• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, October 12, 2011

Meredith Corp. will buy Every Day With Rachael Ray from the Reader's Digest Association, which has published the food title created by the eponymous kitchen star since October 2005.

RDA revealed that it would be selling the title Wednesday morning, and by early Wednesday afternoon, Meredith Corp. announced that it had entered into a tentative agreement to buy the title.

The magazine is published 10 times a year and reaches an audience of 7.3 million with a rate base of 1.7 million, per Meredith.

RDA said it was selling Every Day With Rachael Ray because its ability to expand the brand was limited by its agreement with Rachael Ray herself, who retains control of her media brand and presence in areas outside the print magazine.

RDA President and CEO Robert E. Guth explained: "Because our agreement limited our participation to producing just a magazine, we were unable to expand the brand and its content across multiple platforms. Going forward, it was not a fit with our master brand strategy."

Instead, RDA said it will focus on its "owned and operated master brands," including Reader's Digest, Taste of Home and The Family Handyman, which hold the most potential for future cross-platform expansion.

As part of the change-up, the Every Day With Rachael Ray Editor in Chief Liz Vaccariello is being appointed to the newly reated position of chief content officer and editor in chief for the Reader's Digest Community. RDA also revealed that Reader's Digest editor-in-chief Peggy Northrop is leaving the company; however she will continue to serve in an advisory role as international editor-at-large, focusing on the international magazine business.

Although RDA didn't say whether Every Day With Rachael Ray had a buyer in its morning announcement, by Wednesday afternoon, Meredith Corp. announced that it had reached an agreement in principle with Ray to acquire the magazine and its digital assets from RDA.

Meredith National Media Group President Tom Harty portrayed the purchase as part of a larger move into the food category: "The acquisition of Every Day With Rachael Ray will further extend our leadership and deepen our reach in providing women with best-in-class food content, and offering advertisers multiple avenues to reach them."

The acquisition follows the recent launch of Recipe.com, a multichannel food brand that pairs recipes with digital coupons and savings; the acquisition of the EatingWell Media Group; the introduction of six new Special Interest Media food titles; and expansion of food content in brands, including Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Parents and Fitness.

Every Day With Rachael Ray was well-received after its 2005 launch, but like many other magazines has suffered during the downturn. In the first nine months of 2011, total ad pages were down 21.3% to 401, per the Publisher's Information Bureau. In the first half of the year, newsstand sales fell 16.9% to 239,151.