David Zinczenko, the former editor of Men’s Health who left after clashing with CEO Maria Rodale, is headed to arch rival American Media Inc., publisher of Men’s Fitness.
The deal is technically a consulting gig through a new company he is forming, called Galvanized Media.
As consulting editorial director, Zinczenko will be tasked with helping AMI CEO David Pecker develop a book publishing line. He will also consult on a variety of titles, including Fit Pregnancy, Natural Health and Shape, where he recently weighed in with cover lines for the upcoming April issue with Beyoncé on the cover.
But the biggest battle is likely to be in the men’s category. So far, Zinczenko is taking the high road.
“I left the company in a strong position, with both Men’s Health and Women’s Health at the fore of the magazine industry’s advertising rebound, and greatly improved the health of Rodale Books,” he said.
“So I don’t feel as though I’m competing with my former colleagues. I feel like I’m competing with myself,” he added.
Zinczenko has been making the rounds of publishers since decamping from Rodale in November. The consulting gig with AMI doesn’t close the door to other publishing companies.
Before he was run out of Rodale, Zinczenko was the executive vice president and general manager of the healthy living group, in charge of Men’s Health, Women’s Health and Prevention. He was also the force behind the best-selling book franchise, “Eat This, Not That” and “The Abs Diet.” His duties extended beyond hiring top editors to include recruiting publishers.
Zinczenko’s arrival is a welcome bit of good news for AMI. Revenues dropped 3 percent in the third quarter to $85 million, hurt by the industrywide ad malaise and the impact of Superstorm Sandy on East Coast newsstand sales.
Pecker said that the signing of Zinczenko is only one of several initiatives he has in the works.
“No one carries the level of prestige, accomplishment and trust in the health and fitness market that Dave does,” said Pecker.
Maria Rodale left little doubt that it was her decision not to renew Zinczenko’s contract at the end of last year.
She had grown resentful of Zinczenko’s high profile and wanted to downgrade him from celebrity editor, sources said. “It’s not Dave’s Health,” she had sniped at the time. “It’s Men’s Health.”
A Rodale spokeswoman struck a far more conciliatory tone yesterday. “As always, we wish him the best,” she said.
Gotcha!
Winner of this week’s “Liar Liar Pants on Fire” award goes to Jay Penske, CEO of Penske Media.
Back on Feb. 14, Media Ink asked Jay Penske about the word circulating that the daily print edition of Daily Variety would be ceasing in the near future.
“No it’s not,” he texted back.
Yesterday, Penske Media announced that it was indeed stopping the daily print edition of what was once considered Hollywood’s bible, which has been around for 108 years,.
Penske is also taking down the paywall that has been around Variety.com since 2009.
He also said that weekly Variety is moving from publishing on weekends to a Tuesday publication date.
Penske bought the titles last year from Reed Elsevier for about $25 million. Tim Gray, who was editor-in-chief, has been bumped aside but is staying around to work on special projects.
Three new co-editors have been tapped in Gray’s place: Claudia Eller, a veteran of the Los Angles Times, will share the job with Variety deputy editor Cynthia Littleton and entertainment editor Andrew Wallenstein.
“Internally, we’ve been referring to the paywall dropping as the end of an error,” Penske said on the Variety.com website. “It was an interesting experiment that didn’t work.”
Variety.com’s traffic has lagged that of arch rival The Hollywood Reporter’s website as well as digital-only entertainment sources Thewrap.,com, edited by Sharon Waxman, and Penske-owned Deadline.com, edited by Nikki Finke.
TV talk
The big guessing game in media circles is just how Meredith will get the money to buy the bulk of Time Warner’s Time Inc. unit.
Some are speculating that Meredith will raise close to $1 billion by selling its 13 broadcast TV stations.
The Time Inc. magazines, including People, InStyle and Real Simple, are expected to go for between $1.7 billion to $2 billion, sources said.
“Unless they want to lever up [with debt], that’s the only thing they have to sell,” said Benchmark Co. analyst Ed Atorino.
Analyst Barry Lucas at Gabelli has been urging Meredith’s management to separate publishing and TV for years.
But he doesn’t think the looming Meredith-Time Inc. combo will result in an immediate sale of the TV stations.
Asked about a possible sale of the stations, a Meredith spokesman said, “We don’t comment on marketplace rumors.”
Redmond rising
Guggenheim Partners, which now has full control of Guggenheim Digital Media, formerly known as Prometheus Global Media, is adding editorial muscle to Janice Min’s staff at The Hollywood Reporter.
“I’m pleased to announce that Sudie Redmond, after months of helping us out in all matters of our operation, has joined The Hollywood Reporter staff as executive managing editor,” Min said in a memo to staffers yesterday.
Redmond was managing editor of Glamour until a year ago. Prior to that, she spent nine years at Hearst’s O, the Oprah Magazine, as managing and then deputy editor. She also worked as managing editor at George for three and a half years.
Fueled by Oscar news, THR said its website hit a single-day record of 2 million unique visitors on Monday, double its post-Oscar traffic a year ago.