Barry Diller’s IAC Nixes Glossy Lifestyle Magazines as Newsstand & Ad Revenue Plummets

 

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Media mogul Barry Diller and his IAC have made the decision to cease publishing the  print editions of six glossy magazines it acquired when it purchased Meredith Corp. last year, according to the report in the New York Post.

The magazines directly affected by this decision are Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, Eating Well, Health, Parents and People en Español, according to the Post report.

The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The Post reported that in a memo to staff on Wednesday, Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel said that the move would help turn the publications into digital-only brands.

The WSJ reported that according to a spokeswoman, Vogel also said the moves would result in about 200 job losses—which represents less than 5% of Dotdash Meredith’s total staff, according to a spokeswoman. The company said the April issues of all six magazines would be their final print editions.

In his memo to staff, Vogel said: “We have said from the beginning, buying Meredith was about buying brands, not magazines or websites. It is not news to anyone that there has been a pronounced shift in readership and advertising from print to digital, and as a result, for a few important brands, print is no longer serving the brand’s core purpose.”

He continued: “Today’s step is not a cost savings exercise and it is not about capturing synergies or any other acquisition jargon. It is about embracing the inevitable digital future for the affected brands.”

As the WSJ reported, the move to pull the plug on six print glossies comes as a result of magazine and news publishers having struggled in recent years as newsstand and print-advertising revenues faced serious challenges, including heightened competition from ad giants like Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook. Covid-19 further accelerated print media’s demise, bringing newsstand sales to a halt and shifting behaviors online.

Vogel also said in his Wednesday memo, “Naysayers will interpret this as another nail in print’s coffin. They couldn’t be more wrong.”

Last year, under the leadership of Barry Diller, the InterActiveCorp (IAC) purchased the Iowa based Meredith for $2,7 billion. The WSJ reported that the purchase combined an array of lifestyle publications including  Real Simple, Allrecipes and InStyle with Dotdash’s largely digital portfolio, including The Spruce, Serious Eats and TripSavvy.

At the time, the company said it was committed to Meredith’s brands, including the print product.

The Post reported that Vogel said the company plans to invest in its 19 remaining print magazines — which include People, Better Homes & Gardens and Southern Living — by enhancing paper quality and trimming sizes. Dotdash Meredith also plans to invest $80 million in 2022 in content across all brands.

Vogel said the company has more than 100 open jobs in editorial, engineering, product, design, and e-commerce, some of which it hopes to fill with people whose roles have been eliminated.