FremantleMedia Enterprises: X Magazine launching 15 September

Fremantle Licensing Germany - September 2010

FremantleMedia Enterprises and Syco announce launch details for new magazine under The X Factor brand

FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) and Syco Entertainment today announced details of the new magazine under The X Factor brand in the UK. X Magazine, published by Haymarket Network, will be exclusively available at Tesco from 15 September then roll out to retailers nationwide after the launch period. The cover price is £1.95.

Peter Robinson, well known in pop music circles as the editor of Popjustice and contributor to publications including NME and the Guardian, has been appointed as Senior Editor. He will be supported by a first class team of more than 25 staff including some of the best names in weekly magazine journalism: Rebecca Nicholson, Mark Taylor, Kevin McCreath, Caroline Corcoran, Colin Hubbuck, Sammy Wood, Jordan Paramor, Helen Bownass, Hannah Verdier and Ian McLeish. In the spirit of The X Factor, X Magazine will also be a platform for up and coming talented young writers and designers.

Robinson commented, “X is a music magazine that’s totally different to anything we’ve seen before. It boasts the best editorial team of any pop magazine in 20 years so it looks brilliant, feels fresh and is both smart and funny. Our remit is pretty broad, so while we may cover The X Factor finalists, we are also the place to come for A-listers, Top 40 and a variety of our other favourites. X will speak to an entire generation of music fans who have grown up without a mainstream music magazine written in a language they understand.”

Some of the launch issue highlights include: an interview with Simon Cowell about Cheryl's illness, how it affected the show and how bad it really got; an interview with Kylie on Dannii, her return to health and four decades in pop; brand new Cheryl pictures from her latest video and first listen to songs from the new album; and Example talks about how he blew out the Saturdays because he doesn't like them, but is writing for Alexandra because he does like her.

The magazine’s commercial team will include Jenny Taylor, formerly of Granada, GWR and Bauer, who has been appointed as Ad Director and will have the support of two Agency Sales Executives: Jamie Dodhia from Haymarket Publishing and Josie Westbrook-Caswell, formerly of Bauer and River Publishing. Laura Farrimond will join the team from Haymarket as Classified Sales Executive and the magazine is currently recruiting a Sales Manager to complete the team.

X magazine will have a unique and competitive position in the UK market as the only women’s weekly that loves music and celebrates pop as one of the UK’s most vibrant music genres. From the nation’s most authoritative entertainment brand, it will feature international music stars from across the industry and give readers behind-the-scenes access to the hit TV show, with fashion and beauty features, celebrity news and gossip.

The X Factor is one of the most-watched entertainment programmes in the UK. Airing on ITV, the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, The X Factor was created by Simon Cowell and is owned and produced by Syco TV (a joint venture between Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment) and talkbackTHAMES (a FremantleMedia company). The official X Factor website, www.itv.com/xfactor, is produced by talkbackTHAMES digital with ITV and is the online home for The X Factor 2010. The X Factor is sponsored by TalkTalk.