The reality format of the show will follow six young journalists as they experience what it’s like working with the teams who pull together the following magazines – heat, FHM, Closer, more!,  Kerrang! and Empire.

The winner of the reality TV show will be awarded a year-long contract with Bauer Media, Europe’s largest magazine publisher.

The Exclusives will put the magazine brands in the national spotlight and is sure to drive exposure and interest in each of the brands in question. 

With Two Four productions involved, (the production team behind Educating Essex),  it promises to be a really entertaining and informative opportunity for PRs to see how magazines operate from an editorial and publishing perspective in 2012. 

Firstly, CES 2012 has sent the media into a spin about the wonders of connected TV, something we’ve been talking about for a while with and on behalf of our clients. There is a clear divide in views on the impact this will have on TV. There appear to be two camps. 1. those who think it will totally and utterly change the way we watch TV forever and 2. those who think the stats already show, yes, it is having some impact but that TV will not radically change from the passive, laid-back shared viewing experience for the family it has always been in the coming years. Whichever camp you support, it’s definitely worth playing around with connected TV if you haven’t to see what this all means. A brilliant example of what is becoming possible in this new world is to take a look at Zeebox. Picture how you will share and manage PR content you’re responsible for through this type of fully integrated TV viewing experience. Although I challenge you to remain focused on the programme while you’re exploring the delights that Zeebox offers.

Meanwhile, Leveson caries on apace and is compulsive viewing to see how the different media editors and owners are behaving under the spotlight. This enquiry still has months left and hats off to Ben Fenton and Dan Sabbagh amongst other for their relentless and committed tweeting from the enquiry. Their tweets are causing regular ripples of debate here in the Braben office…Where the enquiry will leave newspapers and their complaints commission, code of conduct and reputation remains to be seen.  In the interests of a strong UK media landscape, I can’t help but hope to see a stronger industry with its many fantastic brands well positioned to engage with UK readers in this digital world.

Phew, what’s in store for the next two weeks of Jan?! Told you it would be another amazing year for media.

As specialists for the media world, we sit right at the heart of the industry representing media brands, media owners, businesses which supply technology services to media companies and the agencies, trade bodies and marketing bodies who drive the advertising debate.  This means we are exposed to and are asked to deliver PR campaigns from all areas of the media world, focusing on commercial opportunities, supporting business as they evolve and deal with rapid technological changes and also reflect the economy and the environment they’re operating in.  All of this happens at a speed that makes the media sector such a fantastic, exciting and fast-moving place to be!

Listening to media business leaders talk about 2012 during the final months of 2011, it is clear that the ambitions of media businesses are as strong as ever. 

Launches, refreshes, changes to reflect new technology, investment in new talent, trust in well-established formats (TV, Radio, Print – they’re not going away in 2012!), investment in new channels (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn),  excitement about mobile and video, new opportunities around major events (not least London 2012), the state of the economy (UK, Eurozone, Global) are all informing business strategy for businesses in the media sector.  Plus, the microscope for media that is the Leveson Enquiry and the ongoing scrutiny of the way the media behaves to provide us with content.

Brands for all media owners are central to commercial success and critically brands that are fully functional in a multi-platform world.  However, there’s no one size fits all for this and each platform has a different importance depending on the media brand, their subject, their audience, their frequency, their business model.  The understanding of how the various channels work is getting sharper and sharper through testing, insight and growth in the numbers of people using these channels and there will be media brands extending and evolving their engagement and influence through ever more powerful, and interesting ways.

And there is the ongoing move by non-media brands to act like media through their own channels of communications…  A world where all brands aspire to be editor brands i.e. the brand of choice for a consumer wishing for knowledge, excitement, products, services, escapism, trends, aspirations, dreams – all of the things that media brands offer people and have always offered them.

So what does all this mean for PRs?   Well, here’s three things to consider:

1.            For any brand you represent, try thinking like a media brand and asking yourself what would you do if they were a media brand?

2.            When you target a media brand, consider as always the individual media brand’s content, the journalist, their area of interests and their target audience…  but also make sure you know various channels the media brand has to that audience.  Think how the PR content you offer can work in this multi-platform world to best effect with the individual media brand you are targeting?

3.            Follow all developments in the media world religiously from the usual sources and try and add new ones, being informed about the media landscape is essential to the success of a PR campaign.

Finally, I say, enjoy our media, we have some of the best content, brands and journalists in the world right here in the UK and we are fortunate enough to be able to spend our time consuming, exchanging views and contributing to media on behalf of the businesses we represent.  Our media never stands still, it never fails to excite and It will stimulate conversation in any walk of life. 

I can promise you it will be a brilliant, vital and essential part of life in 2012.

British TV and film viewers are hungry for change to the traditional TV status quo, frustrated by a lack of accessibility to content, according to a UK-wide survey exploring changing consumer attitudes and behaviours to TV and video. The survey was conducted by Red Bee Media, one of the world’s leading media management companies, and is a part of the company’s Tomorrow Calling programme, which aims to build a picture of the media world in 2020, its technological possibilities and market dynamics, through a series of think tanks, quantitative and qualitative research, one-to-one interviews, live panel debates and white papers.

Key findings:

· While the majority of UK consumers expect to watch the same or more live TV in the future, an overwhelming three quarters (74%) claim that they can’t find anything to watch on live TV on a weekly basis, as a result of confusion caused by the continued proliferation of content, platforms and devices.

· 71% want the freedom to choose what they want to watch, when they want to watch it.

o 45% want access to all back episodes of their favourite programmes.

o 39% want catch up to be available for longer, such as six months.

o 34% are interested in having multi-room wireless access to content on any screen (rising to 42% among 16-24 year-olds).

o 33% want the whole live TV schedule available on catch up.

o More than a fifth (21%) are frustrated when they can’t access a UK programme while abroad.

· More than half of UK consumers think that content should be released at the same time all over the world (57% for films, 56% for TV).

· In fact, 46% of respondents thought that illegal downloads would be greatly reduced if it was possible to pay to watch new TV series from other countries without having to wait for a UK release date.

· UK consumers are clearly prepared to pay for content; they just want more control over what they are buying. 63% think they will spend the same on TV in the future, and 20% think they’ll spend more.

Today’s pay TV platform providers may face significant competition from OTT providers: nearly a third (31%) of consumers would be interested in new content packages via internet-connected TV, if they could choose only to receive their favourite channels, without having to pay for other channels that they don’t watch.

· A third (33%) of pay TV subscribers in the UK would consider downgrading or cancelling their subscriptions if there was a cheaper solution to receiving movies; another 33% would do the same if they could watch TV without advertising.

· Channel brands will continue to play an important role. However, a remarkable 39% of UK consumers think that there may be some technology and film brands that can do a BETTER job than existing TV channels.

“Viewers are more engaged with TV and movies than ever before and it is clear that our industry will continue to experience an unprecedented level of change. The results show that viewers are increasingly savvy about what they watch and how and when they watch it and they are ever more cynical about current offers when their preference is for a more immediate, selective and flexible experience”, said Bill Patrizio, CEO, Red Bee Media. “This research provokes us to listen closely to what tomorrow’s consumer has to say and ask ourselves whether or not their expectations are driving our industry’s innovation agenda.”

The consumer survey was revealed last night at an industry event entitled ‘TV Audiences of Tomorrow’ held in central London. An expert panel debated the findings, chaired by broadcast journalist, Krishnan Guru-Murthy. Panellists included Tim Hussain, Head of Platform Development and Partnerships, BskyB; Sue Unerman, Chief Strategy Officer, MediaCom; Julia Jordan, Executive Director, Business and Operations, UKTV; Neil Mortensen, Research and Planning Director, Thinkbox; and Andy Bryant, Director of Creative, Red Bee Media.

Red Bee Media’s Tomorrow Calling first event, hosted by media commentator Ray Snoddy, explored the impact of networks, platforms and devices and was debated by experts from Google, FremantleMedia, Virgin Media, Cisco, Red Bee Media and Balderton Capital. A final event will look at future business models and the prospects for industry revenue streams in the new year.

To receive more information about Tomorrow Calling, upcoming events and to watch the debate online, please visit www.redbeemedia.com/tomorrowcalling.

Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing, speaking at Brand Licensing Europe 2011 today revealed that new technology, like animation and 3D, are crucial to keeping the brand fresh, helping Lucasfilm take Star Wars™ to a third generation of fans.

He also revealed more details about the hotly rumoured Star Wars™ animated TV comedy series with Seth Green which will premiere “within the next two years”, as he was grilled by EMPIRE magazine editor-in-chief Mark Dinning in The Big Interview. Roffman also hinted that a totally new Star Wars™ live action TV series was under consideration for the future.

Whilst careful not to give away too many details, Roffman said that Lucasfilm is working closely with US comedian Seth Green, of Family Guy and Austin Powers fame, to finalise the comedy TV series. He said that Lucas has always found Star Wars™ parodies extremely funny, citing a brutally frank French & Saunders parody as an example, and is thrilled to be exploring opportunities in a new area of the brand.

Roffman said: “Lucasfilm knows that to keep the brand fresh and exciting for both new and existing fans, we must always look for new ideas. For example the Clone Wars TV series has been an exciting new chapter for the Star Wars™ brand. The changing nature of technology has also opened many doors. In 2011 we launched blu-ray versions of all six films and in February 2012, we will launch a 3D version of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in cinemas worldwide, as we aim to reach a third generation of fans.

The new animated Star Wars™ comedy series with Seth Green is a product of Lucasfilm’s focus on continued innovation. I remember showing George the French & Saunders parody of The Phantom Menace with trepidation in my heart, but I don’t think I have ever seen him laugh that hard! Lucasfilm has never been more prolific. We are in one of the most exciting phases of Star Wars™ 34-year history.”

Roffman has been a part of Lucas Licensing for 31 years and there are few people closer to the Star Wars™ brand and the secrets behind its success. The third-highest-grossing film series in history, Star Wars™ consumer products have sold a staggering $23bn worth of merchandise over the last three decades. The brand continues to thrill and engage its third generation of fans through the blu-ray releases, the upcoming 3D cinematic experience and now one, possibly two, new TV series’ on the way.

Smith is the driving force behind one of the biggest children’s licensing success stories of the past few years and as such, has become a very influential figure in the industry worldwide. In less than three years since its launch, Moshi Monsters – an online community of adoptable pet monsters for children – has attracted almost 50 million users globally. Currently half of all children in the UK aged 6-12 have one and in the US the figure is one in five children in that age group and growing rapidly.

Moshi Monsters brought its immense popularity to the licensing world in January 2010 with the launch of a range of merchandise, including trading cards, a Vivid Imaginations toy line, books from Penguin and a bestselling self-published magazine. Mind Candy expects gross retail sales of all Moshi Monsters related product to be over $100m this year alone, signalling an influential new licensing model for the first generation of ‘digital’ children, directly challenging traditional children’s media.

Key facts & stats:
Moshi Monsters has 50 million registered users globally; one new user signs up every second
• It is played in 150 countries worldwide; its biggest markets are (in order of size) the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland
• Moshi Monsters is the fourth most popular website amongst girls and boys aged 4-6 yo and fourth for boys in the 7-12yo age group. In girls aged 7-12yo it is beaten only by Facebook.
• Around 65% of users are female and 35% male
• Moshi Monsters is at the forefront of the new transmedia trend, with a focus on taking the brand across many different platforms in ways that benefit the audience as much as possible
• Mind Candy still holds 100% IP for Moshi Monsters, giving it total creative control
Smith said there are five main reasons why Moshi Monsters has become so successful –

1. “Moshi Monsters’ players drive development. We work hard to get the audience involved; we constantly ask for opinions, for ideas, for feedback. For example we recently had thousands of ideas submitted when we asked about trading cards. When we use a suggestion, we always do our best to give the kids the credit for their ideas, giving them social currency to show off in front of their friends.”

2. “We use many different channels to promote and grow Moshi Monsters, and we’ll always make brave choices if we think it’s best for the brand. For example, many people told us not to move into print, telling us we’d be better off sticking to our core digital offering. Despite this, we launched Moshi Monsters magazine, which is now the number one best selling children’s magazine in the UK.”

3. “We never rest, we are always evolving the Moshi Monsters world, adding new content to ensure the brand remains fresh and exciting. Being digitally based allows us the flexibility to iterate quickly and continuously introduce new characters in real time, something that is restricted by the production processes of film and TV. We have now built up to over 200 hugely popular characters. Our content can be easily tweaked depending on its popularity. This is the appeal for kids – they have control of this world in a way they just don’t in the real world, so rather than a media owner telling them what they will and won’t like, they make those choices.”

4. “Moshi Monsters has an exceptional marketing team, covering live events, PR and brand marketing. But even more importantly, we have the product right. Between 2007 and 2009 we had very little marketing, because we knew product was the key – in my experience marketing is often used to mask problems with a product. We knew we had it right in mid-2009 when it suddenly took off. The Eureka moment was realising the kids want social interaction online just as much as adults, so we overlaid the digital game with ways to connect, share and talk about it. Suddenly it was a hit. A tip from us – marketing should be an accelerant to the fire, not the spark that gets the fire going.”

5. “We make sure we are the best licensing partner we can possibly be, responding quickly and approving or suggesting ideas as proactively as we possibly can. Our partnerships are critical to the expansion of Moshi Monsters. For example, Moshlings, a sub-brand of creatures, has become one of our biggest areas of expansion, with opportunities in many sectors, even a Moshling fashion range.”

Panellists were invited to give their view on where things are going.

The media landscape in 2020

Steve Plunkett, Director of Technology and Innovation at Red Bee Media opened with the view that the biggest theme is an era of accelerating change.

This, he said, was in part to be attributed to the proliferation of high speed internet access predicted to reach 75% of UK households by 2020.

Bruce Daisley, Sales Director at YouTube and Display at Google stated that innovations such as the Kindle had changed the landscape and set the trend of things to come.

Claire Tavernier, Senior Executive VP, FMX and Worldwide Drama at FremantleMedia added that things will get better and faster and that new entrants will help make that happen. Tavernier continued that something else as game-changing as Google will enter the market in the next decade.

Dharmash Mistry, Partner at Balderton Capital projected that we may eventually see media in the cloud as a virtual and not physical product. He predicted that Facebook would become the leading distributor of media by 2020, be that anything from music to film.

John Bishop, Director Strategic Initiatives at Cisco began by saying there will be no second class experience across screens, with all devices as equals, driven by better experiences.

Virgin Media’s Ian Mecklenburgh, Director, Consumer Platforms and Devices said digital rights was the priority issue to tackle in the next decade, resolving where and when consumers had the right to watch content.

Media commentator, Raymond Snoddy, then instigated debate amongst the panellists.

The future for connected TVs

Questioning the rate of new technology adoption, Tavernier said that whilst a number of people will get connected TVs, it will take a long time for most to plug them in. She added that the primary use of connected TVs will be for VoD, wherever, whenever and a significant challenge was agreeing a common billing system.

Daisley interjected branding it extraordinary that the biggest screens in the house were not connected. Plunkett said that connected TVs would play a major and ubiquitous role in the future of media, driven by innovation such as Microsoft’s Kinetic.

Bishop thought that the most innovation would be away from the TV, saying it has always been regarded as the high-bar but that in the next decade, compared to other devices, it will become the low bar, and potentially this change will come about very quickly.

Mobile and tablet devices

On devices, Plunkett confirmed that tablets had a vital role to play. He said that mobiles were too small for long-form viewing, that computers were too cumbersome but that tablets occupied a sweet spot.

Fighting the corner for traditional broadcasting, Tavernier said she found it hard to believe that linear had no future when over 12m people tune in to watch a programme. She said this brought a lot of value and was not going to go away.

Daisley concurred saying that ITV had got its mojo back and asked if we could see a world without it.

Search and discovery

Turning to search, Bishop said that search will play a far greater role in how viewers find programmes, down to enabling viewers to pull specific, smaller viewing segments from long form content.

Answering a question on the role of Tivo, Mecklenburgh said he didn’t expect consumer behaviour to change as quickly as it has, revealing that 20% of users find programmes without the EPG through intelligent search and recommendation.

Mistry argued that the EPG as we know it would not be the main way we’d find out programmes in the future, favouring a search model more synonymous with the web.

Content, distribution and monetisation

On content, Google’s Daisley said it is not in their DNA to own content. He added that Google is a catalyst that stimulates wider industry innovation. Mistry contributed that, for good or bad, Facebook is becoming essential as a distribution platform.

Moving on to the question of monetisation, Tavernier said she was sceptical that micropayments would ever fund an entire TV business model. Mistry commented that clinging to yesterday’s revenue models is the biggest constraint on the media industry.

Google’s Daisley revealed that they are testing technology that only changes clients for video adverts that are watched, allowing viewers to choose to fast forward or not. He added that the less an advert was watched, the more the client would have to pay.

Tavernier said FremantleMedia is working on new, interactive programme formats but that most viewers want a clean broadcast experience, supported by interactive elements on other devices.

Plunkett added that content remains king but the challenge is about packaging and distributing it. Mistry said he did not think YouTube would be the aggregator of high quality video content, but will continue primarily as a platform for user generated content.

A bright but challenging future

The first debate ended in agreement that the UK was in a good place to make the most from the new era of media but that it had its work cut out to avoid domination by American owned distribution platforms.

1. Charlie Wijeratna, Executive Director, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, unveils some interesting stats: 3m fans in UK, 16m fans globally, 32,000 on a paid waiting list for season membership. Spurs also have an eye on commercialising global markets – they currently make almost no revenue outside UK

2. Olivier Bremont, CCO, Volvo Ocean Race, said that the Volvo Ocean Race focuses on multiple investment platforms including the ports, teams, partners and an increased focus on licensing revenue with brands such as Puma.

3. Jez Jowett, Global Social Media Director, Cake, Havas Sports & Entertainment, gave some insight into brands social media campaigns – 67% of people will re-tweet if you ask them to and once you have an established community, encourage conversation by posting questions, not statements. He gave the example of Smirnoff Vodka who asked “Do you like small or large events” which received hundreds of comments and interactions.

4. Josh Robinson, Director of Consultancy, Sports Revolution & SMG Sport, compares digital media to glue that sews together a campaign and avoids ‘dead-end’ media

5. Tim Duncalf, Director Oxygen8 Communications, talks mobile and the trials of Near Field Communications (NFC). “The new wallet in your pocket” will allow you to swipe your mobile for contactless payments, exchange digital content and information collection.

6. Andrew Steele, Olympic and Commonwealth Games Sprinter said that brands that look to invest in developing sports professionals have the opportunity to create a ‘culture’ rather than just a ‘winner’.

7. The success of a particular sport (traditional or ‘new-look’) is about taking it from being fashionable to being popular, comments John Taylor, Chairman, Sports Impact – this is the only way to secure longevity.

8. Tim Crow, CEO, Synergy, comments that sports marketing leverages people’s passion and social media allows people to share that passion

9. The new Westfield Stratford City will see 75% of the people attending the London2012 games walk through its doors which presents a huge opportunity for marketers.

10. Tim Crow discussing mobile marketing and how mass one-to-one marketing to mobile is going to be the ‘golden-ticket’ for marketers

To find out more about what was discussed, search #SM360 on Twitter or visit www.sportsmarketing360.com

Compiled by Byron McCaughey, Account Manager, Braben (the PR Partners of SportBusiness Group Conferences and Events)

At the heart of the index is how engaging the content is, the levels at which people interact with it, whether that’s commenting, playing a game, sharing views with others… Put simply, the more social and interactive the content, the more powerful the engagement.

A key highlight is the role of Twitter. The research shows the importance of making it easy to follow a brand on Twitter. It also shows the power of Twitter as a catalyst for further action linked to the brand. The more retweets and the right kind of followers your Twitter feed has the more likely the consumer is going to follow up this behaviour with further actions. So, an engaging and well-targeted Twitter feed is fundamental.

Turning to Facebook, there are some interesting stats on tools to drive engagement and action. For example, 78% of people interacting with a brand on Facebook are likely to do a further ‘brand action’, such as visit a website and consider a purchase. 73% of those entering a brand competition on Facebook would visit the brand’s website 86% of those watching videos on a brand’s Facebook page would then visit its website.

It’s very useful for PRs to look at these findings when planning PR campaigns. Ultimately, to consider how these platforms and the tools they offer can be integrated into PR campaigns to extend engagement and drive action.

For the full research, click here: http://emergingspaces.co.uk/content/actions-speak-louder-clicks

A number of key titles are being reported as dropping in numbers with a variety of % drops. I’m not going to list them as it’s pointless repeating the bad news which is being acknowledge by publishers as the result of tough market conditions.

That said, 46.2 million people read a print magazine in the UK during the first six months of 2011. That’s a big number and one worth bearing in mind when planning PR campaigns. Print magazines provide a valuable channel to audiences and by their very nature allow you to pick and choose audience groups to target. This audience choose their print titles through a mix of newsstand purchases and subscriptions to titles.

Print magazines are also steadily building out their digital footprint, reinforcing their positions as editor brands for recommendations, guidance and expertise in the digital world. These figures are generally being portrayed as multi-platform reach but, and this is a big BUT, the figures are not linked to ABCs results. So while print ABCs are critiqued, there appears to be a lack of information out there about the digital reach the print titles are offering. Currently publishers are having to provide these separately and it’s my view the lack of information about this during ABCs is creating a very one-sided view of how print magazines are performing.

On that basis, best advice is to make sure you fully dig into the extended reach of a print magazine brand you are targeting and think about ways in which your PR activity can work across the multi-platform offering that the journalists, editors and publishers are developing. It is likely that the right PR content will reach your target audience on multiple occasions, be that through the print title, the Twitter feed they follow, the Facebook page or group they are a member of, the radio extension they are listening, the website they visit daily, the email newsletter they subscribe to… the list goes on.