Business

Martha losing show, Home Depot dumps paint

“The Martha Stewart Show,” the domestic diva’s flagship TV property, is to close at the end of the broadcast season in April — a victim of poor ratings, The Post has learned.

Hallmark Channel, its current home, has informed Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia that the economics of the show in its current form just don’t work anymore, given the sparse audience.

Handed the discouraging news, Martha’s TV family is planning a lavish Oprah-style send off for the program, according to sources close to the situation.

Part of the problem for the show is the sky-high production costs. Last month, Lisa Gersh, president of MSLO, seemed to acknowledge that precise issue.

“Our expensive studio lease is expiring next year, and we will either bring television in-house or find lower cost space, which will significantly reduce our TV operating margins,” Gersh told a UBS investor conference.

A spokeswoman for MSLO told The Post that “The Martha Stewart Show” and the entire programming block, which includes “Emeril’s Table,” “Mad Hungry” with Lucinda Scala Quinn, and “Martha Bakes,” will continue at least through September.

“We love working with The Hallmark Channel and are talking to them about daytime programming in the future as well,” the spokeswoman said.

Sources said shows past April will be repeats.

Cable industry sources say Hallmark is in talks about what other roles Martha might play in other shows from the MSLO stable. However, others told The Post that Hallmark has plans to expand its lifestyle lineup beyond Stewart’s contribution.

The show averaged 225,000 viewers in 2011, and 41,000 viewers in the key demographic of females aged 25-54, according to Nielsen.

MSLO, which is working with talent agency CAA to expand its TV interests, has been pitching a bunch of ideas to the broadcast networks featuring the 70-year old Stewart as a make-over specialist.

Gersh, who joined MSLO last June, has been shaking up the company and recently announced that retailer JCPenney was taking a 16.6 percent stake in it for $38 million.

That move upset other partners, such as Macy’s, which is about to launch a Martha-branded table-top line.

Separately, MSLO retail partner Home Depot confirmed yesterday that its current deal to sell Martha Stewart-branded paint has dried to an unflattering finish — it will no longer sell Martha Stewart Living-branded paints but will go forward with a more limited agreement with Stewart that gives customers the ability to mix Martha’s color palette into Glidden-branded paints.

In a statement provided to The Post, the retailer praised the product’s colors but said: “The response to the paint base has not been as strong with consumers who are looking to mix the colors with our other paint brands. We will retain the Martha Stewart Living color palette, which will be formulated to mix in Glidden paint.”

Some Home Depot stores in New York state this past weekend were selling Martha Stewart Living paint at a 50 percent discount to clear their shelves.