EatingWell Magazine to end print publication

February 23, 2022·Darcie

Another longstanding culinary magazine is moving to digital-only. Dotdash Meredith, which publishes EatingWell, announced that effective immediately, that magazine along with Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, Health, Parents and People en Español, would cease print publications. The April issues will be the last print magazines to hit newsstands.

According to Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel, this announcement should not come as a shock. “We have said from the beginning, buying Meredith was about buying brands, not magazines or websites," he said in a memo to staff. "It is not news to anyone that there has been a pronounced shift in readership and advertising from print to digital, and as a result, for a few important brands, print is no longer serving the brand’s core purpose. As such, we are going to move to a digital-only future for these brands, which will help us to unlock their full potential."

As the majority of consumers now get their news and other information via electronic means, whether on a phone, tablet, or computer, we can probably expect more magazines to follow suit. While cookbook sales still seem to be going strong, magazine sales are not as robust. A few publications appear to be bucking the trend such as Bake From Scratch, but I expect the trend of a digital-only model to expand to more magazines. I find that while I dig into my cookbooks on a daily basis, I tend to use the online editions of magazines much more than their physical counterparts.

10 comments

RinshinFebruary 23, 2022

This is true with the exception of Milk Street, Cook’s Country, Fine cooking, and Cuisine at Home. These I read cover to cover. Not so with others.

mjesFebruary 23, 2022

From prior experience, for myself the switch to online only means I no longer read it. Not to mention that many of my cooking magazines are impulse purchases where the cover referred a recipe or ingredient of personal interest.

rileyFebruary 24, 2022

I loved receiving my favorite magazines once a month. Read them, take a second look at favorite sections. I don't like online magazines and don't read any of them now. So many people will never know the enjoyment of sitting in a comfortable chair with a new issue of a favorite magazine and have a leisurely read.

Aggie92February 24, 2022

Very disappointed about this. I still have a year and a half left on my print subscription. Some of that is from the demise of Cooking Light and it being folded into Eating Well. Sigh. Not a huge fan of digital magazines.
Now to wait for Meredith to move Fine Cooking to digital only, or kill it off altogether.

lean1February 24, 2022

Milk Street is the only magazine I read. The rest have declined in recent years. After Gourmet folded things went downhill.
I won't read them on line either.

breakthroughcFebruary 24, 2022

This makes me very sad. I like the magazine and don’t like online magazines. I came to Eating Well when they ended by Cooking Light subscription abruptly. I will enjoy my cooking magazines as long as they last.

MarsalunaFebruary 24, 2022

This makes me sad. I like to have a magazine in my hand and read it in bed. I still have several months left in a print subscription. Do they say what will happen with print subscribers?

mharrimanFebruary 24, 2022

I’m having a hard time keeping up! Like other EYB subscribers, I started receiving Eating Well Magazine when Cooking light stopped publishing. Now Cooking Light has come back as a print quarterly magazine and Eating well is going digital. I’m disappointed.
I like looking through a printed magazine. It’s relaxing to browse through, and it’s easier for me to take a magazine to the kitchen than fiddling with my iPad.
It’s interesting that I learned about the switch here and not from Eating Well/ Meredith.

ShelmarFebruary 27, 2022

I am not a fan of digital content. I want paper that once I buy it stays on my shelf if recipes look good. I do not like having to touch a device to keep a recipe open.

jmcmanigalMarch 31, 2022

I love print magazines and enjoy tearing out recipes to try. The digital reading experience is ok for books, but not magazines. Plus, I do not want my greasy fingers and stove splatter anywhere near my laptop or tablet! Very disappointing to not have a health-focused cooking magazine any more. When Meredith notified me I chose the refund. I don't want any of their other publications.