By Colin Crummy
Emap has launched the Australian edition of Zoo, Zoo Weekly, this week, promising "a broader magazine that’s not just tits and arse".
Zoo Weekly editor Paul Merrill, who has been in Sydney preparing for the launch since last October, said the main difference with the Australian version was that it "wouldn’t rely on just girls".
"Aussie males are pretty full on, but are a bit uncomfortable with reading a magazine that’s all tits and arse on a train with their girlfriend," he said.
"We have deliberately held back there and made the magazine a bit more rounded."
Emap has invested £6m (A$15m) in the weekly men’s title — aimed at 18- to 34-year-olds with its mix of girls, gadgets, news and sport — A$0.25m of which went into research to discover the Australian male’s interests.
Readers can expect a greater variety of sport included in the magazine than its UK edition, said Merrill, but the formula would stay the same and was about "tapping into what men are talking about with their mates".
Emap printed half a million free copies of the first issue of Zoo Weekly, the second international edition of the title, following Zoosiete’s launch in Spain last year.
Barry McIlheney, editor-in-chief of all Zoo’s international editions, joined Merrill in launching the magazine in Sydney.
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