Barry Diller's IAC/Interactive Corp is ending the print editions of Entertainment Weekly, InStyle and four other titles acquired from Meredith Corporation last year, turning them into digital-only properties.
The New York-based digital media company told employees that EW, InStyle, EatingWell, Health, Parents and People en Español will be available only online starting April.
"We have said from the beginning, buying Meredith was about buying brands, not magazines or websites,"
Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel wrote in a memo to employees obtained by the Los Angeles Times. "It is not news to anyone that there has been a pronounced shift in readership and advertising from print to digital, and as a result, for a few important brands, print is no longer serving the brand's core purpose."
The move, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, reflects the declining circulation and revenue for print media as audiences continue to turn to digital devices for their content. The consumer shift to digital accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The shutdown comes only months after IAC acquired the titles from Meredith for $1.8 billion in October. The deal closed in December.
Vogel said the company always intended to unlock the digital potential of the titles, adding: "we are going to move to a digital-only future for these brands, which will help us to unlock their full potential."
Dotdash Meredith will continue to publish print editions of 19 other titles, including People, Better Homes & Gardens and Southern Living.
"Naysayers will interpret this as another nail in print's coffin," Vogel wrote. "They couldn't be more wrong — print remains core to Dotdash Meredith."
Vogel might get some disagreement on that point from the 200 employees expected to lose their jobs as part of the move.
Parents had the longest run among the axed print titles, first founded in 1926 as a guide to child rearing.
Entertainment Weekly has been a pop culture staple since it was launched by Time Inc. in 1990. The magazine's covers have long been coveted newsstand real estate for movies and television shows.
InStyle, which focuses on celebrity style and fashion advice, has been in print since 1994.
Health is a lifestyle title aimed at women, launched by Meredith in 1981. People en Español debuted in 1996 as a Spanish-language version of the flagship celebrity title People.
