Meredith's Local Media Group And Southern Living Brand Partner To Create New Television Show Based On Southern Lifestyle

DES MOINES, Iowa and BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Nov. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP; www.meredith.com) – the leading media and marketing company reaching nearly 185 million American consumers every month and nearly 90 percent of U.S. millennial women – today announced that its Local Media Group will launch a new Southern Living television show starting in April 2020. It will air in all 12 of Meredith's local television markets including Atlanta, Nashville, Greenville, SC, and Mobile, AL.  

The Southern Living Show will celebrate the Southern lifestyle and cover food, home, travel, and style. The program will be hosted by Ivy Odom, the host of Southern Living's popular Hey Y'all video series on IGTV. Viewers can get a sneak preview of the new show this holiday season when Meredith's 17 television stations air four holiday-focused The Southern Living Show specials starting around Thanksgiving.

"The Southern Living Show represents another outstanding collaboration between Meredith's Local and National Media Groups," said Patrick McCreery, Local Media Group President. "Southern Living's award-winning content featuring recipes, home and gardening, and Southern culture will strike a chord with viewers all over the country."

Production of The Southern Living Show will be a joint effort between the team at Meredith's Food and Video Studios in Birmingham and WSMV-TV in Nashville. The premiere episode will debut the first weekend of April 2020. The series will feature 17 original episodes as well as four Holiday 2020 special programs.

"Southern Living has become a powerhouse brand in video, and I have no doubt that Ivy's Southern charm will appeal to viewers in all of Meredith's local markets," said Sid Evans, Editor in Chief of Southern Living magazine. "The fact that The Southern Living Show will air beyond the South in markets like Phoenix, Portland, and Hartford/New Haven speaks to the strength and relevance of the Southern Living brand as well as the continued rising popularity of the South."

With an overall audience now exceeding 25 million, the Southern Living brand is on a roll:

• With a nearly 10 percent uptick in advertising for 11 of the past 12 issues, Southern Living magazine now ranks No. 1 in its competitive set in paging, up from No. 4 just a year ago, according to Publishers Information Bureau (PIB).
• At the same time, Southern Living's print audience has grown, with an increase of more than 7 percent to 16.6 million readers, Evans said.
• Southern Living's digital audience has also surged with website traffic up 33 percent and social traffic up 28 percent.

The Southern Living Show follows the success of PeopleTV's entertainment show People Now Weekend, which is broadcast across Meredith's TV stations. Meredith's Local Media Group will launch a daily People Now broadcast in fall 2020.

ABOUT MEREDITH CORPORATION

Meredith Corporation (NYSE:MDP) (www.meredith.com) has been committed to service journalism for more than 117 years. Today, Meredith uses multiple distribution platforms—including broadcast television, print, digital, mobile and video—to provide consumers with content they desire and to deliver the messages of its advertising and marketing partners.

Meredith's Local Media Group includes 17 television stations reaching 11 percent of U.S. households and 30 million viewers. Meredith's portfolio is concentrated in large, fast-growing markets, with seven stations in the nation's Top 25 markets—including Atlanta, Phoenix, St. Louis and Portland—and 13 in the Top 50. Meredith's stations produce more than 700 hours of local news and entertainment content each week and operate leading local digital destinations. Meredith also owns MNI Targeted Media, which delivers targeted advertising solutions to more than 1,200 clients on a local, regional and national level.

Meredith's National Media Group reaches nearly 185 million unduplicated American consumers every month, including nearly 90 percent of U.S. millennial women. Meredith is a leader in creating content across media platforms and life stages in key consumer interest areas such as entertainment, food, lifestyle, parenting and home. Meredith is the No. 1 magazine operator in the U.S., and owner of the largest premium content digital network for American consumers. Meredith's leading national brands include PEOPLE, Better Homes & Gardens, InStyle, Allrecipes, REAL SIMPLE, SHAPE, Southern Living and Martha Stewart Living. Meredith also features robust brand licensing activities including more than 3,000 SKUs of branded products at 4,000 Walmart stores across the U.S. and at walmart.com. Meredith's National Media Group also includes leading affinity marketer Synapse, and The Foundry, the company's state-of-the-art creative lab and content studio.

SOURCE Meredith Corporation

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