Cutbacks, Sell-off and Slide Continues at Martha Stewart

By Paul Pannone

The year isn’t starting off well for Media Queen, Martha Stewart. According to the New York Post the Hallmark Channel is dumping Martha’s show in April, citing poor ratings. In the Post story Martha may have lost her golden touch, upsetting other partners in deals that conflict with other arrangements.

Got canceled? Throw a party! According to the Post story sources, Martha’s TV family is planning a lavish Oprah-style send off for the program.

In October eWedNewz learned of cutbacks at Martha Stewart that, according to sources, are part of an ongoing process to trim costs and raise profitability. A company spokesperson corrected the eWNz story that said 60 people were losing their jobs saying the number was much less (40) but did acknowledge the job losses.

In December Martha Stewart sold their stake in Wedding Wire realizing a hefty profit from the sale to an investment company called Catalyst. Martha Stewart bought the shares in Wedding Wire before the 2008 crash that nearly halted wedding spending. Sources familiar with the story say the company wanted to sell the shares for some time before the deal with Catalyst.

The Martha Stewart company did not respond to a request for a statement by the time this story released.

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