With the ad economy shaky at best, and magazine ad pages taking a serious tumble, the question on the minds of many is when one or more of the celebrity titles will toss it in and fold.

It's not a new question. The field has been overcrowded for several years at least, and media buyers have been predicting a shakeout for nearly as long.

But now the sense is that the shakeout is due. That's according to a survey of media planners and buyers Media Life posted last week.

Asked if they saw a shakeout coming, 85 percent thought so, believing that the field is overcrowded. That's up from 81 percent in a similar poll taken last year.

Nearly half, 46 percent, see it coming within the next six months, with 23 percent seeing it coming even sooner, and 21 percent seeing it coming in the next nine months.

The odds-on favorite to go first is Bauer's Life & Style, at 63 percent of respondents.

No other title comes even close. No. 2, at 21 percent, was OK!

Life & Style saw a 51 percent decline in ad pages in the first three months of the year, the worst decline in the category, which as a whole was down 19 percent. OK! was the one title to see an increase in ad pages, up 22 percent.

Readers were divided on what qualities would most determine which titles survived, but offered the choice of one or more, their first choice was editorial quality.

More than half, 53 percent, agreed with this statement: "Editorial quality is No. 1. In these hard times, the less well-done titles are at risk of losing readers, and advertisers will follow."

Next, at 42 percent, came: "A smart internet strategy that allows the print title and the web site to play off each other to the benefit of both."

Right behind that, at 41 percent, was: "Deep corporate pockets. In the end, it's a survival game, and all the players know this."

Fourth, at 30 percent, was: "Scoops. Titles that get the breaks on stories will survive and those that don't will lose. Readers will decide."

And fifth at 24 percent was: "Ad sales moxie. These magazines are all pretty much alike, so the challenge is really in how well they are explained and sold to advertisers."

Most media buyers and planners do not see ad pages returning to the category anytime soon.

The largest share, 41 percent, agreed with this statement: "No, and not anytime over the next year either, unless some titles start getting weeded out. The category is just too crowded in a weak economy."

And 23 percent agreed with this statement: "No, not with the way the economy is shaping up, though these titles are hardly alone in their woes."

What's the best strategy for survival in this internet age? In depth coverage appears to be the answer, media people believe.

Some 39 percent agreed with this statement: "Become more feature-oriented, following stories broken on the internet by concentrating on a smaller aspect of the story or building on it for what they used to refer to in newspapers as second-day leads."

Some 26 percent chose: "Increased interplay between their web sites and magazine," while 20 percent chose: "Follow the lead of financial and sports magazines, which have perfected the art of general features and in-depth storytelling."