Hearst, Disney to Unveil Women’s Magazine

Hearst Corp., publisher of Cosmopolitan and Esquire, and Walt Disney Co. next week are expected to introduce a new women’s magazine called Lifetime, seeking to capitalize on their popular cable network of the same name.

Lifetime magazine is a joint venture of closely held Hearst and its network partnership with Disney. The magazine will debut with a circulation of 500,000, including about 100,000 subscriptions, and compete with larger and older women’s publications such as Meredith Corp.’s Ladies’ Home Journal, which this year revamped its design and content for a more modern look.

Hearst wants to repeat the success of O, the Oprah Magazine, started three years ago to attract fans of Oprah Winfrey’s television talk show. Lifetime, targeting women in their 20s to 40s, may stand out in a crowded market for women’s magazines because of its fresher look and link to the network, one industry consultant said.

“The traditional women’s service magazines are almost dinosaurs because you can’t change them too much or you lose your core readers,” said Martin Walker, chairman of media consulting firm Walker Communications. Lifetime’s link to the network helps because “the hardest thing in selling a new magazine is getting people to be aware of it.”

The Lifetime network has been the most popular cable channel in prime time for the last two years, surpassing other cable channels such as Viacom Inc.’s MTV and AOL Time Warner Inc.’s CNN.

Hearst and Disney may need to invest as much as $45 million in the next several years until the magazine turns a profit, Walker estimated. Hearst declined to comment on its investment.