First the February thaw. Then the Swimsuit issue. Forget about that groundhog in PA - spring is not too far.
It's no surprise that the issue David Letterman reveals tonight on Late Night at the stroke of midnight will be nearly 33% advertising pages "thinner" because of the economy. Still, Swimsuit 2009 fared better than at its 20th anniversary in 1984 and its 30th in 1994.
It was a powerful franchise then (thank you, Christie Brinkley and Elle Macpherson) and a mega-franchise now. Over the 45 years since Swimsuit's "modest" debut in 1964, it has put an estimated $1 billion into Time Inc.'s coffers.
See the SI swimsuit covers
