Martha Stewart to Cut Jobs and Scale Back Publishing

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, the empire built by homemaking icon Martha Stewart, said it will scale back its publishing business to focus more on digital and video opportunities.

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The company said the move will save up to $35 million annually, in part by cutting an undisclosed number of jobs. 

It will seek a buyer for Whole Living magazine and it will turn Everyday Food magazine into an online publication with published supplements five times a year to be part of the company's flagship magazine, Martha Stewart Living.

The restructuring includes previously announced partnerships with Hulu, AOL and FremantleMedia.

"These initiatives accelerate the company's strategic plan to deliver its expert lifestyle offerings via digital, mobile and video platforms in response to strong, sustained trends in how audiences consume and engage with media content," the company said in a statement Thursday.

Shares of MSO closed 2 percent higher Thursday at $2.95 and were up another 1 percent after the closing bell. The stock is down some 45 percent, though, in the past 18 months.

"We have taken decisive action to drive the company's return to sustainable profitability, in part by reducing our costs for production and distribution and in part by creating even more engagement with our audiences, and better and more valuable opportunities for our advertisers," CEO Lisa Gersh said.