National Geographic ready for fall launch; delocated broadcasting ruling this week
Two weeks ago the Polish magazine's publisher, G+J RBA, announced that the first issue would hit the stands in September. A pre-pre launch of the magazine was combined with a photo exhibition and press conference in the Institute of Industrial Design in Warsaw. The photo exhibit consists of 100 photos from the album "The Photographs," which features top National Geographic artwork. The opening was attended by Gilbert Grosvenor, president of the National Geographic Society, great-grandson of the magazine's founder and a proponent of geography education in the United States.
After the April opening, the exposition will move on to 13 other cities around the country and will conclude in Wroc-aw in February 2000. Proceeds from the exhibition's ticket sales will be used to fund subscriptions to the Polish version for libraries.
The Polish magazine is being launched in conjunction with similar local language publications in France and Germany. Currently, National Geographic publishes local-language versions in Japan, Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, Spain, Italy, Greece and Israel.
The National Geographic Society and G+J RBA, which is a joint venture between German G+J and Spanish RBA Publicaciones, on March 2 signed a deal cementing the three-country magazine launch.
In addition to the magazine, G+J RBA's license agreement allows it to also publish National Geographic albums, books, maps and videocassettes.
The license fee will be charged collectively for the three countries, with the final share that each unit will have to pay dependent on the magazine's sales. G+J RBA would not detail the range of the fee.
But the new local-language editions will not be simply picking up content from the U.S. magazine. They will also include Polish-targeted and generated material.
"The idea of special editions is that the core of the magazine is the same; based on the American model. The Polish edition is not a reprint," said Adam Wilk, publishing director for National Geographic-Edycja Polska "It will be adapted to Polish needs.
"If (for example) we have anything about archeological excavations in Egypt we have to add something about the Polish archaeologists who were involved in Egyptian explorations," he added.
Polish staff will work on the magazine's front and back sections. "However, it doesn't mean that we'll remove American sections if they're very interesting," Wilk said. He wasn't able to give a breakdown for U.S.-generated vs. Polish content, but said the latter would increase over time. Initially, Polish topics will be concentrated in the front and back of the book.
Spearheading the effort to make the Polish issue Polish will be Dariusz Raczko, a journalist well known for his tourism interests who was appointed editor in chief.
"We have a team of full-time employees, which consists of 10 people," Wilk said. "In addition, we are collaborating with a host of consultants, translators and journalists."
While the American magazine's circulation is 10 million copies, the Polish edition will be a bit more limited although large for this market. The publishers are expecting the Polish edition to be similar to that of the magazine launched in Spain. There the first issue had a circulation of about 500,000 copies with nearly no returns. "The Spanish press market is similar to the Polish one, and it is possible to draw conclusions," Wilk said. He would not say exactly how much the magazine will cost, but said the retail price should be less than z-. 10.
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@Entertainment, which owns digital platform Wizja TV and cable operator Polska Telewizja Kablowa (PTK) is going to start playing some hoops. The U.S.-based company last month acquired a 30% stake in basketball team Hoop Pekaes Pruszkow. The value of the deal was not revealed. Hoop is this year's winner of the Polish Cup and was twice the winner of the Polish Basketball Championships respectively for the 1994-95 and 1996-97 seasons. In addition, Wizja signed a four-year sponsorship contract with the team.
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The Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) is expected to announce later this week a long-awaited ruling on Canal+'s case trying to force the National Radio and Television Council (KRRiTV) to make a decision on the legality of delocated broadcasting. In its motion, pay-television channel Canal+ Polska asked the court to assess whether the council is not evading its constitutional obligation to regulate the media by not taking any steps against delocated broadcasters, in this case HBO Polska. HBO beams its movie channel to Poland from Hungary. If the court decides that Polish broadcasters have the right to demand that the KRRiTV take a formal stand on the issue, the matter would initially only concern HBO.
- Justyna Wrobel contributed
to this article
After the April opening, the exposition will move on to 13 other cities around the country and will conclude in Wroc-aw in February 2000. Proceeds from the exhibition's ticket sales will be used to fund subscriptions to the Polish version for libraries.
The Polish magazine is being launched in conjunction with similar local language publications in France and Germany. Currently, National Geographic publishes local-language versions in Japan, Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, Spain, Italy, Greece and Israel.
The National Geographic Society and G+J RBA, which is a joint venture between German G+J and Spanish RBA Publicaciones, on March 2 signed a deal cementing the three-country magazine launch.
In addition to the magazine, G+J RBA's license agreement allows it to also publish National Geographic albums, books, maps and videocassettes.
The license fee will be charged collectively for the three countries, with the final share that each unit will have to pay dependent on the magazine's sales. G+J RBA would not detail the range of the fee.
But the new local-language editions will not be simply picking up content from the U.S. magazine. They will also include Polish-targeted and generated material.
"The idea of special editions is that the core of the magazine is the same; based on the American model. The Polish edition is not a reprint," said Adam Wilk, publishing director for National Geographic-Edycja Polska "It will be adapted to Polish needs.
"If (for example) we have anything about archeological excavations in Egypt we have to add something about the Polish archaeologists who were involved in Egyptian explorations," he added.
Polish staff will work on the magazine's front and back sections. "However, it doesn't mean that we'll remove American sections if they're very interesting," Wilk said. He wasn't able to give a breakdown for U.S.-generated vs. Polish content, but said the latter would increase over time. Initially, Polish topics will be concentrated in the front and back of the book.
Spearheading the effort to make the Polish issue Polish will be Dariusz Raczko, a journalist well known for his tourism interests who was appointed editor in chief.
"We have a team of full-time employees, which consists of 10 people," Wilk said. "In addition, we are collaborating with a host of consultants, translators and journalists."
While the American magazine's circulation is 10 million copies, the Polish edition will be a bit more limited although large for this market. The publishers are expecting the Polish edition to be similar to that of the magazine launched in Spain. There the first issue had a circulation of about 500,000 copies with nearly no returns. "The Spanish press market is similar to the Polish one, and it is possible to draw conclusions," Wilk said. He would not say exactly how much the magazine will cost, but said the retail price should be less than z-. 10.
l l l
@Entertainment, which owns digital platform Wizja TV and cable operator Polska Telewizja Kablowa (PTK) is going to start playing some hoops. The U.S.-based company last month acquired a 30% stake in basketball team Hoop Pekaes Pruszkow. The value of the deal was not revealed. Hoop is this year's winner of the Polish Cup and was twice the winner of the Polish Basketball Championships respectively for the 1994-95 and 1996-97 seasons. In addition, Wizja signed a four-year sponsorship contract with the team.
l l l
The Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) is expected to announce later this week a long-awaited ruling on Canal+'s case trying to force the National Radio and Television Council (KRRiTV) to make a decision on the legality of delocated broadcasting. In its motion, pay-television channel Canal+ Polska asked the court to assess whether the council is not evading its constitutional obligation to regulate the media by not taking any steps against delocated broadcasters, in this case HBO Polska. HBO beams its movie channel to Poland from Hungary. If the court decides that Polish broadcasters have the right to demand that the KRRiTV take a formal stand on the issue, the matter would initially only concern HBO.
- Justyna Wrobel contributed
to this article
