Like many other magazines, SI has battled vanishing advertising revenue and declining circulation
Meredith Corp. intends to sell SI, along with Time, Fortune and Money. The move had been expected as Meredith seeks to focus more on its core properties and less on weekly titles or those targeted primarily to men. The move comes less than two months after the company closed on the acquisition of Time Inc. in a $1.84B deal that included these brands. Houlihan Lokey will aid Meredith on selling SI and also played a key role in last month’s sale of Golf magazine and Golf.com to former Islanders Owner Howard Milstein and Emigrant Capital. “These are attractive properties with strong consumer reach,” Meredith President & CEO Tom Harty said of the quartet of former Time Inc. titles. “However, they have different target audiences and advertising bases, and we believe each brand is better suited for success with a new owner.” Meredith said there is already inbound interest from potential purchasers, including some non-traditional entities, and that deals for SI and the other titles could be done by the end of June. Meredith also said it has eliminated 200 jobs with another 1,000 expected to be cut in the next 10 months as it seeks between $400M-500M in cost synergies related to the Time Inc. acquisition. Those headcount reductions do not include staffers at the titles that will be sold. Some non-editorial functions will also be moved to Meredith HQ in Des Moines (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer). In N.Y., Sydney Ember notes SI, Fortune and Money are "heavy with news" and "clashed with the company's portfolio of lifestyle publications like Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle and Allrecipes." The decision to sell the magazines was "widely expected." Like many other magazines, SI has "battled vanishing advertising revenue and declining circulation." Once published weekly, the magazine has "been reduced to every two weeks" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/22). Former Time CEO Joe Ripp and Penske Media Chair & CEO Jay Penske have been mentioned as possible suitors for SI (THE DAILY).
TWITTER REAX: ESPN.com's Don Van Natta Jr. wrote, "When I was a small boy, Sports Illustrated was my dream gig. Every week, I wrote SI a letter, hoping they’d publish it. Every week, I got back a card: thanks but no thanks. Tonight, a toast... that an SI-mad billionaire buys it, hires 100 writers and doubles everyone’s salary." Bleacher Report's David Gardner: "Almost every great sportswriter today grew up dreaming of being half as good as guys like Frank Deford or dan Jenkins or Gary Smith. There's nothing I want more than for Sports Illustrated to find a buyer who believes in the magazine's mission." ESPN.com's Arash Markazi: "Sports Illustrated made my dreams come true. They hired me as an intern before my senior year, hired me after I graduated, put me on the cover of SI on Campus and sent me to swimsuit shoots. Here’s hoping a billionaire buys SI and allows them to continue to make dreams come true." The Wall Street Journal's Jason Gay: "A quick hop on the soapbox: Sports Illustrated has stood for quality, integrity, humor - forever. Iconic past, and still tons of great talent. I hope it finds - and prospers - with ownership that invests and believes in it. Good stuff matters - and can work. (Off soapbox.)"
