Monopoly, Power and Politics in Fleet Street: The Controversial Birth of IPC Magazines, 1958-63

Using profits generated by a string of successful media activities, in 1959 Roy Thomson bought a place in Fleet Street through the acquisition of Lord Kemsley's chain of newspapers. Early in 1961 Thomson came to an agreement with Christopher Chancellor, the recently appointed chief executive of...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Cox, Howard, Mowatt, Simon
Format:	Conference Proceeding
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Acquisitions & mergers Advertising Appointments & personnel changes Competition Corporate profits Costs History Magazine industry Monopolies Newspaper industry Political power Profitability Stockholders Studies War Women
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Using profits generated by a string of successful media activities, in 1959 Roy Thomson bought a place in Fleet Street through the acquisition of Lord Kemsley's chain of newspapers. Early in 1961 Thomson came to an agreement with Christopher Chancellor, the recently appointed chief executive of Odhams Press, to merge their two publishing groups and thereby create a major new force in the British newspaper and magazine publishing industry. Within days of publicly announcing the merger, Odhams found its shareholders being seduced by an improved offer from Cecil King, Chairman of Daily Mirror Newspapers Ltd, which they duly accepted. This paper utilises archive sources from the Cabinet Office to explore the political dialogue that enabled the controversial takeover to proceed unopposed by the regulatory authority of the Monopolies Commission. In business terms, it analyses the implication of the successful prosecution of the King-led deal for magazine publishing in Britain: namely, the creation of a virtual monopoly through the formation of the Mirror-controlled IPC Magazines.
ISSN:	1941-7349 1941-7349