• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, February 16, 2007

As part of a larger slimming initiative at parent company MTV Networks, Nick Jr. Family Magazine is closing after its April issue, Editor in Chief Freddi Greenberg announced in an email to staff on Thursday. The news follows a grueling year where the title saw ad pages plummet 19.4% to 413, and rate-card revenue tumble 12.4% to $31.6 million, according to year-end figures from the Publishers Information Bureau. Meanwhile, the Audit Bureau of Circulation's FAS-FAX report for the second half of 2006 have Nick Jr.'s newsstand sales dropping 47.3% compared to 2005, to 6,370--although subs rose 12.7% to 632,339.

This isn't necessarily the end of a Nickelodeon print presence, according to Greenberg, who wrote that "plans are in the works for Nickelodeon to publish a magazine just for kids and several of my staff members who you've met over the years will be working on that project."

Getting parents out of the picture may improve the planned magazine's prospects: Nick Jr. was essentially a parenting magazine targeting mothers during a prolonged slump for parenting titles. According to PIB, American Baby's ad pages dropped 8.3% in 2006 compared to 2005, Child's sank 15.2%, Parenting plunged 20.1%, and Scholastic Parent & Child was down 12.1% (on the bright side, Family Circle is up 8.9%, and Parents is hanging tough with a modest 1.6% decline).

Among titles targeting kids, Sports Illustrated's SI for Kids is cruising with a 5.3% increase in ad pages in 2006 compared to 2005. But targeting younger readers is no guarantee of success. Nickelodeon--Nick Jr.'s sister title that actually targets kids--saw ad pages fall 14.7% compared to 2005, ending at 359, while rate card revenue sank 10.4% to about $25 million.

Dolce Leaves Star, as Trunzo's Is Rising

Joe Dolce is leaving Star Magazine after three years as editor in chief as of April 1st, to be replaced by Candace Trunzo, previously the editor in chief of Globe and senior executive editor of the National Enquirer, both owned by Star's parent company American Media Inc. Trunzo led editorial teams that covered big celebrity stories at both publications, including controversial coverage of the Kobe Bryant rape case and Paula Abdul's indiscretions with a male contestant on American Idol.

Trunzo will report to Bonnie Fuller, resuming a long professional relationship. In an email to AMI employees, corporate boss David Pecker thanked Dolce "for all his efforts and contributions towards Star's successful transition from tabloid to glossy magazine over the past three years." Pecker also touted Trunzo's "long record of accomplishments across AMI."

The announcement follows a hard year for Star, which is facing off with cookie-cutter tabloid-style mags on the newsstand including Bauer Publishing's In Touch and Life & Style. In 2006 Star's ad pages increased 4.6% compared to 2005 according to PIB--but that pales in comparison to In Touch, which jumped 35.8%, as well as Life & Style, which grew 17.5%. Star's overall rate-card revenue figures still beat both Bauer titles combined--but it's unclear whether these figures correspond to actual financial results, as magazines sometimes sell pages at a discount.

MSLO Names Wilkins Publisher of Blueprint, Weddings

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. announced this week that Amy Wilkins had been named vice president and publisher of two titles, Blueprint and Martha Stewart Weddings. In these capacities Wilkins will work closely with MSLO's Internet arm to coordinate digital and print sales. Blueprint and Martha Stewart Weddings are two of MSLO's hottest titles, defying gravity in a hard print environment: according to PIB, in 2006 Martha Stewart Weddings enjoyed 14.6% growth in ad pages, while in the second half of 2006 ABC circulation numbers have newsstand sales rising a healthy 6.8%. Just launched last year, Blueprint is not listed in either report, but is said to have attracted substantial advertiser interest.

Deal Intros Standard-Size Mag, E-Newsletter

The Deal LLC is shrinking slightly, but just in physical terms. Launched in November 2002 as an oversized weekly, the magazine is slimming down as it ups its circulation to 50,000 by June 2007. The magazine is also launching a twice-weekly newsletter in HTML format, drawing on content from the print mag's feature stories and columns.