Hearst’s decision to launch a magazine based on home-improvement television network HGTV seems to be paying off. Last April, the publisher announced that it would be releasing two test issues of HGTV Magazine in October and January. Now, with Hearst printing additional copies of last month’s magazine, it looks like the title could be a big hit.
According to the New York Post, Hearst has so far sold 200,000 of the original 350,000 copies of October’s HGTV Magazine that it sent to retail outlets. Despite the fact that the magazine hasn’t even gotten the go-ahead to continue publishing past January, Hearst has received subscription orders for an additional 215,000 copies.
To deal with the huge demand, Hearst has decided to print a second run of 135,000 copies of its latest magazine, which the Post calls an “unusual step.”
“We’re very pleased with the initial response and look forward to publishing our second test issue in January,” said Hearst Magazines president David Carey, who likened HGTV Magazine’s initial success to the launch of Food Network Magazine. “We’ll have enough data in house by March to determine next steps.”
