Magazines

Empire is undoubtedly largest selling film magazine in the UK, if not the world and according to its website is marketed at (and I quote) Audience Profile: 76% Male, Affluent ABC1 movie fans and cinema hounds. This shows the reason why Empire comes with a rather hefty price tag and why it offers a free game when you subscribe. Their description of a target audience is confusing unless we look deeper into what it means. Obviously their style of big pictures and funny captions is a big reason as to why men are attracted to it and the coverage of blockbusters rather than art house films helps support this too, but the fact that this product is marketed to affluent ABC1 males mean that they are targeting rich men (so they can afford the magazine/subscription). An A male is regarded as a Higher managerial and professional, a B male is classed as an Intermediate managerial and professional and a C1 male is classed as a Supervisory, clerical, junior managerial. The other classifications (C2, D and E) are considered as those who are less affluent and less likely to be interested in film.




Empires style however, does lack in any serious content. There are a lot of micky takes and the advertising inside is really aimed at the readers, so Jaguars and sunglasses can be seen at the flick of a page. But we mustn’t judge Empire for this as it sells big and that’s what it’s all about. Total Film and Empire are basically the same and that’s why I shall be moving on to Sight and Sound.




Sight and Sound is a magazine that at first glance is clearly targeting a niece audience due to the language, films discussed, and the style of the magazine. It’s also clearly the only one that true media academics write in and this is proved by the fact that it’s supported by the BFI (British Film Institute) and the films it reviews. You will be able to see the analysis and comparisons of two different independent film review magazines somewhere in this blog.




Prevue is a completely different type of magazine and really should not be discussed when looking at independent magazines like Empire, Total Film and Sight and Sound. Prevue is an above-the-line marketing tool used by the UK’s second largest cinema chain Vue. This isn’t exclusive to Vue however, everyone is at like Cineworld and Odeon. The reason that these magazines are so different is because they are used to clearly advertise the film and show no negatives in regards to them. This shallow marketing may be unethical but it is what happens and that’s why everything in these magazines should be taken with a grain of salt. The layout is also rather similar although these magazines rely heavily on huge pictures and massive breakout boxes filled with trivia and advertising for other films they may or will have.

The films discussed in these magazines are very different, in Empire and Total Film we see big, Hollywood blockbusters and films that will draw in movie-goers. The content inside Prevue is positive and appealing, this is purley marketing an should not draw anyserious movie fans in. They too show blockbusters because of their high demand. Finally sight and sound is a targeted at a niech audience. The film review we analysed was called the witnesses and was intended for people who go out of their way to watch films like this one, we would never see it advertised in Prevue or Empire because they have a small target audience.