Industry Moves: Hachette's Matarazzo Departs As Men's Enthusiast Group Director
This story was written by David Kaplan.
As Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S continues to look for a buyer for its Enthusiast titles, publishing vet Nick Matarazzo is leaving the company as EVP, Group Publishing Director, Men's Enthusiast Network (M.E.N.). Matarazzo has been with the mag company for about 28 years. In a statement, Hachette CEO Alain Lemarchand said that he and Matarazzo "mutually agreed" on the exec's departure. His post will not be filled.
In January 2008, Matarazzo added the title of EVP/integrated sales and marketing to his duties at the head of the M.E.N., which houses such titles as Car and Driver, Road & Track, Popular Photography & Imaging, American Photo and Boating. The exit of this high profile exec could mean that Hachette is close to selling the Enthusiast mags. According to the Publishers Information Bureau's Q1 numbers, many of those titles suffered double digit declines in ad pages, very much in line with the industry's challenges. Hachette figures by concentrating on its stronger titles like Elle and Woman's Day, it can arrest the costs and offer a less varied brand image to advertisers in general.
By David Kaplan