14th Jan 2008 07:00
Sport Media Group PLC14 January 2008 Press Release 14 January 2008 SPORT MEDIA GROUP PLC ("Sport Media", "SPMG", "the Group" or "the Company") Sport Newspapers appoints Barry McIlheney as Editor-in-Chief Sport Media Group plc (AIM: SPMG.L), the integrated multi-media group thatpublishes the Sunday and Daily Sport newspapers and digital content for internetand mobile channels, is pleased to announce the appointment of Barry McIlheneyas Editor-in-Chief of Sport Newspapers with immediate effect. Barry McIlheney's appointment as Editor-in-Chief follows his highly successful21 year career at Emap plc. In 1984, Barry joined IPC's Melody Maker as ReviewsEditor, before being appointed Editor of Emap's flagship title, Smash Hits, twoyears later. In 1989, having established Smash Hits as the world'sbiggest-selling music magazine, Barry launched Empire. As Editor of Empire forthree years, the title became the UK's biggest-selling movie magazine, and BarryMcIlheney was subsequently awarded the PPA Editor of the Year and Emap Editor ofthe Year. In 1994 Barry became Managing Director of Emap Metro, publishers of, among othertitles, Q, Mojo, and FHM which, during this period, became the UK'sbiggest-selling men's magazine. After five years as Managing Director of Emap,Barry headed up the team that launched Heat, before then moving to Emap Franceto launch FHM. In 2004, Barry headed up the launch of Zoo, the groundbreaking weekly men'smagazine. He then went on to help launch the title in both Australia and SouthAfrica. In 2007, Barry became a part-time consultant with Emap, chairing the judging oftheir annual editorial awards. He has also been writing for a number of othertitles, among them The Observer, The Word, and Radio Times. He was recentlyawarded a Visiting Fellowship in the Creative Arts by Queen's University,Belfast. Commenting on the appointment of Barry, James Brown, Creative Consultant, said:"Attracting someone of the calibre of Barry to The Sport is a great coup andwill allow us to continue to the build the paper as a vehicle to reach young menon a daily basis. He has almost unparalleled success in magazine editing andlaunches, combined with a career which started in newspapers and music papers.His titles, including Smash Hits, FHM, Heat and Zoo have been highly successfuland we are confident that Barry can replicate this success at The Sport. "His publications have been built around harnessing the disciplines of greattabloids into a glossy format and he will be bringing the devices, attitude andconfidence of these successes into The Sport titles. With the rest of thetabloid sector increasingly feminised by focussing on reality TV there's agenuine opportunity to provide an array of humour, sport, glamour, motors andlarger than life stories that will define The Sport as a unique publication." Barry McIlheney added: "I am thrilled to be going back to my newspaper roots asEditor-in-Chief of Sport Newspapers. With the success of men's monthly andweekly magazines, it is only a matter of time before we have the first men'sdaily, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to deliver this with TheSport. As the rest of the newspaper market increasingly target women and olderreaders, this is real chance to produce a modern British tabloid for modernBritish blokes. Any man interested in sport, women, and having a laugh - and inmy experience there are quite a few of them - now at last has a national dailynewspaper he can be proud of." Andrew Fickling, Executive Director of Sport Media Group, said: "Barry has aproven track record of creating significant circulation uplift, particularly inthe men's publishing arena. As just a small increase in the circulation of theDaily Sport and Sunday Sport can deliver a significant increase in Groupprofits, this appointment is critical to the continued success of the business." For further information, please contact: Sport Media Group plcAndrew Fickling, Executive Director Tel: +44 (0) 161 236 4466Andrew Fletcher, Chief Financial Officer Tel: + 44 (0) 20 8507 6920 www.sportmediagroup.co.ukDaniel Stewart & Company plc Tel: +44 (0) 20 7776 6550Alastair Cade / Katie Shelton www.danielstewart.co.uk Abchurch Communications Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700Chris Lane / Gareth Mead www.abchurch-group.com Notes to Editors: Formed by a reverse takeover of Sport Newspapers Limited by Interactive Worldplc, SPMG combines an established national newspaper brand with recognisedexperience in the delivery of content through digital channels, including bothbroadband and mobile. Through integrating traditional print with new media digital content, SPMG'sstrategy is to expand its target audiences beyond its current loyal readershipand users. The Group will also build upon the brand to attract a more diverseaudience thereby attracting a broader base of significant advertisers. Theintegration also provides significant cross selling and marketing opportunities. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
SPMG.L