Media: All about ... Emap.(Emap Communications)

Will the company regret selling its French magazines, Alasdair Reid asks.

Emap clearly doesn't travel well. A decade ago, it was easy to believe in the company's really big adventure as it set out, a slightly rock 'n' roll (albeit terribly well-behaved) adolescent with a Rough Guide to Global Media in its backpack, to conquer the world.

And if it had to hit the road after losing in the US, then you could always put that down to experience, especially given the possibility that there were equally intriguing European prospects closer to home. But even that may turn out to be a pipe-dream, with the company announcing last week that it hoped to sell its French magazine division, following disappointing results.

Last year, all the fight seemed to go out of Emap France almost overnight when two new TV listings titles launched against its own titles, …