NEW YORK, June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — American Media, Inc. (AMI), the leading publisher of celebrity journalism and health and fitness magazines in the United States, announced today that it has purchased the U.S. edition of OK! Magazine from Northern & Shell. Terms were not disclosed. The announcement was made by David J. Pecker, AMI Chairman, President and CEO.

OK! Magazine, which will relocate to AMI’s new headquarters at 4 New York Plaza from its current location, was launched in the U.S. in 2005 and quickly established itself in the celebrity weekly category. OK!, which will remain “the magazine the stars trust,” has a weekly circulation of 800,000 copies and a readership of 6.6 million.

“OK! Magazine is a very important strategic acquisition for AMI, as it increases our market share in newsstand unit sales from 30% to 36%,” said Mr. Pecker. “It also allows us to offer our advertisers a wider range of celebrity coverage than any single publication or group of titles from any publisher.”

The acquisition provides significant benefits to AMI advertisers by providing increasingly diverse demographics of the readers of its roster of magazines; OK! has a median readership age of 29, the youngest readership in the celebrity category. OK!, combined with AMI’s Star magazine, delivers a circulation of 1.6 million, with a readership of almost 17 million (25% greater than Us Weekly).

The strength of the OK! brand also extends to the web. OKMagazine.com has been averaging 2.9 million unique visitors and 9.4 million page views per month. Combined with AMI owned RadarOnline.com, the fastest growing celebrity site, and StarMagazine.com, the three sites will reach close to 10 million unique visitors per month and over 50 million page views.

AMI’s other related brands include Star, National Enquirer, Country Weekly, TV Guide, Soap Opera Digest and Soap Opera Weekly. Adding OK! to the mix creates the largest celebrity & entertainment news group in the industry, with a total audience of close to 40 million people.

About American Media, Inc.

American Media, Inc. is the leading publisher of celebrity journalism and health and fitness magazines in the U.S. These include Star, Shape, Men’s Fitness, Fit Pregnancy, Natural Health, and The National Enquirer. In addition to print properties, AMI manages 14 different web sites. The company also owns Distribution Services, Inc., the country’s #1 in-store magazine merchandising company.

SOURCE American Media, Inc.