launching with a cover price of 60p and an initial print run of around 700,000. Desmond hopes the title's low price, compared with £1 for Closer, £1.45 for Heat and £1.10 for Now, will appeal to its main target audience of ABC1 women in their late 20s.
The launch is being backed by a TV advertising campaign. The magazine is being produced from a mix of news and beauty features, with a strong emphasis on celebrity, with content taken from OK! and Hot Stars, the glossy magazine that comes with OK!, and Hot Celebs, the Daily Star Sunday magazine.
Both Hot Celebs and Hot Stars are edited by Martin Smith, who also edits the magazine that comes with the Saturday edition of the Daily Express. It is Smith who is also editing Wow!.
The launch comes as Desmond prepares to take on Associated Newspapers with the launch of his London evening title Evening Mail in March. At the weekend, it was revealed that Associated was to hit back with a red-top tabloid in competition with the Daily Star.
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