Mark Pasetsky, the former Life & Style editor who since last fall has been helming Richard Desmond’s struggling OK! magazine is no longer top dog at the British import, a rep confirms. Having been missing from the office for most of last week, the official word came down to staffers today. At the moment, Pasetsky is remaining on staff as managing editor, but Richard Spencer, the former In Touch editor who surprised many by leaving abruptly this summer, has been tapped to replace him in the top spot. His noncompete clause, we hear, expired on Friday.
OK! Hires Richard Spencer as Editor-in-Chief
New York (October 4, 2010) - OK! Magazine is pleased to announce the hiring of Richard Spencer as the Editor-in-Chief of its U.S. edition. Spencer will oversee all day-to-day management of the weekly magazine’s editorial side.
Spencer brings almost two decades of executive experience to OK! and was most recently the Creator and Editor-in-Chief of In Touch Weekly. Prior to that he was the Editor-in-Chief of Twist Magazine, Creator/Editor-in-Chief of J-14, Creator/Editor-in-Chief of Life Story Magazine and Editor-in-Chief of Soap Opera Update.
“My goal is to enhance content, create sales growth and continuously exceed the expectations of our readers,” says Spencer. “I’m excited about the opportunity to do that with the committed ownership and staff here at OK!.”
“We’re thrilled to have Richard leading the team here,” says Paul Ashford, Group Editorial Director, Northern & Shell. “He clearly brings the kind of experience that can build on the progress we’ve made in our first five years and push our editorial product to the next level.”
OK!’s total audience increased 26% over last year’s and stands at 7,357,000, as recently reported in the GfK 2010 MRI Spring Report. In contrast, total magazine readership across the industry increased only 0.9% during the same period. OK! also reaches the highest concentration of women age 18-34 out of all leading women’s magazines, and its median age of 28.3 is the youngest of all celebrity weekly magazines. Ad pages continue to grow for OK! in 2010, with a 21% increase YTD through the October 5, 2010 Issue.*
About OK! Magazine:
