For magazines, the first quarter of this year was hell. Particularly for Conde Nast. Now, ad sales figures for the first half are out. They're hell. Particularly for Conde Nast!

Min says that overall ad revenue for the first half is down 23% for monthly magazines. It's the worst ad environment they've seen in 62 years. And Conde, the be-sequined one, is having the hardest time. Still:

Condé Nast, the glitziest of all magazine publishers, is reeling more than any other publisher. Only four of its magazines are off by less than 30 percent.

Industry sources said it is increasingly unlikely that Condé Nast, which does more than $2 billion a year in revenues, will be able to avoid losing millions of dollars this year. The dive is said to be so steep that even decent September issues — traditionally the fattest of the year in the fashion world — will not be able to wipe out the red ink.

That last bit is very bad news, because the September issues are, literally, Conde's only hope this year. And, just like last quarter, Wired's ad sales continue to be the worst of all at Conde. The magazine's publisher tells the NYT, on the record, that his new ad sales strategy is to "pray," which indicates a certain I'm-past-the-point-of-giving-a-fuck-itude.

Well, we've done our part. Did you know Wired editor Chris Anderson makes $2 MILLION per year, giving speeches? Maybe he can buy some ads?
[NYP, NYT]