Meredith Corp. has clipped the wings of Time Inc.’s top editorial executive after acquiring the parent of Time, People, Sports Illustrated and InStyle, The Post has learned.
The Iowa-based publisher of Better Homes & Gardens, which scooped up Time Inc. for $2.8 billion on Jan. 31, has slashed the responsibilities of chief content officer Alan Murray, who previously oversaw the editorial side of all of Time Inc.’s magazines, insiders said.
At a Friday meeting, Murray was informed he gets to keep his title for the time being — but he will only be overseeing Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money, sources told The Post.
Those four titles were officially put on the block less than two weeks ago. The company expects the four magazines will be sold within the next two to four months — to two or more separate buyers.
Murray — a respected industry veteran who had a long career at the Wall Street Journal before landing as the editor of Fortune — did not return calls seeking comment.
In July 2016, Murray was promoted to his current position at Time Inc., succeeding one of the editorial titans, Norm Pearlstine. Murray is believed to be hauling in a mid- to high-six-figure salary in his current gig.
Meredith, which thus far has kept a pledge not to fire Time Inc. editors outright, is meanwhile dividing up the old Time Inc. titles into separate fiefdoms.
Stephen Orr, who was the editor-in-chief of Meredith’s biggest magazine, Better Homes & Gardens, will oversee most of the titles that were once part of Time’s Southern Progress unit including Cooking Light, Southern Living and Coastal Living. He also adds the title of National Media group content leader. Meredith owns 14 TV stations in addition to magazines.
The other big winner was Liz Vaccariello, editor-in-chief of Parents and related parenthood titles and websites. She’ll now be a fashionista, overseeing Vogue’s rival In Style. Two other former Time titles are also falling into her portfolio, Real Simple and Health.
Jess Cagle, editorial director of People and Entertainment Weekly, will see his fiefdom largely untouched, continuing to oversee those titles. People, even as it has wrestled with the same problems as the industry at large, remains the most profitable magazine in the country and one with a very valuable digital franchise.
Cagle had lobbied Meredith executive chairman Steve Lacy and CEO Tom Harty to not divest EW as the company sets about trimming its portfolio and integrating staff following the $2.8 billion acquisition of Time. EW had just undertaken an expensive move of its main editorial offices to Los Angeles from New York and many of its operations are already entangled with People’s.
There was no official announcement about the rejiggering of reporting lines, but a Meredith spokesman confirmed the moves.