O, The Oprah Magazine, also known simply as O, is a monthly magazine published in the United States that was founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. Oprah Winfrey, also known as Oprah Gail Winfrey, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her Chicago-based talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, which aired in national syndication for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011. She was the richest African-American of the twentieth century, the world’s only black billionaire, and the greatest black philanthropist in U.S. history. By 2007, she was regarded as the most powerful woman on the planet.
Hearst Communications, Inc., or simply Hearst, is an American multinational media and business information conglomerate headquartered in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hearst owns the San Francisco Chronicle, the Houston Chronicle, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire, among other publications. In collaboration with The Walt Disney Company, it owns 50% of the A&E Networks cable network group and 20% of the ESPN sports cable network group. The conglomerate also owns Fitch Ratings and First Databank, both of which provide business information. William Randolph Hearst founded the company as a newspaper owner, and the Hearst family is still involved in its ownership and management.
On April 19, 2000, it was first published. As of June 2004, its average paid circulation was over 2.7 million copies, with subscriptions accounting for two-thirds of the total. The South African edition was first published in April 2002, with an average readership of over 300,000 according to the South African Advertising Research Foundation. Samantha Page is the South African edition’s editor. While most magazines in the United States saw a drop in sales in 2009, O Magazine increased its newsstand sales by 5.8 percent to 662,304 copies in the second half of the year. During the first half of 2010, O’s newsstand sales fell 15.8%, while subscription circulation increased and sales fell 8.2% in the second half of the year.
Oprah appeared on the cover of every issue of O from its inception until the September 2020 edition. The first cover with someone else on it is that of the April 2009 issue, which features Oprah alongside First Lady Michelle Obama. The second shared cover is with fellow daytime host Ellen DeGeneres in the December 2009 issue, for which four separate covers were shot. For the first time in the magazine’s 20-year history, the cover of the September 2020 issue featured someone other than Oprah. Breonna Taylor, a young woman killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky, was featured in this edition.
The magazine’s readership is made up of 63.6% white women, 29.8% African-American women, 8.8% Hispanic women, 1.8% Asian women, and 6.6% other women. It’s aimed at people with a median age of 47.9, a median home value of $214,281, a median HHI of $68,911, and an IEI of $38,756. O Magazine announced in July 2020 that it would cease regular print publication after the December 2020 issue. The issue included an article in which Oprah thanked readers and stated that it was the “final monthly print edition.” of O.
The December 2010 issue was the first to be released digitally via the magazine’s iPad app. The app includes exclusive Oprah videos, allows readers to preview and purchase books featured in the magazine’s Reading Room and O List sections, and allows users to purchase monthly or yearly subscriptions. Individual issues are also available for download via the app. Susan Casey took over as editor-in-chief of the magazine in July 2009. She was Time Inc.’s development editor before joining. Casey previously worked as the editor-in-chief of Sports Illustrated Women, the editor-at-large for Time Inc., and the creative director of Outside. Casey is the author of The Devil’s Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America’s Great White Sharks (2005) and The Wave. In September 2009. Sara Nelson, former Publishers Weekly editor-in-chief, was hired as books editor at O in September 2009. Lucy Kaylin was promoted to editor-in-chief in May 2013, succeeding Susan Casey.
The oversized magazine capitalized on the success of Winfrey’s popular talk show with a mix of motivational stories, inspirational quotes, book reviews, and intimate celebrity interviews. With a circulation of over two million, O outsold top American women’s magazines within months of its launch in 2000. The monthly publication was named the best start-up magazine and one of the best magazines of 2001 in 2001. By 2008, O had a readership of more than 16 million people. The first international edition was published in South Africa in 2002, and a quarterly sister publication, O at Home, was introduced in 2004; however, it was discontinued in 2008. The magazine highlighted personal growth and empowerment but also included articles on fashion, fitness, food, and relationships. Winfrey’s close involvement with the publication inspired its editorial content and shaped all aspects of its design.
