Caught by a reporter
over lunch in NYC, American Media Inc. chief David Pecker offered glimpses into
how different AMI titles gear coverage of royal news to their readers’
differing interests. Said the ubiquity of such coverage poses challenges,
noting: “Two years ago, when William and Kate got married, the special issue of
People sold 2 million copies, but last week’s issue with the royal couple and
the baby on their cover sold 1.1 million.” Said Star’s demographics have
changed considerably, with readers falling into the 25-45 age group, competing
head-to-head with People. Praised David Zinczenko (lunching with him), whose
remake of Men’s Fitness as editorial consultant for AMI has upped last two
issues’ newsstand sales 35% vs. year-ago and upped advertising 50%. Said
Zinczenko now working on Shape and other AMI titles. Also, there are at least a
half-dozen books slated to be published by March 2014 under the new AMI books
imprint (Zinczenko’s idea). Piece also offers more, colorful observations re
Pecker’s “holding court” during lunch.
