'Real Women' Elude Ad-Driven Magazines

The Hearst Corporation has just turned off the lights at Victoria and turned them on at Lifetime magazine, a brand extension of Lifetime Television, a joint venture with the Walt Disney Company.

It might seem an odd move in an industry pinched by low advertising revenues, but Hearst seems to believe its newest magazine title will make up for Victoria's lackluster performance as an advertising vehicle. Hearst said that despite Victoria's loyal readership (its circulation was a none-too-shabby 970,000), "strong advertising support has been unachievable." Advertising pays the lion's share of publishing costs, and without it, a magazine just can't make it. Clearly, Hearst -- which says its magazines are read by more U.S. adult women than those of any other monthly magazine publisher -- and its partner, Disney, are optimistic about Lifetime, subtitled "real life, real women."

The launch of Lifetime isn't editorial altruism on the part of Hearst. Women's magazines exist to deliver desirable demographics to advertisers in an appealing editorial environment compatible with the advertisers' marketing goals. When, in the advertisers' view, the editorial environment becomes dated or wears out or is outclassed by newer competition, as Victoria's seemed to be, advertiser interest wanes. The fact that hundreds of thousands of readers remain loyal to the magazine doesn't count.

Linking a magazine to a successful television channel, which provides both with cross-promotional opportunities, is a smart business move that benefits advertisers in search of the coveted 18-34 female market. The question for me is how well these readers will be served? Will Lifetime avoid perpetuating stereotypes, as so many women's magazines do? How much risk is the staff willing take to produce content about "real life, real women?"

A scan of Lifetime's first issue (April-May) and Victoria's last (June) shows interesting contrasts between the new creation and its dowager sister. The "real life, real women" concept that Lifetime espouses may represent the core idea that caused Victoria's demise after 16 years. Victoria was a little dreamy, a little precious and heavy on nostalgia. Ultimately, its content probably spoke less and less to the younger women courted by advertisers.

Bygone World of Painted Teacups

Victoria offered a world of painted teacups, old roses and what one early reader once called "the gentleness of spirit and attention to the details of living." This reader wrote that "after working eight or more hours a day with corporate men and women who look like robots, it's so refreshing to relax with a cup of herbal tea, play some classical music, and read Victoria from cover to cover again. I dress in suits, my home is contemporary and sparsely furnished, but I am Victoria at heart."

Romance, escape, photographs of ethereal, tenderly decorated homes and lush gardens -- Victoria's content seemed to open lace curtains at an exquisite country cottage. It was pleasant, visually appealing, but not very compelling. Victoria, for all its charm, lacked soul.

That's not to say that Lifetime will revolutionize the women's section of your local newsstand. It takes real guts to break away from the newsstand rack pack and innovate for women's magazine readers when advertisers, while they are enticed by "new" opportunities, also keep the pressure on editors to keep the traditional features -- around which they build marketing pitches.

Consequently, Lifetime retains the menu of many women's magazines: silly horoscopes, the diet du jour, adoring profiles of celebrities (the premiere issue featured the recording artist Faith Hill on the cover, dressed casually but in a pose echoing another Hearst title, Cosmo). It also has a feature called "Dream Decoder," in which a Ph.D. explains why that hot dream about the actor Matt Damon could mean that you crave more sexual attention from your man. This is the sort of adolescent drivel I'd expect to see in Teen or some other magazine directed to the youth market, but not in one that says it's about "real life, real women." There are also retread health items, a poll about sex lives and a quiz to determine the reader's emotional age. It's all standard women's magazine fare, with the usual message that women need fixing.