Business

Camera-ready

Celebrity chef Rachael Ray is tapping Liz Vaccariello, a former editor-in-chief of Prevention with a made-for-TV smile, to be the new editor-in-chief of her namesake magazine, as it gears up to fight a slew of rivals.

The foodie wars are increasingly going multimedia. “She can spin a lot of plates at the same time,” said Ray, the founder and editorial director of Every Day with Rachael Ray, of her newest hire.

“Our goal is to come in with a lot of new content, and get more interactive, bring in more app content and more Internet content,” said Ray. “The magazine doesn’t have that, but it’s been in discussion.”

The brand extension job gets a little complicated because Reader’s Digest Association controls only the magazine, while Ray supervises most other aspects of her brand through books and her popular TV show.

Chemistry with Ray is a key ingredient for reaching across the diverse empire.

The monthly had some major holes punched into its lineup when Silvana Nardone, who had been in the top spot since shortly after its launch five years ago, and the creative director, Tracy Everding, resigned last summer, apparently after falling out of favor with Ray.

The two-year old Food Network Magazine was clearly making people nervous at RDA.

Every Day with Rachael Ray still had the total circulation lead with 1,709,636 copies in the six months ended June 30, but it was off 6 percent from a year earlier. Food Network, with ex-Rachael Ray hand Maile Carpenter at the helm, had circulation of 1,399,894 in just two years, and its 323,586 newsstand copies sold had actually passed the 287,812 that Ray sold in the period.

Ad page growth was up a healthy 5 percent at EDWRR through Nov. 30 to 664.12 pages, according to Media Industry Newsletter, but that was a slower rate than the double-digit pace that had characterized the magazine through most of its growth curve.

Nardone had presided over Ray’s meteoric rise but was never comfortable before the camera — which takes on renewed importance as the food fights go multimedia with rivals ranging from Epicurious and a revamped Gourmet Live to Daily Meal, which debuted recently from Spanfeller Media.

Vaccariello, who was the author of two books while at Prevention — “Flat Belly Diet” and “400 Calorie Fix” — was on Ray’s show a dozen times and was a regular on the syndicated CBS show “The Doctors” while making frequent guest appearances on “The Today Show” and other morning talk shows.

Suzanne Grimes, the president of the North American affinities for Readers Digest Association, which is in a joint venture on the magazine, said she had spoken to “probably 30 people” before settling on Vaccariello. “They have nice chemistry on the air, she gets Ra chael and her brand and she gets TV. We obviously wanted someone who was a great magazine editor who also had chemistry with Rachael.”

Vaccariello starts Monday and is slated to meet the staff for the first time this morning. “My first job will be finding a creative director,” she said.

Bush book

George W. Bush appeared on NBC with Matt Lauer on Monday evening and “The Oprah Winfrey Show” yesterday and gave newspaper interviews to USA Today yesterday and The Wall Street Journal today — but has picked an unconventional outlet for his first and only sitdown with a national magazine for the rollout of the memoir, “Decision Points.”

He bypassed the more conventional outlets of Time and Vanity Fair and instead gave the session to AARP, the 23.7 million circulation monthly that boasts the largest paid circulation of any magazine in America. (A portion of AARP membership dues goes toward the subscription, allowing it to lay claim to the title.)

A second interview went to the hometown regional magazine, Texas Monthly.

And that will be it for magazines. AARP Editor-In-Chief Nancy Graham said she was contacted by Robert Barnett, the Washington DC lawyer who has auctioned off high-level political memoirs for everyone from Bill and Hillary Clinton to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

AARP spoke with Bush at his Dallas home and then a few days later did the photo shoot at his Crawford, Texas, ranch. It appears in the January/February issue of AARP, due out in about a week, and the December issue of Texas Monthly.

Said David Drake, executive publicity director for the Crown imprint: “AARP is perfect venue for a strong boost following the initial news cycle of coverage. That was the reasoning, plain and simple.”

Plum job

Plum TV just installed former InterActiveCorp Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Lehman, who worked on the launch of College Humor and The Daily Beast, as the new CEO as it embarks on a new multimedia expansion that will add three regional glossy oversized magazines to its portfolio.

The six-year-old company currently has TV up and running in eight markets. Lehman takes over the CEO slot from founder Tom Scott, who will become a co-chairman.

The more intriguing addition to the board was Jerry Powers, the founder of Ocean Drive and one-time mentor to publishing wunderkind Jason Binn.

Powers sold Ocean Drive to a company owned by Las Vegas-based Greenspun Media, which put Niche Media CEO Binn in charge of its high-end glossy magazines, including Ocean Drive, LA Confidential, Gotham and Hamptons.

Now, Powers will be competing against his one-time protégé.

Powers, who will be executive chairman and board co-chairman, will be helping Plum TV launch three new magazines: Plum Miami is planning a 400-page February issue out in mid-January, fol lowed by Plum Hamp tons in May and Plum Aspen later, in Novem ber 2011.

“It’s a multi-million dollar expansion,” said Powers.

The company counts backing from a variety of sources, including Jonathan Tisch of Loews Corp., the Kraft family of New England Patriots fame, Jim Pallotta of Celtics ownership, Chris Blackwell, and ex-MTV CEO Tom Freston, among others. kkelly@nypost.com