Ad pages at Conde Nast down nearly a third

Architectural Digest fared worst, where a hair shy of 50% of the ad pages were chopped. W and Condé Nast Traveler posted ad page losses of greater than 40%, as well. Wired and Details saw ad pages fall by 39%. But, there were some successes and non-failures. From December 2008 to 2009, Traveler's pages were only down 5.4%, which probably means that that major losses had been absorbed before then. For the year, Brides ad pages fell 18.6%, and Self was off 23.2%. Glamour was the lone success, with a gain of 5.4% for December, while revealing a 17.7% drop for the year.

The last issue of the year has been particularly vexing for Details and W, where ad pages are down 49.2% and 59.5%, respectively.

The New York Times did not report ad page results at Vanity Fair, but the magazine was ordered to cut 5% of its staff, which was done while Graydon Carter was virtually in hiding, enjoying the trappings of his position while those losing their jobs had no luxury on which to fall back. Earlier this year, the magazines were ordered to slash 5% of their headcount, but Carter essentially ignored the order, making the recent cuts necessary.

Condé Nast struggled largely because of its advertisers, which tend to fall into the luxury market. Other publishers, however, haven't suffered as severely, thanks to a broader base of advertisers. Hearst, which hasn't released its full-year results, did indicate that its ad pages fell 27.3% through the third quarter.

Falling ad pages mean that cuts are necessary, and every corner of the industry has been responding this way. Time Warner (TWX), New York Times Co. (NYT) and many others have been trimming fat, muscle and bone to preserve as much profit as possible, but it's a losing game. Eventually, thresholds will be hit at which basic services can't be delivered cost-effectively (e.g., you can't cut all of IT or HR). And, there's never been a company that's cut its way to growth. Without revenue gains -- or at least a very thick bandage for the bleeding -- the print media industry may see more disasters next year.