New-look Soaplife: greater emphasis on photography
Soaplife has relaunched and increased its frequency from monthly to fortnightly in a bid to keep up with the rapidly changing storylines in EastEnders and Coronation Street.
Backed by a £500,000 investment, the title is being pitched as a “one-stop shop” for soap fans, featuring the latest news, more gossip and television stars. The relaunch includes several new elements, such as day-by-day highlights of the most popular soaps and a greater emphasis on photography.
Soaplife editor Hellen Gardner said: “It is something that has been on the cards for a while. The soap market appears to be growing so the opportunity was there.”
Gardner said the magazine would now use pictures to tell a story, rather than just interviews. “We feel it’s a very modern way of doing it. We want to major as much as we can on pictures – they are just as important as words,” she said.
The TV coverage has also been widened to include programmes such as The Bill, ER, Friends and Casualty. Gardner stressed the intention was not to turn Soaplife into a general TV listings magazine, but to offer readers extended coverage on their favourite programmes. “As a monthly, our lead times were too long, but now we can include the type of TV our readers want,” she explained.
Staff have been working on the redesign for six months.
IPC said it received positive results in research – particularly among younger readers. The first issue featuring the new look is out this week with a special discounted cover price of 60p – half its usual amount. There are no plans to change the price permanently and it will revert to its normal price of £1.20 from the next issue.
Gardner said the new frequency would sit well with rival soap titles. Hachette Filipacchi’s Inside Soap increased its frequency from fortnightly to weekly in September and its sister title All About Soap is published monthly.
Inside Soap reported an ABC in August of 247,699, followed by Soaplife (115,071) and All About Soap (106,049).
By Ruth Addicott
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