By Zoe Smith
Loaded founder James Brown has revealed that plans to launch an "unusual" niche magazine may be shelved following the success of his TV series, saying he is "magged out" and that the men’s magazine sector he kickstarted is no longer on his radar.
Brown, whose first TV show, I Predict A Riot, has launched on Bravo, told Press Gazette the launch of the new title — as well as tentative plans to buy some magazines — would be scrapped if he decided to take up other offers he had been "inundated" with instead, saying, "I don’t miss anything about magazines."
Brown also said he had been offered the chance to edit a national newspaper aged 29, but had turned the job down.
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He dabbled in newspapers last year when he spent six months on The Independent’s media section and went on to work with Martin Clarke at The Mail on Sunday.
But he said his experiences had rid him of thoughts of newspaper editing for good: "Having been in there it’s not quite as exciting as some of the other things that I’ve done," he told Press Gazette.
After launching Loaded in 1994, Brown went on to edit GQ magazine in 1997 and is widely regarded as the godfather of lads’ mags, being named Editor of the Year by both the PPA and the Society of Editors.
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In 1999, he founded his own publishing house, I Feel Good, which published magazines including Viz, Jack and Hotdog. It was sold to Dennis in 2003.
"Having learnt how to go out and build a business, it’s probably more rewarding to run your own business than to work for somebody else," he said.
Brown said Grazia and Heat were his favourite magazines of the moment, and while adding that there were "many positive things" happening in the market, said he barely looked at the men’s magazines any more.
"The men’s weeklies have been very successful, so it’s obviously been a very good time to launch with a lot of money and a very clear proposition, but I feel a bit ‘magged out’," he said.
"I have a few friends who still work for the magazines who tell me what’s going on. I say hello to the editors when I see them and that’s about it. They’re not really on my radar."
■ See the full interview in Press Gazette next week.
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