The documentary is part of Channel 4’s Cutting Edge series and will be broadcast at 9pm next Thursday (18 March).
The Budworth family, owners of the title, are struggling to keep the venerable magazine going, and the programme follows new editor Rachel Johnson (sister of London Mayor Boris) as she tries to overhaul its dusty image.
Cutting Edge charts Johnson’s attempts to build readership from 26,000 to the title’s stated aim of 40,000 by the end of this year.
The new editor also has to contend with loyal readers who do not welcome even the smallest change to their favourite magazine.
, originally founded as a 'journal for gentlewomen', had a full colour revamp last year, which boosted sales by nearly 10% before Johnson took over. Johnson, a journalist and novelist, had not edited a magazine before.
The £1.80 title first appeard in 1885 and is one of the UK's longest-running women’s weeklies. It has been in the same family since it was originally launched by Thomas Gibson Bowles, the grandfather of the Mitford sisters.
The Budworth family are also understood to be currently in the bidding for Reader’s Digest magazine, which went into administration last month.
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