Hearst, Conde Nast Want Publishers to Join Venture

Advertising Age: With long-term trends exerting downward pressure on magazines’ ad-page sales and newsstand appeal, Hearst and Conde Nast said last week that they had formed a joint venture to handle back-office operations such as production, procurement and circulation. The competitors and now collaborators hope not only to cut their own costs but to attract other publishers as customers as well.