Dr. Oz To Launch Lifestyle Print Mag With Hearst

Dr. Oz host Mehmet Oz is developing a Hearst magazine that the publisher will begin testing in first quarter 2014 with an initial print run of 800,000 copies. Earlier this month, TVNewsCheck reported that an Oz magazine was in development.

Dr. Oz was co-created by Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions and Sony Pictures Television. Hearst also publishes Winfrey’s O, The Oprah Magazine.

“Hearst has a very successful track record of partnering with unique brands and personalities to create engaging content for readers,” said David Carey, president of Hearst Magazines, in a statement. “Dr. Oz’s spirit and message clearly resonate with American women, and the time is right to translate that into a print and digital magazine that will introduce an entirely new category to the market.”

The syndicated Dr. Oz was recently renewed through 2016-17 by launch group Fox Television Stations and on 16 Hearst stations that currently air the show, including KCRA-KQCA Sacramento, Calif.; WTAE Pittsburgh; WBAL Baltimore; KCEW-KMBC Kansas City; WPBF West Palm Beach, Fla.; and KOCO Oklahoma City.

Oz is vice chair of the department of surgery at Columbia University. He is also the director of the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine program at New York’s Presbyterian Hospital.