Newsweek’s Howard Smith to Retire

The worldwide publisher of Newsweek magazine, Howard W. Smith, plans to retire at the end of the year.

Smith said Peter W. Eldredge, an executive with Murdoch Magazines, would become publisher of the U.S. edition of Newsweek on April 2.

The company does not plan to fill Smith’s post as worldwide publisher after his retirement. Eldredge and Peter Luffman, president of Newsweek International, each will report directly to Newsweek President Alan G. Spoon.

The news weekly, which is owned by Washington Post Co., is in a fierce battle with Time and U.S. News & World Report for advertising and circulation.

Newsweek’s circulation was 3.2 million at the end of 1989, which puts it between Time at 4.3 million and U.S. News & World Report at 2.2 million. Its ad revenue rose 5% to a record $253.8 million last year, according to a spokeswoman for the publication.

In a telephone interview, Smith, 55, said he had worked for Newsweek for 25 years and decided last year that “25 years is enough.” He said he plans to retire to a ranch he owns in Nacogdoches, Tex., but will remain a consultant to the magazine.

Eldredge has been vice president for group sales at Murdoch Magazines, a unit of News Corp. of Australia.

Eldredge, 45, said he had no immediate plans to make any changes at Newsweek. “It is one of the best edited and best designed publications around,” he said in a telephone interview.

The post of U.S. publisher has been vacant during Smith’s tenure as worldwide publisher.