ESPN has arrived at the same conclusion as many other magazine publishers in a challenged marketplace, deciding to halt publication of its monthly print edition in September after a 21-year run. The Disney unit did not rule out the possibility of putting out themed print issues in the future, but is moving away from…

Iconic health and wellness publisher Rodale Inc. apparently feels weak-kneed in the fast-changing digital media environment — and has hung a “for sale” sign. The company behind magazines including Men's Health, Prevention, Women's Health, Runner's World, Bicycling, and Rodale's Organic Life says today that it hired…

This is sure to chill all of the newspaper and magazine companies that thought subscribers would return to the fold once the content became available on the sexy mobile devices. The finding comes from the most detailed study yet of the 11% of the country that owns a tablet, conducted by the Pew Research Center’s…

Magazines pretty much held on to customers in the first half of 2011 according to a report today from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Subscriptions and single-copy sales at 418 of the most popular titles only fell 1.4% vs the same period last year. The tally was down 2.3% this time last year vs 2009. People…

Disney Publishing Worldwide announced today it is adding four titles based on its properties to join a U.S. roster that included the moms-skewing monthly Disney FamilyFun. The first, Phineas and Ferb, based on the hit Disney XD TV series, will be bi-monthly and cost $4.99 on newsstands and $23.95 for an annual…

Let’s face it, all that free Internet porn has made the beleaguered Playboy empire into as old a fogie as its founder Hugh Hefner what with revenue plummetting and the media company running huge losses. Nevertheless the octogenarian and the limited partnership he controls, Icon Acquisition Holdings, today succeeded…

People magazine will bestow just bestowed the coveted title of “Sexiest Man Alive” on Ryan Reynolds for this year marking its 25th anniversary. Which is a marketing wet dream not just for Reynolds’ talent agency CAA and PR firm 42West but also for Warner Bros. The studio has just released this new trailer (below) for G…

This, after talks were abandoned just recently. The new venture will be called the Newsweek Daily Beast. Tonight, Tina Brown, Daily Beast’s co-founder, announced the merger — “some weddings take longer to plan than others” — and will top edit. The Daily Beast is underwritten by Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp…

These are nowhere near as disturbing as the True Blood stars’ recent bloody nude Rolling Stone cover that still haunts me, but TV watchdog group the Parents Television Council is stirring things up this morning with its outrage over the racy photo shoot of the stars from Fox’s Glee in the upcoming issue of GQ, which…

(New York, October 20, 2010) Jon Meacham, the former editor of Newsweek magazine and the Pulitzer Prize–winning and bestselling author of AMERICAN LION, is joining the staff of the Random House Publishing Group as Executive Vice President and Executive Editor. His appointment, effective January 3, 2011, was announced…

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that talks between The Daily Beast and Newsweek have cratered. The two companies had been discussing a deal to make Tina Brown editor of Newsweek. But details couldn’t be worked out surrounding the division of power between Brown, new Newsweek owner Sidney Harman, and Barry Diller…

Jeez, what is Hollywood thinking when it comes to its past and present terrible treatment of women? Turns out even Gwyneth Paltrow, who’s always been well known in showbiz circles as the daughter of the late (and great) TV producer and director Bruce Paltrow (St Elsewhere, The White Shadow), answers in the affirmative…