Former Dennis magazine Blender to close

Alpha Media Group, the US firm that bought Maxim, Stuff and Blender magazines from Felix Dennis in 2007, has closed Blender‘s print edition in a bid to achieve more success with an online-only version of the title.

The music monthly, first launched in 2001, is due to cease publication after next month’s edition, following a 31% decline in the number of ad pages it had in 2008, according to reports.

Blender‘s closure will see the loss of 30 staff at Alpha Media Group, who has also announced plans to merge Maxim‘s print and digital editorial teams.

Maxim will remain the publishing group’s only print title and will now be headed up by former Blender editor-in-chief Joe Levy, replacing Jim Kaminsky, who is set to leave the company.

Alpha has also announced that co-chief executive Glenn Rosenbloom plans to step down, leaving remaining chief executive Stephen Duggan in charge.

The publishing company was formed following the acquisition of Dennis Publishing’s US operation in August 2007, which saw it buy the rights to the global operations of Maxim, Stuff (which is owned by Haymarket in the UK) and Blender for $240 million.

However, Alpha has since struggled and is rumoured to of broken debt covenants last year and appeared close to losing control to its creditors.