Country Home to cease operations as Meredith slashes jobs

Posted Jan 9th 2009 2:51PM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Magazines, Employees

Meredith Corp. (NYSE: MDP) announced yesterday that take a $16 million one-time charge in the second quarter of 2009. According to the press release, "The charge includes the cost of a companywide workforce reduction of approximately 250 employees; the closing of Country Home magazine, effective with the March 2009 issue; and relocating the creative functions of the ReadyMade brand and Parents.com to Des Moines."

The company cited the recession's impact on advertising revenue as the driving force behind the cutbacks. The end of Country Home isn't exactly shocking. I subscribed to the magazine via a special online offer where you could get one year for free -- We wrote it up on WalletPop back in May. The home decor magazine market seems to be extremely crowded and Country Home had very little to distinguish itself from a dozen or so similar publications.

The cutbacks were announced in the middle of the trading day yesterday and didn't seem to elicit any particular reaction from traders.

The cyclical decline in advertising revenue and the secular move toward free online content have not been kind to magazines. US News & World Report and Men's Vogue have cut back on the number of issues. It seems likely that more magazines will follow in their footsteps as advertisers and consumers cut back.

Tags: inthenews, MDP, Meredith Corp., MeredithCorp.