Hearst Corp

Martha, move over. Here comes Oprah. She has advised millions of loyal fans on what to read, how to manage relationships and how to lose weight. Next, Oprah Winfrey will be serving up advice on furniture and bedspreads. Hearst Corp., which publishes O, the Oprah Magazine, will distribute a 44-page home design supplement called O at Home, bundling it with the October issue.

When Hearst Corp. released a road map for preserving its magnificent coastal ranch from development last year, the plan was greeted with headlines and widespread praise from environmentalists and politicians. Six months later, negotiators are finding out that it takes more than a road map to get where you're going, especially with the kids in the back seat clamoring, "Are we there yet?"

Hearst Corp., publisher of Cosmopolitan and Esquire, and Walt Disney Co. next week are expected to introduce a new women's magazine called Lifetime, seeking to capitalize on their popular cable network of the same name. Lifetime magazine is a joint venture of closely held Hearst and its network partnership with Disney. The magazine will debut with a circulation of 500,000, including about 100,000 subscriptions, and compete with larger and older women's publications such as Meredith Corp.'

The newly appointed publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle told labor leaders Tuesday that the newspaper may need to prune as many as 500 jobs, or about 20% of the paper's workforce. Steven B. Falk raised the prospect of cutbacks just two weeks after the Chronicle's owner, Hearst Corp., promoted him to replace publisher John Oppedahl. "We have too many employees for a paper our size. That has to change," Falk said.

Hearst Corp. announced Monday the sudden departure of San Francisco Chronicle Publisher John Oppedahl, who is leaving the company after less than three years on the job. Oppedahl will be succeeded by Associate Publisher Steven Falk. Spokespeople for Hearst and the Chronicle said they had no information on whether Oppedahl resigned or was fired.

Capping years of often rancorous debate over the future of the sprawling Hearst Ranch along California's Central Coast, a land preservation group announced Wednesday that it has signed an option to purchase development rights on the 82,000-acre ranch. The option gives the American Land Conservancy a year to come up with the $100 million or more that it will cost to permanently restrict development on the 128-square-mile ranch and open 18 miles of beach to the public.

This county's highest elected body took the unusual step Tuesday of endorsing a deal to preserve the Hearst Ranch, even though the deal isn't done yet. The Board of Supervisors voted 5 to 0 to support the framework of an agreement between the Hearst Corp. and the American Land Conservancy that would save the 82,000-acre ranch from development and keep much of it in agriculture.

It was to be called Piedra Blanca, a gleaming new city at the edge of an untroubled sea. It was 1965. The Hearst family had big plans for its majestic 82,000-acre coastal ranch. In place of the stark and mostly treeless landscape, there would arise a thriving city of 65,000 people. There would be hotels, businesses, Hearst Airport and a bustling marina. Think Santa Monica at the foot of Hearst Castle, but move it just down the road from Big Sur.

The Hearst Corp. is considering a $100-million conservation deal that would forsake previous development plans for its historic family ranch and deed virtually all of its oceanfront acreage -- the ranchland west of California Highway 1 -- to the state, sources said Tuesday. At the same time, the family would like to hold on to a few private beaches along its 18 miles of spectacular coastline and retain the option to build homes on 27 different lots for future Hearst generations, sources said.

The Federal Trade Commission on Friday approved Hearst Corp.'s agreement to divest its Medi-Span unit and forfeit $19 million in profit to settle charges that it tried to monopolize the drug database market. The agreement marks the first time the FTC has obtained forfeiture of profit in a merger case.