Conde Nast Shuts Down Portfolio --- In Ad Downturn, Publisher Opts Not to Prop Up Glossy Business Magazine
Conde Nast Publications Inc. absorbed nearly two decades of losses at the New Yorker. On Monday, it pulled the plug on Portfolio magazine after less than two years.</br></br>The closure of the monthly business glossy shows how profoundly the advertising downturn has shifted the paradigm at Conde Nast, a publisher with a reputation for operating less out of concern for profit than the cachet its slate of prestigious titles conferred. The recession has accelerated the erosion of advertising across print media, including at Conde Nast's newspaper and magazine properties that for years helped prop up its unprofitable but respected titles. Executives at Conde Nast determined the next 18 months will be too difficult to continue investing in Portfolio.</br></br>"Editorially, we were proud of the product and the team that produced it," said David Carey, group president of a collection of Conde Nast titles that includes Portfolio. "But our timing, in terms of building an advertising franchise, proved to be terrible."</br></br>That Si Newhouse, chairman of Conde Nast's parent, closely held Advance Publications Inc., and perhaps the biggest champion of its most prestigious titles, was willing to cut his losses with a publication in which he was so heavily invested could signal more dramatic change both at his publishing house and others.</br></br>A spokeswoman for Conde Nast, publisher of titles including Glamour, Vogue and Vanity Fair, said, "At this time, we do not foresee further changes to our lineup of titles."