Popular TV talk show host Dr. Mehmet Oz and Hearst will launch an Oz lifestyle magazine beginning next year, The Post has learned.
The yet-untitled publication will hit newsstands with two test issues that will be released in the first half of 2014.
“We want it to contain the upbeat content of the show, but it will be much more than that,” Dr. Oz, whose syndicated talk show centered around health and wellness is the among the top rated day time talk shows in the country, told The Post.
The 53-year old heart surgeon said very often fans will see something on the show but crave more detailed information — and that is where the magazine can help.
“They want something in the print experience to make sure they have it right,” said Oz.
The host of the five-time Emmy Award-winning show said, “I don’t want it to be an earnest publication. I want it to be edgy and one that respects the toughness of women.”
Oz, who is a professor at Columbia University, said he held “serious discussions” with three other companies before deciding on Hearst. He said he conferred with Oprah Winfrey, who had formed a joint venture with Hearst on O, the Oprah Magazine, back in 2000. and who was a big booster of Dr. Oz, introducing him on her show when she was still running her top-rated talker.
Hearst president David Carey said that company plans to use the same methodology that it used to launch Food Network Magazine in 2008-09 and the HGTV Magazine in 2011-12 to get the Oz magazine up and running.
After the two test issues are launched, the partners will evaluate the consumer reaction and then determine the roll-out schedule, Carey said. Typically, that involves going to six times a year frequency in year two and then to 10 times a year.
At its launch, there will be 350,000 copies distributed to newsstands. Another 450,000 copies will be distributed free to subscribers of existing Hearst magazines.
Ellen Levine, the editorial director of Hearst who was instrumental in launching the Oprah magazine, is expected to announce an editor next month.
The Oz title will not be strictly a health publication but will cover food and personal relationships, Levine said.
“It is a can do, optimistic magazine about many things other than taking your temperature,” she added.
Carey declined to divulge how the joint venture costs or hoped for profits will be split but said, “Both parties are strongly vested in its success.”
kkelly@nypost.com