OCR Media Studies – A2 Level

Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio

Magazine Planning & Research

Name: Keir SpeirsCandidate Number: 4131Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic SchoolCenter Number: 64135

Generation of Ideas for Ancillary Product 1) –

TV Magazine Front Cover

‘What's on TV’ was founded in 1991. Before this, two TV magazines were available: Radio Times for BBC listings and TV Times for ITV. Ever since then they release a new issue every week. Which includes all the latest gossip from soaps and reality TV, documentaries and dramas are also covered. ‘What's on TV’ magazine is published by IPC Media and Time Inc.

Source: http://www.abc.org.uk/Certificates/19231794.pdf

From the circulation figures I have found out that most copies are sold in the UK. However, some copies are sold in other countries. Also the amount of digital copies are a lot less than hard copies.

History and circulation figures

The above Front Cover will be used as a source of inspiration for my own magazine.

Masthead Ideas• Soap – This verbal code connotes that this magazine is about soap operas.• Weekly Soap – This again connotes that the magazine is going to be issued weekly

and have the weeks most scandalous soap stories inside.• That’s what I call soap! – This connotes to the reader that this magazine is all about

soap operas.

Main Headline – (Merland Rise)• Merland Rise – I hope to use an ‘!’ at the end of the headline. This will make it

stand out to the reader and will intrigue them to want to read the magazine. I hope my headline will be very bold with maybe a stroke effect around the headline. This will make the headline stand out even more and make the reader want to read the magazine. I hope to have each word on a separate line. Also I want it to be the biggest text on the page so it will stand out and everyone will know about the new soap ‘Merland Rise’.

Images• For my main headline image I could use all the main characters or only a select few

that star in the soap. This will effectively ‘inform’ (Katz) the reader to know about all the characters in the soap opera. For only the select few character it will connotes to the reader that the first main story in the soap will be about these characters.

• For my cover lines I will use images of characters from other soap operas. This connotes to the audience that this magazine is about other soaps and not just ‘Merland Rise’.

Strapline• For a strap line I could use ‘ALL THE STORIES! ALL THE GOSSIP EVERY WEEK’. This

will connote to the audience that my magazine has every story for all the soaps. Also it lets the audience know that my magazine is issued weekly.

• The language used should be short and straight top the point. This makes it easier for the audience to read and understand what is included in my magazine.

Price • I hope to price my magazine for one of the cheapest on the market but still have all

the information about all the soaps. This will make the audience want to buy my magazine more as it is cheapest but still has a lot of information ‘What’s on TV’ roughly price there magazine at 50p. Therefore I will price my magazine for about 40p-45p.

Puff Promotion• For a puff promotion I could offer competitions and prizes. This will attract the

reader into buying the magazine and offer a potential USP over other rival publications.

• Another idea for a puff promotion I could offer a free tour around the set and meet the cast. This will attract readers to my magazine as they will want to by the magazine to try and win the prize.

Synergy with Social Media• The magazine they will have a ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ page. This is where the

magazine will post the latest gossip and clues building up to the next episode of a soap in order to appease a passive, ‘social climber’ (Maslow) readership. This connotes to the reader that they don’t have to buy the magazine as they can go on their ‘Facebook’ or ‘Twitter’ page and read all the gossip OR broaden their understanding with further exclusives not published in the magazine such as interviews with the cast answering questions from viewers and photos of behind the scene.

Conclusion• Now I have planed my magazine front cover, I can now go out and purchase my

“magazine of inspiration”. With this I can see which conventions I can use from the magazine and incorporate them in my own publication.

• I need to organise what characters I am going to use for my main images and cover line images. This mean finding people who fit the characters from my soap operas. I also need to find props, for example costume and make up. This will be relatively easy as the characters can use their ordinary clothes so there is no need to buy any new clothes. In terms of font styles I can go on ‘Da Font.com’ and download a suitable font style that matches my magazine style.

• When it comes to creating my magazine front cover I will be using ‘Photoshop CS5’. This is because it is easy to use and edit photos and text. Also I have had previous experience with this software so I will know what I am doing.