“Reality Weekly” Puts Antics In Print

Gambling that the passion for reality TV will translate to print, American Media launched Reality Weekly, which hit newsstands on December 29. It is competitively priced at $1.79, $2 less than rival People Magazine, reports WWD. The first issue features Kim Kardashian—a bit risky, considering that Kardashian covers caused sales drops up to 18% at Us Weekly, OK!, In Touch and Life & Style, reported the New York Post. But AMI owns Star, OK and The National Enquirer, and conducted 40 market studies before even arriving at a cover price. AMI shipped 500,000 copies of the inaugural issue, and plans to ship 1 million copies of the sixth issue. Reality Weekly has a cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) of $45, and Issue 1 had 14 pages of print ads.