Martha Stewart Living to downsize magazines, cut jobs
BY AP Wire Service
Friday, November 02, 2012
11/02/12 at 3:56 AM
NEW YORK (AP) - Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. is downsizing its magazines and will cut publishing jobs as it increasingly focuses on online video and other digital content.
The lifestyle, media and merchandising company said Thursday that the move could save it $33 to $35 million per year. It did not say how many employees are being eliminated, and a message was not immediately returned.
Martha Stewart will stop publishing its monthly Everyday Food magazine as a standalone publication, instead periodically wrapping it into the company's flagship Martha Stewart Living magazine. It will make Everyday Food content available on the company's website, a YouTube channel and through a daily video newsletter.
The company will also seek to sell its Whole Living health and lifestyle magazine. If the magazine cannot be sold, its content may also be incorporated into other company products.
Print magazines are the company's largest business division, accounting for 64 percent of total sales in 2011. The cutbacks announced Thursday will leave the company with its flagship magazine and the quarterly publication, Martha Stewart Weddings.
Company executives previously highlighted the weakness of the company's publishing segment. Revenue from print publications fell 16 percent to $28.8 million in the company's last quarter.
Original Print Headline: Stewart Living to downsize magazines
