• by October 10, 2003

CURSE OF THE ONION -- You've heard of the Sports Illustrated curse, which as several MediaPost staffers have pointed out, is alive as ever. But here's another for your consideration: The curse of The Onion. Two weeks ago, the satirical newspaper published a faux opinion piece by Roy Horn, one half of Las Vegas showmen Siegfried & Roy. The piece was titled "Thank You, But That Was Siegfried's Idea," positing that Horn has little to do with the success of the show. The issue appeared at newsstands the week before Horn was mauled by an animal on stage and critically injured.

MARTHA SLIMS DOWN, THE MAGAZINE, NOT THE DEFENDANT -- First they began downplaying the name Martha Stewart and now Omnimedia is going to downplay its circulation rate base. For the first time since Martha Stewart Living began publishing 12 years ago, the magazine will lower its rate base, due to declining readership. Effective with the January 2004 issue, the magazine will shave half a million copies from its base, dropping to a circulation of 1.8 million from 2.3 million currently. While circulation base downsizing is not all that rare among big circulation titles these days, other publishers including Reader's Digest and Atlantic Monthly that have made such cuts said they were doing so as a proactive move to improve the quality of their rate bases, not as a result of declining readership. Coupled with Martha Stewart's personal woes and the declining advertising revenues of her magazine and TV properties, the latest development smells like more blood in the water. On the bright side, her legal defense against federal charges of insider trading and obstruction of justice is looking a lot stronger than it had been.

BIG APPLE GOES BIG MEDIA -- New York City has never exactly been peevish about exploiting a good marketing or media opportunity, but lately the Big Apple is looking more like Big Media. First the city cut a concessions/sponsorship deal with Snapple to be the official beverage of the New York. Then it introduced a brand new ad medium - ads on trash receptacles -- in midtown locations, and now the City Council has approved plans to introduce 300 new sidewalk newsstands in Manhattan that will feature display advertising. Next week, the council is expected to vote to award a franchise to a company to design, install and maintain as many as 4,000 advertising-based street structures, from pay toilets and bus shelters to trash cans.