Meredith publishing, under financial pressure after acquiring Time Inc. last year for $2.8 billion, laid off around 60 employees. Nearly half of the layoffs were from Entertainment Weekly and Traditional Home. Both publications have dramatically slashed their printing schedules, with Entertainment Weekly cutting back to a monthly schedule and Traditional Home will become a quarterly special interest publication, publishing 4 times a year.
Among the more high profile cuts include publisher Beth McDonough. Traditional Home’s chief editor Jill Waage avoided the chopping block, however most of her staff’s jobs were not spared. Business of Home reported that Wagge has spent 11 years in Meredith’s special interest media division, so her expertise is a valuable commodity.
This is not the first time Traditional Home has seen major changes. In 2017, its publication schedule went from eight yearly issues to only six. In 2018, senior design and market editor Tori Mellot resigned and was not replaced.
Recently, the hearth and home niche at Meredith has taken quite a beating over the last few years. Cooking Light and Coastal Living are no longer on a regular publication schedule. The internal competition for advertisement dollars is proving too strenuous for future viability.
Said a spokesperson for Meredith in the New York Post: “We had five subscription magazines in the home category: Better Homes & Gardens, Southern Living, Real Simple, Martha Stewart Living and Traditional Home. That’s a lot of competition internally for ad dollars, let alone when you consider outside competitors in the space.”
Says Katie of Tin Shingle: “Or is that what happens when your purchase titles and cannibalize your market share?”
Tin Shingle will be monitoring media moves to update our Media Contact Library.
