Magazines
Martha shows how to clean house
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Apr 22, 2009 - 8:24:21 AM

Through the years, Martha Stewart has attracted great talents to her publishing empire, but some stays are shorter than others, and the stay for co-CEO Wenda Harris Millard is now over.

She's out as of yesterday, on to a new venture, after reportedly squabbling with Stewart over the direction of the company at a point when ad pages for Martha Stewart Living are on a downward skid, along with those of so many other consumer titles.

Millard, a longtime media executive, joined the company less than two years ago from Yahoo, where she headed ad sales. She leaves MSLO to become president of Media Link, a media consulting firm.

The split comes as little surprise. Reports of the clash of personalities had been circulating for months.

The move puts Stewart even more at the center of MSLO operations while leaning out the company's top ranks.

Millard had shared the title of co-chief executive officer with Robin Marino, with Millard overseeing MSLO media operations and Marino in charge of merchandising.

Also in the command structure, along with Stewart herself: Charles Koppelman, with the title of executive chairman.

By all accounts it was an unwieldy arrangement, and with Millard gone, her position will not be filled. Koppelman will now oversee media. But as chief creative officer, Stewart will also be more involved.

MSLO is now running in the red after several strong years following Stewart’s release from prison for lying to federal investigators over a stock transaction where she was suspected of trading on insider information.

Ad pages for Martha Stewart Living were down 37 percent in the first quarter versus the year-earlier period, and it was the steepest decline of any of women's service titles (See chart, below).

Overall, that category performed well compared to so many others, with pages down some 13 percent when others saw page declines of 20 percent and 30 percent.

This is second major departure from MSLO.

Less than a year ago, Susan Lyne left after presiding over MSLO’s long turnaround following Stewart's release from prison. An able executive, Lyne at one point had served as entertainment president at ABC.