2. About IPC Media
IPC has more than 60 iconic media brands on multiple platforms, across
print, online, mobile, tablets and events. They are the leading consumer magazine publishers and
it has been estimated that they interact with approximately 26 million UK adults and it has been
stated that about 2/3 or 58% of their readers are UK women and 1/3 or 42% are UK
men, reaching over 25 million users globally every month.
IPC media is in a partnership with its consumers, advertise, business partners and employees to
deliver exceptional value, service, innovation and creativity.
IPC run three publishing divisions IPC Connect, IPC Inspire and IPC Southbank. IPC Connect is a
women’s mass marketing division which includes famous magazines such: Now, Chat and
Woman; TV entertainment brands including What's on TV, TVTimes and TV & Satellite Week and
the goodtoknow network.
IPC Inspire has a wealth of leisure brands such as: Country Life, Horse & Hound, Rugby World and
Decanter, as well as lifestyle brands including Nuts, Mousebreaker and NME.
IPC Southbank is our upmarket women's division and comprises luxury fashion brands including
Marie Claire and InStyle, lifestyle brands including woman&home and Essentials and home
interest brands including Ideal Home, Livingetc and housetohome.
IPC Advertising allows agencies to purchase adapted advertising solutions throughout all brands
and a variety of platforms due to being the UK's leading newstrade sales and Distribution
Company.
3. History
The International Publishing Corporation Ltd was formed in 1963 when three of the UK’s leading
magazine publications merged together - George Newnes, Odhams Press and Fleetway
publications to form the Mirror group known as IPC (International Publishing Corporation). Which
was later followed by IPC Magazines five years later in 1968, each of these magazines have their
own history before the merge. When The Field was launched in 1853, joined the IPC stable in
1994 following the acquisition of Harmsworth Magazines.
The 1800s - 1900
• The Field launched in 1853 and within a year became the largest newspaper in Europe.
• Eight further IPC titles were launched in the late 1800s: Country Life, Horse & Hound, Shooting
Times, Yachting World, Amateur Gardening, Cycling Weekly, Amateur Photographer and The
Railway Magazine.
• Competitions played a key role in sales promotions for all early IPC titles
• Three titles set to become part of IPC Media many years later - Yachting Monthly, Cage Birds
and Motor Boat.
• The first of IPC's traditional Woman's Weekly, launched in November 1911 under the editorial
banner "our motto - practical and useful
• Homes & Gardens became one of the first magazines to be published after the First World War.
4. The 1920s
• Odhams launched the new monthly Ideal Home
• woman&home entered the market in 1926
The 1930s
• The 1932 launch of Woman's Own heralded
• Other titles launched in this decade included Caravan, Stamp Magazine and Prediction.
The 1940s
• A key wartime role was played by IPC's women's weeklies
• Many of the Woman covers from the wartime years are regarded as classic works of art
The 1950s
• The upsurge in the music scene heralded the arrival of New Musical Express in 1952.
• NME set the ball rolling with the first official UK record chart
• Following the arrival of ITV in 1955, TVTimes, operating out of a tiny office in High
Holborn, published its first issue
5. The 1960s
• The International Publishing Corporation, bringing together the three rival magazine
companies, Newnes, Fleetway and Odhams Press.
• 1969 saw the birth of a new football weekly
• Other IPC titles making their debut in the Swinging Sixties included Rugby World, World
Soccer, Angler's Mail and Family Circle
The 1970s
• The Reed Group acquires IPC in 1970 to form the giant global corporation, Reed International.
• IPC was at the forefront of the pre-recorded video market with the formation of the IPC video
division in 1976.
• Successful launches included Aeroplane Monthly, Sporting Gun and SuperBike.
The 1980s
• IPC announces the formation of European Magazines Ltd in 1988.
• The IPC Editorial Awards are introduced.
• IPC embarks upon the biggest sales campaign in its history.
The 1990s
• What's on TV makes its triumphant entrance onto the scene in 1991.
• In one of the most dramatic arrivals in publishing history hits the newsstands in 1994.
• The women's weeklies go into overdrive.
• NME becomes the first major UK music title to get its own internet site - nme.com - destined to
go on to become Europe's most popular music website.
• IPC Magazines is sold to Cinven for £860m in 1998.
• IPC Magazines continues to evolve still further in 1999.
6. The 2000s
• New millennium, new name - IPC Magazines is renamed IPC Media.
• Time Warner acquires IPC Media for £1.15bn in October 2001.
• ignite! launches Nuts, the world's first men's weekly magazine, in January 2004.
• IPC tx unveils TVeasy in April 2005 - the third major launch in 16 months from IPC Media's
innovations programme.
• In Feb 2007 IPC Connect launches Look - the UK's first glossy high street fashion and celebrity
style weekly magazine.
• IPC Media develops great new digital media brands such as housetohome, goodtoknow and
shootinguk.
• In November 2007, IPC Inspire acquires TrustedReviews.com.
The 2010s
• In January 2010, IPC Media restructured around three key audience groups: men, mass-market
women and up-market women.
• IPC launches two new monthly magazines - Style at Home and goodtoknow Recipes.