Cairo Editore shuts five historic magazines, including Airone and Antiquariato

Cairo Editore, the publishing group founded by Urbano Cairo, has announced the closure of five historic magazines effective March 2024: Airone, Antiquariato, Bell’Europa, For Man, and In Viaggio. The decision, communicated to union representatives on January 16, was attributed to the ongoing crisis in the publishing sector. The magazines, many of which originated from Editoriale Giorgio Mondadori, will cease publication without any relaunch or online migration. The group, which also owns television channels La7 and La7d and the Torino football club, reported consolidated gross revenues of €828.8 million for the first nine months of 2023. However, AgCom data showed a decline of 11.8% in print sales for major national newspapers in the same period compared to 2022, and 38.8% compared to 2019. The closure marks the first restructuring plan in Cairo Editore's history, including layoffs and early retirement schemes. The editorial committee expressed shock and concern, though the company stated it would attempt to reassign all redundant staff. Notably, the historic art magazine Arte, also part of the group, remains in publication. The move reflects the broader Italian publishing crisis, highlighted last year by John Elkann's statements about selling Repubblica and other Gedi group titles.