The National Magazine Company

About The National Magazine Company

The National Magazine Company - A Subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation.

Every year over 11.5 million adults in Britain read a magazine published by The National Magazine Company. That works out at 1 in 3 women and 1 in 7 men. An impressive statistic, and it makes National Magazines one of the most influential companies in the country.

The National Magazine Company with its portfolio of 11 best-selling titles, is not the biggest publisher in the UK. But its success and sphere of influence are far greater than its size would suggest.

Many companies have attempted to copy The National Magazine Company,s success, but none has managed to establish such a reputation for creativity, quality and excellence, or to develop as strong a stable of well-known, popular publications.

The National Magazine Company has led the field in magazine publishing in the UK since William Randolph Hearst, founder of the Hearst Corporation, the US communications giant, established it here in 1910.

The National Magazine Company History

Beginning as a single newspaper in 1887, The Hearst Corporation has become an internationally diversified media organisation. It employs more than 14,000 people, and its wide range of media business's include newspaper, magazine and book publishing, TV and radio broadcasting and production, and new media activities – making it one of the largest privately owned media companies in the world.

Being America’s, and possibly the world’s largest publisher of monthly magazines, it distributes over a quarter of a billion copies a year, with more than 80 international editions in over 100 countries. Its titles include Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful, Marie Claire and Country Living, as well as specialist titles such as Popular Mechanics and Motor Boating & Sailing. Its daily newspaper circulation totals over 1.35 million; its Sundays sell over 2.5 million.

In the broadcasting field , Hearst owns numerous TV and radio stations, as well as interests in cable, such as Lifetime Television, a 24-hour network available to nearly 70 million US homes; and also has a 20 per cent stake in ESPN Inc, the largest cable programming service in the States.

Hearst Interactive Media is one of Hearst's most exciting developments, the unit of The Hearst Corporation responsible for building and managing Hearst’s interests in new media.

Being a part of The Hearst Corporation, National Magazines enjoys the stability of being part of this large family, and shares its philosophy and outlook, while having the freedom and flexibility to tailor its business to the British market.

The National Magazine Company's Ownership

COMAG
COMAG was founded in 1977 and is the UK's largest distributor of independently published consumer magazines. The company is jointly owned by The National Magazine Company and Condé Nast Publications Ltd.

COMAG publishes some of the biggest names in magazines including:
Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Instyle, F1 Magazine, Rosemary Conley's Diet & Fitness, Time and PC Advisor, as well as being the major player in partwork marketing and managing sales of collectables and novelty confectionery through the newstrade.

Their wholly owned subsidiary company, COMAG Specialist Division looks after the needs of niche publications and is the fastest growing magazine marketing company in the UK.

The company imports some five hundred titles from overseas markets to sell in the UK, exporting magazines to over 70 different territories.

Tower Publishing
Tower Publishing Services was founded in 1985 by Ann Williams to provide Publishers with Business to Business Controlled Circulation fulfillment services. By 1989, trends in the magazine market and the economy as a whole, led Tower to develop a sophisticated database to handle paid subscription fulfilment.
The Company grew quickly, winning fulfilment contracts from Harvard Business Review, Ziff Davis and EMAP along the way.

Tower was bought by CDS (Communications Data Services) in 1993 , themselves a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation since 1982, and one of the largest magazine subscription fulfillment operations in the world. Today, Tower employs approximately 300 staff and has over 30 Publisher clients, between them publishing over 300 magazines.

It is the leading independent magazine subscription fulfilment company in the UK.

Natmag Specialist Media (AIM) Ltd.
The National Magazine Company, in December 2000, took a dominant equity share in AIM Publications, the UK's leading publisher of wedding magazines.

AIM publishes You & Your Wedding, London and South East Wedding, the UK's market leader, Bride & Groom and the recently launched Cosmopolitan Bride.

The business was then renamed NatMag Specialist Media (AIM) Ltd and continues to be led by its founder, James Buchanan, who is still be Managing Director. It runs separately from the National Magazine Company under James Buchanan's control but draws heavily on the resources that NatMag can provide across the whole business.

As well as its wedding titles, AIM also publishes brochures and one-shot publications for a range of clients, including Moss Bros and Condici and is the appointed sales representative for the 350,000 circulation glossy magazine for the members of Britain's biggest independent motoring club, the Civil Service Motoring Association.


72 Broadwick Street,
London
W1V 2BP

http://www.natmags.co.uk