 Heat cover from March 2020 | |
| Editor |
|
|---|---|
| Categories | Entertainment |
| Frequency | Weekly |
| Publisher | Bauer Media Group |
| Total circulation (June–December 2015) | 163,392[1] |
| First issue | 1999 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Based in | London |
| Language | English |
| Website | heatworld |
| ISSN | 1465-6264 |
Heat is an English entertainment magazine published byBauer Media Group. Its mix of celebrity news, gossip, beauty advice and fashion is primarily aimed at women, although not as directly as in other women's magazines. It also features movie and music reviews, TV listings and major celebrity interviews.
Heat was launched in February 1999[2][3] as a general interest entertainment magazine, at a cost of more than £4m. However, unlike other Emap (now Bauer) magazine launches before and after, it was not an immediate success, with a circulation below 100,000. A series of revamps quickly repositioned the magazine as a less serious, more gossip-oriented magazine aimed at women, and circulation quickly grew. A series of high-profile celebrity relationships, such asJennifer Aniston andBrad Pitt provided ample material, while reality shows such asBig Brother andPop Idol grew popular at just the right time to help fill pages. Heat achieved record sale figures whenJade Goody had a make-over and was first on the front cover after her stint inBig Brother 3 (2002) and later whenNikki Grahame andPete Bennett fromBig Brother 7 split and Grahame was interviewed forHeat in 2006.
In 2009–10,Heat spearheaded a campaign alongsideGirls Aloud'sNicola Roberts advocating the banning of sunbed use in the UK for under-18s. The campaign was a success and a bill was passed by Parliament shortly before the 2010 General Election.
The site crashed after the magazine was mentioned onChannel 4'sThe Million Pound Drop; it took up to eight days to restore the site.
An edition of the magazine is also published inSouth Africa.[7]
Heatworld.com launched on 22 May 2007 and was edited by Julian Linley, who had been deputy editor ofHeat magazine for five years.[8] The site is an online interpretation of the magazine, emulating the mix ofcelebrity news, gossip and fashion. However, heatworld.com does not replicate magazine content and bases itself more onvideo andaudio content and breaking news. The site isadvertising funded.
On 25 September 2007,Heat Radio was launched. The station is owned by Bauer Radio, a division of the company, Bauer, which ownsHeat magazine. The station can be listened to across the UK on DAB Digital Radio, on their app or at heatradio.com.
On 3 July 2012, Heat launched, featuring celebrity news and music.[9] The channel comes fromBox Television, a joint venture between Bauer andChannel Four. It replacedQ onSky,Smallworld Cable andVirgin Media in the UK, inIreland on Sky andUPC Ireland and inIceland onSíminn.[10]
In May 2016, the channel was rebranded asBox Upfront.
AsHeat magazine grew in popularity, spin off merchandise was released to cash in on its success. Current items carrying theHeat brand name are an exercise DVD titledHeat: Get That Celeb Look which was released in 2003, aninteractive DVD game featuring celebrity questions, anannual for the year 2007 and in 2003 a set of mini books titledSay What were released containing quotes from celebrities such asGareth Gates.
In an issue which was released on 27 November 2007,Heat used a photograph ofKatie Price's disabled son, who suffers fromsepto-optic dysplasia, a rare condition which means he is visually impaired and suffers from hormonal deficiencies, causing him to easily gain weight and means he is partially blind,[11] on a sticker which was included with the magazine, with the slogan "Harvey wants to eat me!" The magazine's editorMark Frith made an apology for the offence caused by the sticker,[12] and an apology was also posted on the magazine's website.[13] A spokesperson for thePress Complaints Commission confirmed that Katie Price was planning to make a complaint about the matter.[14] The magazine was also criticized in the press over the incident, with one editorial describing it as "the lowest point in British journalism".[15]
In another issue released on 6–12 September 2014,Heat published a photograph ofJustin Timberlake, husband toJessica Biel, at a nightclub in Paris on the night after his performance. The star was photographed partying with women at the club as the title named it "Justin Timberlake gets flirty with another woman – That's not his wife!"[16] Once the article, as well as the pictures surfaced it caused his marriage with Jessica to be manipulated. The singer and actor lodged a defamation claim in the courts in Ireland against the publishers of the celebrity title over an article, photographs and quotes attributed to Biel. In the agreed statement read in the high court, a lawyer for theHeat publisher Bauer group admitted the article headlined "The flirty photos that rocked Justin and Jessica's marriage" was based on an unfounded report. The article also included purported statements improperly attributed to Biel which the publishers saidHeat now understands the actor never made.[17] The Bauer media group later apologized onHeat magazine's behalf over these allegations, and a settlement was made in a hearing before the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns.[18]
Heat launched heat's Twitter Awards in 2013 that it says will celebrate “the joyful collision of celebrities and social media”. Heat promoted its celebrity Twitter awards via Heat's TV, radio, magazine and social media platforms as well as a marketing campaign, which will include press, radio, digital, PR and retail activity.
Specially created videos for each category were released as the campaign progressed and designed to bring each category to life.[19] The winners were announced via Heatworld.com and also its YouTube Channel.[20][21]
Every year since 2006 (except for 2012),Heat opens a poll to find the nation's oddest celebrity crush. The winners of each year are:
Heat annually crowns the greatest achievements in pop culture, from films and TV to books and podcasts in its annual Unmissables Awards.[22] The readers vote in the key category of Best TV Soap.[23]