Oprah's been very open about the fact that her OWN Network has struggled with ratings, recently naming herself the "permanent" CEO and chief creative officer and pledging to dedicate all of her post-talk-show energy to breathing some life into it.
Hopefully there will be something left over for her publication, O the Oprah Magazine. Shadow and Act reports that it's now struggling with ad sales, even more so than its competitors. Martha Stewart Living's ad pages are down 14 percent and Every Day With Rachael Ray's are down 25 percent, while O's are down 31 percent, according to the Media Industry Newsletter.
An O spokesperson brushed off the concern, attributing the poor sales to "softness, especially in the food category, which is systemic to their business, not ours."
But Shadow and Act reports that 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."
Read more at Shadow and Act.
In other news: Lauryn Hill Sets the Record Straight.