Mark Frith

For the musician, see Mark Frith (musician). For the industrialist, see Mark Firth.

Mark Frith
Born	(1970-05-22) 22 May 1970 (age 54) Sheffield, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Journalist
Known for	Heat, Time Out, Smash Hits, SKY Magazine

Mark Frith (born 22 May 1970, in Sheffield) is a British journalist, music critic, and editor. He has been a writer and editor for magazines such as Smash Hits, Time Out and Heat. He has since branched into TV and radio presenting, and has written multiple books.

Early life

Mark Frith was born in Sheffield on 22 May 1970.^[1] He attended Gleadless Valley Secondary Comprehensive School in Norton, Sheffield, before going on to study at the University of East London, where he edited the college magazine Overdraft, but did not graduate.^[1][2]

Career

Frith joined the editorial team at Smash Hits in 1990, and became editor in 1994, at the age of 23.^[3] He then edited SKY Magazine from 1996 to late 1997,^[1][4] before helping to develop Heat magazine (which launched in 1999).^[4] He was put in charge in early 2000 and transformed the title from a 60,000-a-week selling magazine to sales of over half a million an issue. He left the magazine in May 2008, having landed a book deal with Ebury Publishing.^[3] Following this he became editor for London listings magazine Time Out from 2009 until July 2011, when he was succeeded as editor by Tim Arthur.^[5] Frith subsequently became a contributor to 1980s-themed music magazine Classic Pop.^[6]

In 2015, Frith became editor-in-chief of Now magazine.^[7] Two years later, he was appointed editorial director of TV and radio listings magazine Radio Times; he left the position in 2020.^[8]

Frith has won magazine publishing awards in Britain including PPA Editor of the Year (twice) and, in 2005, the Mark Boxer Award for Outstanding Achievement in British Magazines at the BSME Awards.^[4] In October 2002, Frith began a stint as presenter of the BBC's Liquid News,^[9] and later appeared on Radio 4's Front Row and BBC2's The Apprentice: You're Fired!^[10][11]

The rights to adapt Frith's 2008 book, The Celeb Diaries, into a TV series, were acquired by Big Talk Studios.^[12]

Bibliography

• Frith, Mark (12 October 2006). The Best of Smash Hits: The 80s. Sphere Books. ISBN 978-0316027090.
• Frith, Mark (4 September 2008). The Celeb Diaries. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-192798-1.

External links

• The Celeb Diaries website
• The Guardian profile: Mark Frith

References

1. Luft, Oliver (22 August 2008). "He is not a celebrity, he does not expect to be in that world". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
2. "Q: What did you get up to at university?". The Independent. 16 August 2006. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
3. "Heat editor quits to write book". BBC News. 28 February 2008. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
4. Gallagher, Rachael (28 February 2008). "Heat editor Mark Frith quits". Press Gazette. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
5. "Mark Frith steps down as Time Out editor". Press Gazette. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
6. Bradley, Steve (4 April 2013). "When Brum was top of the pops". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 8 April 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
7. Sweney, Mark (12 August 2015). "Mark Frith named Now editor-in-chief". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
8. Degun, Gurjit (10 March 2020). "Tom Loxley and Shem Law replace Mark Frith as Radio Times editors". Campaign. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
9. Welsh, James (23 August 2002). "Frith, Morris to present 'Liquid News'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
10. "Archive information: January 2008 - November 2007". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
11. "BBC shows TV3 just how it's done". Irish Independent. 7 October 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
12. Armstrong, Stephen (23 November 2009). "TV plays it by the book". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2024.

Media offices
Preceded by Ben Preston	Editor: Radio Times 2017-2020	Succeeded by Tom Loxley and Shem Law