Abstract:

On the 10th, March 1974, the new Espresso came out: an issue of 128 pages in "Time" magazine format, which covered all the subject matter in the three sections of the old Espresso (Polit./Cult./Econ.). It is a format common to many other weeklies all over the world. It was not a complete novelty even for the Italian market: "Panorama", a Mondadori weekly, had adopted the "Time" format from its first appearance in 1966. Despite these precedents, the new Espresso raised many problems which had to be solved, as will be seen in this chapter: editorial problems, since the contents and format of a magazine are, clearly, interdependent variables. The problem became more acute due to the particular strategy adopted. The change was dictated by specific technical and economical requirements. But the solution adopted, although it may seem both obvious and natural, was not the only one possible. It was chosen in the light of a precise strategy of expansion for the magazine. The operation took from February 1973 to March 1974.