Logo

CBS to Launch Watch! Magazine

Aug 11, 2005  •  Post A Comment

CBS plans to launch an ad-supported quarterly celebrity magazine about the network’s entertainment, news and sports realms as well as its sister parks operations. Watch!, which the magazine will be titled, will be published by the CBS Communications Group in conjunction with custom publisher McMurry and will be distributed for free at tapings of CBS shows and Paramount Parks and through the more than 200 affiliates of CBS. It is to launch with circulation of 400,000, according to the announcement Thursday.

“This is a unique opportunity for us to leverage the access we have as a network into a fun and insightful celebrity magazine that offers something no one else can-an insider’s perspective,” said Gil Schwartz, executive VP of the CBS Communications Group. “We’ve assembled some of the most entertaining and compelling content about our talent and shows, and we’re providing it free to the viewing public. Watch! Magazine is going to be a highly-readable, enjoyable publication that will strike a chord with TV lovers as well as a public that’s grown fascinated by the celebrity life and culture.”

Jeremy Murphy, director of editorial services for the CBS Communications Group, will be editor of the magazine, which also is to feature “guides to travel, fashion and living the Hollywood lifestyle.” Advertising sales, editorial support, design, production and distribution will be handled by McMurry.

CBS Affiliate Relations President Peter Schruth said, “This kind of grassroots distribution gives our stations a great high-profile promotional tool that they can use locally to keep their CBS shows top of mind with viewers and clients.”