Flagship Emap music mag set for revamp: Emap bosses act to reverse music titles' revenue dips.(Companies)

Emap boss Tom Moloney is planning a "reinvention" of Q magazine later this year as part of the group's strategy to reverse the revenue declines experienced by its music magazines in the year ended March 31 2004.

With magazines turning in one of the weaker set of figures for Emap Performance, which overall reported a 3% increase in both operating profits and turnover in the group's annual results last week, Moloney also says he is taking "one step closer" to day-to-day management following the departure of Emap Performance chief executive Tim Schoonmaker.

Moloney re-iterates Emap has no plans to bring in a replacement for Schoonmaker--who has recently joined Odeon Cinemas as chief executive after leaving Emap at the start of this year--with Dee Ford now head of all radio operations as Emap Performance group managing director, and Marcus Rich overseeing music magazines and TV as the sector's managing director. Both report directly to Moloney and the Emap drier executive says the rejig allows him and finance director Gaw Hughes the opportunity to take a more active interest in the strategies now being pursued to grow the radio, TV and magazine businesses.

In announcing Emap Performance's contribution of 37m [pounds sterling] (36m [pounds sterling]) operating profit on increased turnover of 160m [pounds sterling] (156m [pounds sterling]), Moloney accepts that magazines have had a tough time with circulation and advertising revenues under pressure from competitors. He says the combined circulation for all magazines, including Mixmag and Kerrang!, has slipped in line with the market's 9% fall. although Mojo put on 4%.

"Kerrang! has done very well for a few years, but it is hard to sustain it," he says. "I think we have got to wait for the music market to ...