Every Day with Rachael Ray is finally moving into the new Readers Digest Association offices at 750 Third Ave. this weekend, but the mag apparently forgot to pack up the editor-in-chief for the trip.
Silvana Nardone, reportedly a close friend of founder, editorial director and TV chef Rachael Ray, has stepped down as the main editor after four years.
That got tongues wagging. The mag had a precipitous decline in newsstand sales in the most recent six-month period, dropping 23.4 percent to 287,812 copies, out of total circulation of 1,709,636.
Creative director Tracy Everding is also said to have exited, meaning the top two jobs below Ray are now open.
Total circulation was down nearly 6 percent from a year earlier, and puts the magazine that was one of the few start-up success stories out of RDA in recent years in a tight spot. For the first time since its fabulous launch, editors now have something to worry about.
To make matters worse, the Food Network Magazine, started less than two years ago by Hearst and the Food Network with Editor-in-Chief Maile Carpenter — a one-time high-ranking editor at Every Day just below Nardone — has been booming, quickly growing to 1,399,894 total circulation and newsstand circulation of 323,894 — surpassing Ray’s title on newsstands by more than 30,000 copies.
Nardone had started as the food editor on the magazine, but very early on displaced launch editor Kitty Morgan and was one of the few magazine people invited to Ray’s wedding in Italy several years ago.
So the loss of the top editor with no replacement did raise eyebrows. As one source close to the magazine said, “Nothing happens at that magazine without Rachael Ray signing off on it.”
Nardone did not return a call seeking comment.
Suzanne Grimes, the president of the North American Affinities at RDA, which includes the food and entertaining magazines, said all is well.
“Silvana is going to focus on her book publishing career,” said Grimes. Nardone has a book co-authored with her son, from the RDA imprint, called “Cooking with Isaiah,” due out in September.
She insisted that the newsstand tumble was not a major concern. “The newsstand is challenging to everyone and we’ve been successful in converting a lot of the newsstand buyers to subscribers.” Maybe so, but paid subscriptions in the first half of the year dropped 2 percent to 1,387,824. Every Day with Rachael Ray had to rely on the 34,000 “verified” copies that are distributed for free to make its rate base guarantee — the amount of circulation it promises advertisers it will deliver each month. For RDA, just recently out of bankruptcy, a slip in its only success ful launch cannot be happy news.
And as to a successor, one rumor that raced through publishing cir cles was that RDA would make a run to lure Carpenter back from Hearst/Food Network. Grimes tossed cold water on that theory.
Baker back
Jim Baker, the development editor at the Lifestyle Group at Time Inc., is jumping to become executive editor at Condé Nast Traveler. Baker replaces former New York Observer editor Peter Kaplan, who was CNT creative director before jumping to Fairchild Publications as editorial director. For Baker, it marks a return to Condé Nast after seven years at Time Inc. He is expected to be in charge of brand extensions for CNT.
No socks
Nearly a month after Martin Dunn said he was leaving as editor-in-chief of the Daily News to help care for his wife as she battles cancer, the replacement editor-in-chief, Kevin Convey, from the Boston Herald, showed up in the offices for the first time on Aug. 18.
But newsroom sources said the meet-and-greet in a conference room with other top editors doesn’t mean Convey is on the job. He doesn’t start until next week.
Then, Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman will once again have someone to yell at when the News runs banner headlines on page 1 that turn out to be wrong. Dunn left on July 23.
If he were still around, Dunn might’ve heard an earful about the page 1 headline on Aug. 16, where the News topped its front page with “Scarlett May Be Getting A New Tattoo” — a story from one of its gossip columns that said Scarlett Johansson auditioned for the role of the bisexual Lisbeth Salander in the film adaptation of the best-selling Stieg Larsson novel, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”
Unfortunately for the News, the announcement later that same day that the job was going to another actor rendered its headline moot.
But Convey couldn’t be blamed. Nobody had his hand on the tiller. Dunn said he was leaving on July 20 and stepped away for good on the following Monday.
One source said that Convey, a lifelong Boston resident, did not, at least in his first appearance, have a noticeable Boston accent.
A few News staffers have already taken to calling him Kevin “No Socks” Convey.
“He was wearing a business suit and a tie, but no socks,” said one source, who noted the meet-and-greet went off without a hitch. “It was what you expected. He said he respected the work we do.”
He doesn’t officially start until Aug. 23.
iPeople
People launched its app on the Apple iPad yesterday. It marks the fourth Time Inc. title to go on the iPad, following Time, Sports Illustrated and Fortune. But the big news is that it’s the first magazine anywhere to give print subscribers access to the digital edition at no extra charge.
It marks a dramatic breakthrough. Up until now, only single copies of each magazine could be accessed. Apple had blocked Sports Illustrated from putting up an app for a paid yearly subscription when its app went live last month. Now it is allowing People to give its subscribers free access to customers it already has from print.
“Steve Jobs relented,” said one source, “but it’s only a partial victory.
Ad prices from magazines are based on the total circulation. Most publishers in the US still derive the bulk of their income from advertis ing revenue, while circulation revenue often doesn’t even cover the cost of the postage.
Apple, however, does not get a slice of the ads that the magazine has sold; it only gets a slice of the money that the consumer pays when he accesses the mag azine via the app. Aside from an un willingness to turn over the consumer’s data to subscribers, Apple also has an incentive to keep the high price standard in place with customers paying $4.99 a pop to access a single issue.
Discussions are still underway between Apple and publishers at Condé Nast, Time Inc. and others to allow paid subscriptions to be accessed over the iPad.
Artists win
The Artists avenged last year’s loss by defeating the Writers 15 to 14 in the 10th inning at the 62nd annual charity softball classic on Aug. 14 in Herrick Park in East Hampton. It was the second year in a row the game went to extra innings.
The Writers’ undoing came with three errors in the first inning that put them into a 4 to 0 bind. Second baseman Mike Lupica ended the onslaught in the first, and third baseman David Baer, an undergraduate at the Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, pulled off some dazzling plays at third base. And hockey legend Rod Gilbert made a cameo and got an infield single for the Writers. But it was not enough to stop the Artists’ attack. “30 Rock” star Alec Bal dwin banged out two hits for the winners, but the game’s MVP award went to Josh Charles, star of “The Good Wife,” who put some lumber on the ball in the final frame to give the Artists the victory. More importantly, the game raised $72,000 for three East End charities. kkelly@nypost.com