ACP

ACP and BBC Magazines to launch In the Night Garden

The hugely popular In the Night Garden pre-school TV series is to become a new monthly magazine published by Park Publishing, the ACP/BBC Worldwide joint venture.

In the Night Garden is BBC Worldwide's most successful pre-school brand, created by Ragdoll Productions, producers of the Teletubbies phenomenon.

In the UK, In the Night Garden is a top-rating TV program with branded DVDs, books and toys as well as a UK magazine which sells over 80,000 copies every fortnight*. Successful local versions of the magazine are also published in China and throughout the Middle East.

In Australia, In the Night Garden is already a hit, with a daily TV show on ABC attracting over 30% share of available audience with accompanying massive growth in DVD, book and toy sales.

"This will be the third magazine launch from our joint venture, in a little over a year," said Phil Scott, General Manager of Park Publishing and ACP's Publishing Director of Men's, Specialist & Custom titles.

"Top Gear and Good Food have both performed strongly in a very difficult magazine market and we are sure In the Night Garden will continue the success story."

In the Night Garden magazine will arrive in stores on August 31. It will be a fun and interactive magazine aimed at parents and fans of the TV program and will feature a free gift, stickers, stories and activities for both parents and their kids to enjoy together. The magazine will enjoy strong retail support from newsagents and both major supermarket chains.

"We hope the magazine will bring a new dimension to this truly exceptional children's brand in Australia and rapidly build as loyal a fan base as the program," said Heather McIlfatrick, BBC Worldwide's Commercial Manager, Magazines and Global Brands.

The release of Audit Bureau of Circulation data and Roy Morgan readership figures on August 13 confirmed Top Gear posted a solid 80,059 audit during its second six months on sale. With a readership increase to 435,000 readers, this makes Top Gear Australia's biggest reach monthly men's lifestyle & motoring title.

Australian Good Food has maintained its readership at 294,000 (vs 296,000 during its launch phase) and grew circulation to 73,161 (a rise of 2.7%).

*Source: UK Audit Bureau Circulation Jan-Jun 09
**Source: Roy Morgan Readership 6 months to Jun-09