NEW WOMAN AT WOMAN’S DAY: By the end of last year, it seemed as though Hearst was done with its editor shuffle, but it appears a few more changes were in the works. Elizabeth Mayhew has resigned as editor in chief of Woman’s Day. She will be succeeded by All You executive editor Susan Spencer. Mayhew, who took the helm at Woman’s Day in January 2010, stayed with the title during the transition of ownership, from Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. to Hearst Magazines, while former publisher Carlos Lamadrid left shortly thereafter. “We’ve admired the success of All You at Time Inc. and once we had a chance to meet [Spencer] we were confident,” said Hearst president David Carey, who added no dramatic changes are planned at the magazine. “Don’t expect us to make a sharp right turn here,” he said. In July, when Hearst took over Woman’s Day, Carey decided to lower its rate base to 3.25 million (which went into effect this month) and decrease frequency to 12 times from 15 times a year.
The title has had a rough start to 2012 in terms of ad pages, down 18 percent through the February issue, according to Media Industry Newsletter. Newsstand has fared better so far, according to a spokeswoman, who said the January issue could be up 22 percent.