Cathie Black: The First Lady of American Magazines

WORDS: ROSEMARY DELANEY

Dubbed ‘The First Lady of American Magazines’, Cathie, who’s name consistently appears high up on both Forbes and Fortunes “Most Powerful Businesswomen’ lists, recently took time out with WMB to discuss her forty-year career, which can be described as a rollercoaster ride to the top of the publishing industry with titles to include Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s BAZAAR, Marie Claire, O — The Oprah Magazine, Popular Mechanics, Redbook, and Town & Country.

They say that when opportunity knocks, be sure to be ready to answer the call. Cathie recognised a publishing opportunity when just over a decade ago, she met with Oprah. Out of that meeting came the hugely successful launch of O, the Oprah Magazine. But how do you maintain this momentum, build on this success? Cathie admits: “There will never be another Oprah Winfrey! But I’m very pleased that we have introduced a new magazine with successful U.S. cable channel the Food Network, which features Food Network’s popular cast of star chefs and covers food in a fun, approachable, affordable way”.

Like O, The Oprah Magazine, which is also a joint venture with an existing television brand, Food Network Magazine has an established, popular brand name, which lends itself well to a print magazine. The channel is distributed to 96 million households in the U.S., which gives Hearst a built-in audience of fans. Cathie is encouraged by the early response to the magazine from readers and advertisers and is hopeful that Hearst will have another success on their hands.

The magazine industry is perceived by many as glamorous and yet cut throat, where failures rather than successes are usually highlighted. In the current environment, advertising and print sales appear to be plummeting and it will take the smart players to stay on top of their game. Cathie cites a focus on creativity and innovation as key success factors where industry players need to strengthen and maintain relationships and cultivate new ones. This requires personal attention and face time — which is becoming more difficult to orchestrate in our new ‘cash poor, time more’ environment. “We saw a substantial advertising downturn like this in 1991 and again in 2001 and we came back from both of them. I believe the industry will come back from this decline and the most important thing is to be well-positioned when the economy improves”

Read more about Cathie Black in the March 2009 issue of WMB, on newsstands now!