Rachael Ray’s Demand for a Delish Deal Lead to Sale of Magazine

Keep in mind that this is only a rumor, but according to Adweek, the biggest reason for Reader’s Digest Association (RDA) selling Every Day with Rachael Ray to Meredith yesterday was that Rachael Ray wanted more money. One source claimed that Ray was never happy with the amount of money she was getting from the magazine, and another said, “Rachael wanted a better deal, and they [RDA] [weren't] prepared to do it.”

Another problem was RDA’s contract with Ray, which kept the company from growing the title. “Because our agreement limited our participation to producing just a magazine, we were unable to expand the brand and its content across multiple platforms,” RDA’s CEO, Robert Guth, admitted. “Going forward, it was not a fit with our master brand strategy.”

Meredith apparently has a better deal in place as far as expanding the brand, but there’s no word on if the new contract includes more money for Ray.

How about that headline, by the way? We almost went with something that included “Sad Sammie” or “Not So Yum-O,” but ultimately went with “Delish” because it didn’t make us want to stab ourselves.

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