Reader's Digest annouces March launch of new women's magazine, Best Health

Reader's Digest Magazines Canada Limited is to launch a new magazine in March aimed at the heart of the biggest, fattest and most crowded category in Canadian publishing -- magazines aimed at women. The new magazine will be called Best Health and it will be targetting women, 35 to 55. That means it will be going up against such heavyweight titles as Canadian Living, Chatelaine, Homemaker's and More magazines, not to mention the books like Fashion, Flare and Elle Canada.

Larry Thomas, the president of Reader's Digest in Montreal, told Masthead magazine (sub req'd) that reaction from the advertising community and newsstand distributors has been "extremely positive" and the magazine tested well with consumers. He says that the subject area gives RD an edge:

“There’s room to grow,” he says. “Obviously there is a competitive environment out there. We will be looking to generate some dollars from not just other magazines, but other media as well…But we think there is a strong interest in this particular subject and I think that [advertisers] are interested in being in the environment we’re going to offer."

First issue circulation is to be 100,000 and the cover price on the launch issue 1 will be $3.99 ($4.99 thereafter). A subscriber will pay $30.96 (including $5.99 for postage and handling). The key rate for an ad page is $10,000.

In 2004, RD (which itself has 920,000 circulation in English and 244,000 in French) branched out from its flagship magazine with a new magazine called Our Canada. The largely reader-written publication started out with 100,000 circulation and is now at about 300,000.