Meredith is
merging its
Cooking Light brand into
EatingWell.
Cooking Light will remain as a website and publish six newsstand-only print editions a year. (The New York
Post reports the company's Coastal Living will be reduced to a special-interest newsstand quarterly.)
Also, about 200 jobs at Meredith are being cut across the country, according
to multiple reports.
Sid Evans, group editor of Coastal Living and Southern Living, will now focus solely on the latter. Hunter Lewis, editor-in-chief at Cooking Light
and Food & Wine, will now dedicate to the latter publication.
Cooking Light, Southern Living and Coastal Living are all based in Birmingham, Alabama. Coastal
Living and Cooking Light will no longer offer subscriptions.
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EatingWell will now have a circulation of more than 1.77 million, and publish 10 times a year.
The move
“will strengthen our editorial product, while providing advertisers with access to this passionate group of consumers seeking a healthier lifestyle,” stated Carey Witmer, executive vice
president-group publisher of the Meredith Food Group.
According to the New York Post, about 25 editors are being let go from the Birmingham offices. The cuts affect production,
information technology, finance, consumer revenue, digital, editorial and advertising departments.
“The cost savings associated with these opportunities will help fund growth-focused
investments within or brand, digital, data and consumer revenue businesses,” the company told NYP.
Meredith also publishes food-focused titles like Allrecipes and
Food & Wine. It acquired publisher Time Inc. and its 22 food and lifestyle magazines in January. These moves are likely an effort by Meredith to slim down its operations and eliminate
duplication.
As previously reported, Meredith is planning to sell Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money.
Some other businesses and operations at Meredith, such
as the former Time Inc. book division, will now be outsourced.
Cooking Light, a 31-year-old brand, underwent a redesign last year, debuting a new look and crisper editorial in its
September 2017 issue.
Cooking Light’s December issue will be its last subscription-based issue.