The magazine was established under the name of Le Vif in 1983.[1][2] Its name was changed to Le Vif/L'Express when an agreement was made with the French magazine L'Express.[1] Both magazines have had a cooperation since then[3] and are both owned by Roularta Media Group.[4][5]
Le Vif/L'Express has its headquarters in Brussels.[2][5] As of 2010 Thierry Fiorilli was the editor-in-chief of the magazine,[2] which is published weekly on Fridays[5][6] and offers news on politics, economics, investigations, society and culture in relation to both Belgium and international events.[4] It also covers news on literature and sports.[6] During the period of 2011-2012 55.3% of its readers were men.[7]
Le Vif/L'Express magazine is the equivalent of Flemish weekly news magazine Knack, which is also owned by the Roularta Media Group.[5][2] Both magazines are published by Roularta Printing, a subsidiary of the Roularta Media Group.[8]
Le Vif/L'Express adopts a neutral political stance.[5] The weekly has several supplements: Focus Vif, a culture publication, Le Vif Weekend, a lifestyle magazine[4][9] and Vacature Emploi.[10] In 2010 Le Vif/L'Express began to offer T'chin, a health supplement, together with its sister magazine Knack.[11]
Le Vif/L'Express sold 82,362 copies in 1998 and 85,772 copies in 1998.[12] The magazine had a circulation of 97,000 copies in the period of 2006–2007.[13] Next year the magazine sold 97,605 copies.[2]
The circulation of the magazine was 72,040 copies in 2010 and 68,781 copies in 2011.[14] It was 65,274 copies in 2012[14] and 65,689 copies in 2013.[15] In March 2014 its circulation grew to 76,000 copies.[4]
