The company plans to plug Mel Magazine into its video operations, potentially with talking head analyses and short videos. The publisher comes to Literally Media with a small preexisting video footprint of around 20 short documentaries, according to Katzeff.
Mel Magazine plans to hire a senior editorial leader, as well as a mix of three to five part- and full-time staff. Ideally, its headcount will be a combination of former Mel Magazine contributors and new, rising talent.
An ownership carousel and brand safety concerns
Literally Media will be the third owner of Mel Magazine in three years.
The publisher was originally founded in 2015 as a top-of-funnel marketing vehicle for Dollar Shave Club, during which time it had no advertising on its site and generated no reader revenue.
A change in ownership at DSC led the company to sell Mel Magazine to Recurrent Ventures in July 2021, but the arrangement proved a poor fit and Recurrent Ventures shut down the title a year later.
“Mel is a beloved brand with a history of inclusive and unique storytelling,” Recurrent Ventures CEO Andrew Perlman said in a statement. “Although it did not fit within our portfolio or go-forward strategy, we have a lot of respect for its content and legacy. We are pleased that we were able to find the right home for the brand.”
In Literally Media, Mel Magazine will have something of a homecoming. Katzeff played an integral role in helping create the original concept for the magazine when it launched at DSC. The media company also counts Josh Schollmeyer—formerly the editor in chief of Mel Magazine—as a key member of its staff, although he will play no formal role with the publisher, according to Katzeff.
Complicating its commercial prospects, Mel Magazine owes its cult readership in part to its penchant for salacious subject matter, including recent explorations of vajazzling, incel culture and strip clubs in the metaverse.
Advertiser concerns over the brand suitability of such content played a significant role in the November closure of Jezebel, and Mel Magazine will have to contend with a programmatic ecosystem in which more salacious content monetizes poorly compared with more anodyne writing.
“We are going to be spending more time growing our newsletters and direct audience in 2024,” Katzeff said. “When you package those opportunities together, it creates a more appetizing opportunity for brands in a way that Mel hadn’t done in the past.”
