• Mediaweek, Tuesday, August 12, 2008 9:15 AM

Two new U.S. quarterlies being launched by the Reader's Digest Association are outgrowths of the publisher's Home & Garden and Health & Wellness affinity divisions. Best You, a health title set for Jan. 6, is modeled after Best Health, which RDA launched in Canada earlier this year. Fresh Home, slated for Feb. 24, is a takeoff of RDA's Australian title The Family Handyman.

Unlike other, more homespun RDA magazines, the new titles are upscale and are backed by Web sites that focus on community.

It's a risky business. Ad pages in shelter and women's health/fitness magazines overall declined about 5% through August. At flagship Reader's Digest ad pages declined 12% through August, and newsstand sales for first-half 2008 were off 11 % versus a year ago, per the ABC.

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