 |
Meredith Corporation is looking to unload several of the titles it picked up in its January acquisition of Time Inc. Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money are set to head for the auction block as Meredith looks to consolidate its focus on producing female-skewing lifestyle titles.
People, Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, InStyle, Shape and Travel + Leisure, are all expected to remain under the Meredith umbrella.
Along with the four magazines, the company plans to shed a total of 1,200 employees, in addition to the 600 who have already been let go at Times Customer Service, Time Inc.’s former subscription fulfillment operation.
The moves are part of an overall effort by Meredith to reduce annual costs by $400 million to $500 million. The company also says that it will work to raise the advertising and circulation performance of the magazines it keeps to “industry norms,” while increasing profits from the Time Inc. digital properties to “Meredith’s levels.”
While Meredith CEO Tom Harty says the company has been pleased with the amount of interest that has been expressed in the titles, it made no comment about who the potential purchasers might be.
“These are attractive properties with strong consumer reach,” Harty said in a statement. “However, they have different target audiences and advertising bases, and we believe each brand is better suited for success with a new owner.”
Michael Kaminer, who was responsible for the Observer’s “Power List” for the past 13 years, has cut ties with the publication... The New York Times Company continues the march toward its goal of 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027... The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is providing more than $6 million in funding to eight organizations working to address the challenges local news and information environments face along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Conservative outlets Fox News, Newsmax and the Daily Caller are holding back from signing Pete Hegseth’s edict restricting press access in the Pentagon... CBS News sees the first executive departure of the Bari Weiss era as head of standards and practices Claudia Milne exits... Indiana University shuts down the print version of The Indiana Daily Student.
Rothschild family plans to unload 26.7 percent stake in The Economist... STAT, a digital media company that focuses the life sciences, brings back Damian Garde, who anchored its biotech newsletter and podcast from 2016 to 2024... High Times officially resumes print publication (following its 2024 shutdown) with the release of a limited-edition, collectible 50th anniversary issue. 
CBS News is set to hand over its reins to The Free Press co-founder Bari Weiss as Paramount acquires her site for $155M... C-SPAN comes on board as an official media partner of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which is charged by Congress to lead the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence... A new Gallup survey says that the level of trust that US audiences have in the media has hit a new low.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has named Kenneth Weinstein, former head of the conservative Hudson Institute, as ombudsman for CBS News.
