Vs.

Those fickle advertisers.... If you want to have a sense of what it feels like to have your empire slowly trickle away (well, maybe not so slowly) take a look at this month's Martha Stewart Living and compare it to Real Simple. We were a little shocked to notice how much Living has shrunk in the past few months -- it has started to resemble a svelte weekly, while Real Simple looks bulked up on steroids.

Here are the facts:

Thickness
Martha - 1/4 inch
Real S. - 1/2 inch
Total pages:
Martha - 160
Real S. - 300
Typical Ad:
Martha - Dodge Minivan, Australian wine
Real S. - Ralph Lauren, Estee Lauder
Ad pages before table of contents:
Martha - 9
Real S. - 23

We regret this demise and hope that Martha and her team pull this one out. Why? Because Living is still, hands down, a better magazine than its imitators. MGR