It’s no secret that Oprah’s new joint venture television network with Discovery, now called the OWN network, has been struggling from day one. Not long ago, she let everyone know that plans were in the works to do some revamping. However, now comes word that her publication, O Magazine, is also struggling with ad sales.

While the whole magazine industry has seen recent declines, Martha Stewart Living is down 14 percent and EveryDay with Rachael Ray is down 25 percent, O Magazine is down by 31 percent according to the Media Industry Newsletter.

An O magazine spokesperson says “O’s ad page performance is pretty consistent with what’s going on in the women’s lifestyle category. There is softness, especially in the food category, which is systemic to their business, not ours.”

While that may be true, a former Hearst insider says “I think that the Oprah brand has gotten slightly weaker. Ratings are down significantly for the new network, and there is a sense some of the magic is gone.”

Promotional efforts are underway now to bolster the brand. An “O You” event at the Georgia Convention Center will reportedly gross roughly $725,000 if the 5,000 expected attendees each pay $125.

Maybe the real question is can she “reinvent” her message?

(Source: Eurweb)