Struggling O at Home Magazine Folds
by Lucia Moses - Mediaweek
In the latest blow to the struggling magazine business, Hearst Magazines is folding O at Home, the 650,000-circulation quarterly spinoff of its popular O, The Oprah Magazine. Hearst announced that it would fold the content into its progenitor after publishing a Winter 2008 issue.
Sarah Gray Miller, editor of O at Home, won’t be out of a job; she’s been named the third editor of Hearst’s 1.6 million circ-Country Living. That book was previously helmed by Nancy Soriano, who left the company in October. Miller is taking four O at Home staffers with her, including executive editor Katy McColl and design director Sheri Geller. The title's vp, publisher, Jill Seelig, also oversees O, The Oprah Magazine.
Only recently, Hearst seemed to have high hopes for O at Home. A year ago it appointed Miller as the title’s first full-time editor, who tried to generate interest in the magazine by borrowing elements from O, The Oprah Magazine. The shelter book also added sales and edit staff and raised its rate base 4 percent last spring.
The slumping economy has led to the demise of several magazines as standalones this year, from Condé Nast’s Men’s Vogue and Hachette Filipacchi Media’s Home. O at Home is the third title Hearst has closed this year, following CosmoGirl and Quick & Simple.
