In the week that the biggest magazine launch in seven years hits the newsstand, it will be interesting to see what approach the trade takes in supporting TV Pick.

Many retailers told RN they would promote the title hard for the first six weeks while they are earning a 90% margin. They aren’t loyal to the established budget listings titles or worried that sales of higher-priced Radio Times are at risk.

But how much is the average retailer likely to gain by backing the launch during the 90% margin promotion? I calculate it to be in the region of £13 each, presuming independents get 30% of the 1.4m print run and sell half of their copies.

However one industry expert told me that he wouldn’t stock TV Pick for fear it might destroy the value of the TV listings category. This is backed up by the news that TV Choice reacted by dropping its cover price to 38p. As in the case of the Sunday Sun, when a cut price product launches, it takes value out of the market.

<figcaption>TV Choice dropped its cover price by 7p in a bid to hang on to readership</figcaption>” src=”https://assets.betterretailing.com/application/files/4215/0653/4561/TV-Pick.jpg” width=”620″ height=”380″ /> TV Choice dropped its cover price by 7p in a bid to hang on to readership</figure> <p>While it remains remarkably stable, the TV listings category isn’t growing in volume terms. New sales for TV Pick (which has a settle-down margin of 10p) will come at the expense of well-established What’s on TV (13p margin) or TV Choice (9.5p margin).</p> <p>Retailers stand to make a quick £13, but this could come at the expense of a long-term loss if readers continue to buy the cheaper title. It may only pay pennies less than What’s on TV, but that £13 won’t take long to dissappear.</p> <p>Whichever approach you take, it’s worth considering the consequence of chasing short-term sales and the impact it will have on interrupting the buying habits of your loyal customers.  It’s your decision.</p> <div class=