Time Inc. Confirms 'Life' Launch

By: Jennifer Saba Time Inc. confirmed today that Life magazine is coming back as a newspaper supplement. The official debut is slated for October.

Peter Costiglio, spokesperson for Time, would not go into specifics of deals penned with newspapers, but he did say that many papers would be allowed to continue to distribute other magazines on Sunday.

Marcia Bullard, president and CEO of USA Weekend, told E&P earlier today that a Life launch will be a good thing for the industry. "It brings attention to the category which is very powerful and has a lot of clout in terms of advertising reach," she said.

Time has already inked deals with more than 50 newspapers totaling 12 million in circulation. The weekend magazine will run in the Friday editions of several Tribune Co., McClatchy Co. and Knight Ridder papers including the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Newsday of Melville, N.Y., The Philadelphia Inquirer and the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News. The New York Daily News will also carry the magazine. (Last week the New York Post announced that Parade will run in its Sunday edition.)

The revamped magazine will draw on its heritage of photography and feature stories. "It will be very topical, though not a news magazine," said Costiglio.

Life's launch will ratchet up the competition for readership but most certainly for advertisers in a category that includes Advance Publications' Parade and Gannett Co.'s USA Weekend.

USA Weekend, which runs in 600 papers, does not require exclusivity; that is, papers that choose to carry USA Weekend can carry other magazines too. And the papers have a choice as to what day -- Friday, Saturday or Sunday -- to carry the magazine. Eighty-five percent of papers run the magazine in its Sunday edition.

Parade distributes to about 330 papers, often with larger circulation. "We welcome them to the field," said Randy Siegel, publisher of Parade.

Costiglio said Time was interested in the newspapers because they "provide an efficient way to distribute a premium magazine." He would not say how many or which advertisers have expressed interest in the new publication, nor would he comment on staffing plans.