Newsweek Daily Beast Axes Publisher on Displeasure over Ad Revenue

Newsweek and the Daily Beast are shifting course once again.

The publisher of the publications, Ray Chelstowski, has been given the ax; the company announced Monday. The move was made given the ownership's displeasure with advertising revenue, sources told the Wall Street Journal.

We are in a period of tremendous momentum with all our metrics moving in the right direction, Rob Gregory, President of The Newsweek Daily Beast Company, said in an emailed statement to the International Business Times. These changes position The Newsweek Daily Beast Company for continued rapid growth as a global, multi-platform news organization.

IAC/Interactive and billionaire Sidney Harman each own a 50 percent stake in the publication. Prior to the sale to Sidney Harman in 2010, Newsweek was owned by the Washington Post Company.

The magazine and the online publication merged in 2010, and Tina Brown was appointed the editor in chief. The publications have struggled to turn a profit based on lackluster advertising sales for both publications. Adweek reported that Newsweek posted a $20 million loss in fiscal 2011, while The Daily Beast posted a $10 million loss.

Furthermore, the publications had 2.6 million unique visitors in Sept. 2011, down from 5.3 million last year, Adweek noted. Much of that loss comes from ending the partnership with MSNBC.

Furthermore, Former CBS Interactive Executive Eric Danetz is expected to take over as publisher, according to the Journal.