Dotdash Meredith will be retiring the print edition of Martha Stewart Living next month, making it the company’s seventh title not to have a physical release this year.
Chief business officer Alysia Borsa told employees in an email Thursday that the company would focus on expanding the magazine-affiliated website, marthastewart.com. She said the printed May issue will be the last for Martha Stewart Living.
“We remain excited about the digital potential of the brand and will give our full attention to the growth of the digital business,” said Borsa.
She added that 20 New York City-based workers will be “affected” by the end of the print edition, although she did not say how they will be affected. A spokesman for Dotdash Meredith said in an email that the move will not result in any layoffs at the company’s Des Moines office.
“We are proud of the many achievements of our teams and the legacy of their creative, inspiring and collaborative work with Martha,” said Borsa. “We thank everyone for their hard work and dedication and are committed to helping them have a smooth transition.”
Martha Stewart Living follows other Dotdash Meredith titles that have ended circulation this year including EatingWell, Entertainment Weekly, Health, InStyle, Parents and People en Español. Those cuts resulted in about 200 layoffs, according to the company.
Dotdash Meredith executives have said they wanted to move the company away from print editions and focus on growing advertising revenue on their websites after IAC/Interactive Corp. acquired Des Moines-based Meredith in December for $2.7 billion. Dotdash, which started out as About.com, has always been a purely digital company. IT leaders now control the legacy Meredith releases.
Time. Inc. founded Martha Stewart Living in late 1990, with the lifestyle guru serving as editor-in-chief. Martha Stewart founded her own company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, in 1996 and bought Time’s magazine and other assets for $30 million.
In 2014, Martha Stewart signed Living Omnimedia with Meredith to a 10-year distribution deal, giving the publisher control of sales, marketing, circulation and production. Last year, the magazine’s 10 annual issues attracted approximately 2 million subscribers.
Neil Fiske, CEO of Marquee Brands, owner of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, confirmed the end of print editions in a press release Thursday.
“The media landscape is evolving so rapidly, and Martha has always been at the forefront of innovation and change,” Fiske said in a statement. “We look forward to working with her as we move into this next chapter, where Martha will bring her unmatched authority, unstoppable energy and creativity to more modern digital formats.”
Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel signaled that the physical edition of Martha Stewart Living was in the pipeline during an appearance at the BMO Digital Advertising Summit in early March when he failed to list the title among those he planned to continue to print.
Vogel said the company will continue with All Recipes, Better Homes and Gardens, Food & Wine, People, Southern Living and Travel + Leisure.
Other titles Vogel announced had no future in print include Midwest Living, REAL SIMPLE, and Successful Farming, the magazine that Edwin Thomas Meredith started the company with in 1902.
When asked about Vogel’s earlier statement Thursday, a spokesman for Dotdash Meredith said in an email, “We continue to print Successful Farming, Midwest Living and REAL SIMPLE.”
Meredith also edited the print edition of Shape Magazine in November, a month after the deal with IAC was announced.
Vogel broke into the media business after IAC, an online incubator backed by billionaire Barry Diller, hired him to redesign the 1990s website about.com. He divided the site’s content into a series of lifestyle verticals based on themes such as home decor and health, and drove traffic with articles designed to rank high in Google searches.
More: As new CEO of Dotdash Meredith, Neil Vogel puts his trust in The Process and promises to “change and change and change”
The companies announced the acquisition in early October, and Vogel’s team has spent the last seven months determining how to operate the print side of their new titles. Vogel has said he wants to print fewer runs on more expensive paper to create a “luxury experience”.
Tyler Jett covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. You can reach him at tjett@registermedia.com, 515-284-8215 or on Twitter at @LetsJett.