While we were watching for Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) layoffs, iVillage cut roughly 4 percent of its staff — 13 jobs out of about 300. Those laid off across divisions include Editor-in-Chief Jennie Baird. The spin is the cuts were part of continuing to refine iVillage since the NBCU acquisition in May 2006. Some folks have been offering numbers to show declines at iVillage and pointing to inroads by newcomers like Glam, which is not strictly a womens’ network; comScore (NSDQ: SCOR) numbers from an iVillage spokesperson show the women’s site up 12 percent year over year when it comes to unique users — 17,383,000 uniques in January ’08 compared with 15,529,000 uniques the previous year and 17,234,000 last December.
When I interviewed Beth Comstock, president of integrated media, last month, we talked about the criticism aimed at her and NBCU by some for the $600 million acquisition. Part of her response: “You know this space. People expect instant overnight sensations. iVillage has always been a steady-as-she-goes property.”
— Baird was E-i-C for lifestyle; Wojnaroski, who held the same title for health, is now the sole top editor.
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