O, The Oprah Magazine is ending its regular monthly print editions with the December 2020 issue after 20 years of publication.

The brand, which is among the most recognizable magazines in the U.S., is not going away but will become more “more digitally-centric,” a Hearst spokeswoman Monday said. There will be “some form of print” after the December issue “but what it is exactly is still being worked out,” she said.

Oprah Winfrey launched O with Hearst in 2000 and today is the editorial director. “I’m proud of this team and what we have delivered to our readers over the past 20 years,” Winfrey said in a statement provided by Hearst. “I look forward to the next step in our evolution.”

Hearst declined to answer why it was dropping the regular print edition, saying only it was a “natural next step” for the brand. Magazines have been trying to grow their digital properties as print advertising shrinks and people spend more time online.

The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has further hurt print advertising sales, with research firm Magna in June predicting a 23% drop for U.S. national magazines this year.

On its website, O Magazine says it has a total audience of 10 million, while industry tracker Alliance for Audited Media said the magazine had a total circulation of about 2.3 million as of the last six months of 2019.

Hearst, a private company, is in the midst of executive turmoil. The president of Hearst Magazines, Troy Young, resigned abruptly last week after the New York Times reported on sexist comments he made at work. Hearst named its CFO, Debi Chirichella, as acting president of Hearst Magazines, which publishes major magazines including Elle, Esquire, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping. Hearst’s other businesses include local TV stations, newspapers and ratings agency Fitch.

Winfrey, meanwhile, is busy with her deal with Apple TV Plus, which launched in fall 2019 as one of a slew of new streaming services from tech and entertainment companies aiming to challenge Netflix for viewers’ attention.

Famous for her long-running TV talk show that ended in 2011, Winfrey has a new talk show debuting Thursday on Apple’s service called “The Oprah Conversation.” She also has two other series on Apple TV Plus, “Oprah Talks COVID-19” and “Oprah’s Book Club.”

12 thoughts on “Oprah’s O is Over as A Print Magazine”
  1. And she will only still be a billionaire. Superflous dribble. Has she REDUCED the RACISM in the “Black Communities”??? Has she “REDUCED the MURDERS in Chicago”??????

    1. Hell no. But she sponsors a girls’ school in Africa. How about investing some of those American made millions in the impoverished areas like Chicago, Detroit, DC, etc? Help educate the American blacks kids and uplift their lives so they have a better chance to succeed.

      1. She’s a firm believer in Liberation Theology … very far left and seems quite ungrateful for her billions. America’s so intrinsically racist, don’t you know?

  2. Good! Save the trees. Less garbage & more trees. Oh, O we’re so over you too.

  3. I’ve always respected Oprah for her business savy. This is a smart move to move from paper to a digital platform. I’m 64, and I love magazines. They are dying out sadly. Wish her well in the next venture.

    1. Business Savy? Trying to figure thst one. If you compare to real independent women in show business like Sharon Osbourne, Dolly parton. Reba McIntyre, Theresa Earnhardt, just the name of few Outstanding ladies who took their Businesses to the greatest level. Let’s gave it Ophra was a token because people who havd no life watched her on day time TV and advertisers paid for thr audiences. Just like Facebook today. Their just following the money not talent.

  4. I used to pay attention to Oprah, back when she had her afternoon television talk show; but I gave up on her when she started drooling over the Obamas. It seemed that, with the emergence of the first black presidential couple, Oprah’s true colors began to show and she appeared to totally forget about the fans who put her in the position to become the multi-millionaire she is today (and the majority of those fans were not black). She began to be very biased when it came to topics that didn’t involve the “black” experience and those of her fans who were not black began to feel disenfranchised. Talk about reverse discrimination.

    1. Drolled over Rapist Harvey Weinstein’s and the Clinton Foundation Rapist Billie And Hillary And Jeffery Epstein!
      That her FRIENDS scum!!!!

  5. what happens to those of us that have taken her magazine for a 3 year sub rate?
    Will we receive a refund?
    I know she is on her way to her next point in her life.

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