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February 24, 2010 ABC News Cutting 300-400 Jobs ABC News is looking to cut up to 25% of its workforce of 1,400 or 300-400 jobs. According to the Los Angeles Times, the areas of ABC News that are most affected will be the special events staff, which will be disbanded, as well as the newsmagazines "20/20" and "Primetime," which will see many full-time employees replaced with freelancers. The weekday and weekend staffs of "World News" and "Good Morning America" will be combined and the London bureau is expected to be substantially scaled back. ABC News is also moving to the use of hand-held digital cameras so one or two people can report a story instead of the current setup which features a correspondent, producer and two person camera crew. ABC News is blaming advertising declines as well as viewership drop for its woes. CBS News reportedly cut 90 positions last month. January 29, 2010 Miramax Movie Studio Closes Miramax, an independent movie studio acquired by Disney Corp. in 1993, has closed its offices in New York, London and Los Angeles. About 80 jobs will be lost according to a report by Bloomberg. The studio was founded by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein. Miramax won four Oscars for best picture, including Chicago, Shakespeare in Love and The English Patient. There are six movies produced by Miramax still waiting to be distributed. January 22, 2010 Conan Out as Tonight Show Host Conan O'Brien has hosted his final Tonight Show on NBC, exiting Friday night with a reported $33 million severance payment. NBC is paying a total of $45 million to end his show with the other $12 million going to the rest of O'Brien's staff. The network decided to cancel O'Brien due to lower than expected ratings and after he turned down an offer to move his show a half hour later to 12:05 a.m. Jay Leno will return as host of the Tonight Show starting on March 1 following the coverage of NBC's Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Leno's show at 10 p.m. has ended due to low ratings. Air America Shuts Down Air America, a liberal radio network, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Thursday and closed all operations. The company said it was hurt by falling advertising revenues and the weak market for the radio and media industry. Air America launched in 2004 and aired through 100 stations nationwide. The company said all current employees will be paid through January 21. A severance package will be offered only to full-time current employees with more than six months of tenure. January 12, 2010 Jay Leno Show to Leave Prime Time NBC is ending the Jay Leno Show at 10 p.m. on February 11 following low ratings and a potential revolt from local affiliates. The show started on September 14, 2009 after Leno retired from The Tonight Show on May 29. Conan O'Brien took over the Tonight Show at 11:35 p.m. on June 1 but has also seen ratings drop. NBC wants Leno to move back to 11:35 for a half-hour show and move O'Brien to 12:05. However, reports are O'Brien may leave NBC altogether for a competing network like Fox. Local NBC affiliates were not happy with Leno's show at 10 p.m. because it hurt ratings for their 11 p.m. newscats, which generate the bulk of advertising at local stations. January 6, 2010 Dow Jones Combining Businesses Dow Jones & Company announced a new organizational structure combining its consumer and enterprise businesses in a unified group serving customers across all platforms and distribution channels. The new alignment puts key products such as The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires and Factiva in a single operating unit. “We have devoted two years to improving our products. This is the right time for a strategic step aimed at coordinating their development and marketing for the future,” said Les Hinton, chief executive of Dow Jones. “This structure will provide the focus to make us faster and better than our rivals at identifying and meeting customer needs.” With the change, two Dow Jones executives take on enhanced roles. Todd Larsen becomes president of Dow Jones with responsibility for the primary commercial operations of the company. Stephen Daintith becomes chief operating officer of Dow Jones where he will provide strategic guidance for the entire organization while continuing his responsibilities as chief financial officer. Clare Hart, who was president of the Enterprise Media Group and an executive vice president of Dow Jones, will be leaving the company. Dow Jones is owned by News Corp. December 2, 2009 Time Inc. to Cut 280 Employees Time Inc. began notifying 280 employees this week they will lose their jobs as the magazine publisher looks to cut expenses following steep advertising declines. Time Inc. notified the NYS Dept. of Labor that it would cut 280 workers but the number could increase with buyouts. The NY Times reported 400-500 workers could eventually lose their jobs. Layoffs have been reported at Sports Illustrated, Fortune and People magazine and all areas of the company will likely be affected. Workers in editorial, sales and marketing have all suffered cuts. Fortune Small Business Magazine will be closed and Fortune magazine has announced it will reduce its frequency next year. Time Inc. is the magazine division of Time Warner and will reportedly charge $100 million against earnings to cover the layoffs and buyouts. December 11, 2009 Editor and Publisher to Close Editor and Publisher, a weekly trade magazine covering the newspaper industry, is closing this month after 125 years. Nielsen Business Media, which owns the publication, decided to shut down E&P after failing to find a buyer. It has forged a deal with e5 Global Media Holdings, LLC, a new company formed jointly by Pluribus Capital Management and Guggenheim Partners, for the sale of eight brands in the Media and Entertainment Group, including E&P sister magazines Adweek, Brandweek, Mediaweek, Backstage, Billboard, Film Journal International and The Hollywood Reporter. E&P was not included in this transaction. Terms of the sale weren't announced. About 10 staffers work at Editor and Publisher and they had hoped the publication could still exist online but Nielsen has decided to close it down entirely both print and on the Web. Editor and Publisher was founded in 1884 to cover the newspaper business. December 2, 2009 Time Inc. to Cut 280 Employees Time Inc. began notifying 280 employees this week they will lose their jobs as the magazine publisher looks to cut expenses following steep advertising declines. Time Inc. notified the NYS Dept. of Labor that it would cut 280 workers but the number could increase with buyouts. The NY Times reported 400-500 workers could eventually lose their jobs. Layoffs have been reported at Sports Illustrated, Fortune and People magazine and all areas of the company will likely be affected. Workers in editorial, sales and marketing have all suffered cuts. Fortune Small Business Magazine will be closed and Fortune magazine has announced it will reduce its frequency next year. Time Inc. is the magazine division of Time Warner and will reportedly charge $100 million against earnings to cover the layoffs and buyouts. November 7, 2009 Time Inc. to Cut 280 Employees Time Inc. began notifying 280 employees this week they will lose their jobs as the magazine publisher looks to cut expenses following steep advertising declines. Time Inc. notified the NYS Dept. of Labor that it would cut 280 workers but the number could increase with buyouts. The NY Times reported 400-500 workers could eventually lose their jobs. Layoffs have been reported at Sports Illustrated, Fortune and People magazine and all areas of the company will likely be affected. Workers in editorial, sales and marketing have all suffered cuts. Fortune Small Business Magazine will be closed and Fortune magazine has announced it will reduce its frequency next year. Time Inc. is the magazine division of Time Warner and will reportedly charge $100 million against earnings to cover the layoffs and buyouts. WSJ Hiring Reporters for NY Edition The Wall Street Journal is reportedly hiring 12 reporters for a NY Edition of its newspaper beginning next year. The WSJ will begin adding coverage at courthouses, City Hall and State government as it looks to compete with The NY Times. Owner Rupert Murdoch has sought to expand the WSJ beyond its business focus to include politics and government. The move to expand NY coverage is rather peculiar since he also owns the tabloid NY Post. The expansion into NY comes a week after the WSJ said it would close its Boston bureau and eliminate nine positions. October 28, 2009 Fortune Cutting Issues to 18 Per Year Fortune magazine is cutting its frequency from bi-weekly at 25 issues per year to just 18 beginning in 2010. There will be two issues in some months and just one issue in others according to The Wall Street Journal as the business magazine looks to reduce expenses. Fortune will also be redesigned and focus on longer in-depth business stories. Advertising pages have plunged 35% in Fortune from a year ago. Fortune is not the only business magazine in trouble. Top competitor Forbes is laying off an unspecified number of employees this week and Business Week was acquired by Bloomberg. October 21, 2009 NY Times to Cut 100 Newsroom Jobs The NY Times plans to eliminate 100 newsroom jobs by the end of the year through buyouts and layoffs if necessary. The paper last cut jobs in 2008. The job cuts will equal 8% of the newspaper's newsroom of about 1,250 reports and editors; no other American newspaper has more than 750. If the paper does not reach its goal of 100 buyouts, layoffs will be necessary according to a memo by Executive Editor Bill Keller. Budget cuts are affecting all divisions of the NY Times, including editorial, op-ed and the business side. October 14, 2009 Bloomberg to Buy BusinessWeek McGraw-Hill announced it will sell its flagship magazine BusinessWeek to Bloomberg LLP. The NY Times reports the purchase price of $5 million plus assumption of several millions dollars in liabilities including severance pay for workers that will be let go. BusinessWeek was once a very profitable magazine but has seen advertising drop significantly over the past several years with competition from the Internet. "I am very proud of the tremendous contributions BusinessWeek has made to The McGraw-Hill Companies throughout its rich history. It is a truly outstanding franchise and the best source of business reporting in the world," said Harold McGraw III, chairman, president and chief executive officer of The McGraw-Hill Companies. "We are pleased that we have reached an agreement for BusinessWeek to be acquired by Bloomberg, which shares the same high standards for editorial independence, integrity and excellence that have long defined BusinessWeek." "BusinessWeek will be a powerful addition to our portfolio of leading news and information services," said Peter T. Grauer, chairman of Bloomberg L.P. "BusinessWeek is one of the business world's most recognized and trusted sources of news and insight, and we believe that it will be highly valued by our customers worldwide." The magazine could be renamed Bloomberg BusinessWeek. September 19, 2009 Dan Brown's New Book Sets Record First-day sales of Dan Brown’s THE LOST SYMBOL, which went on sale Tuesday, September 15, exceeded 1 million copies in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. “Indeed, we are seeing historic, record-breaking sales across all types of our accounts in North America for THE LOST SYMBOL,” said Sonny Mehta, Chairman and Editor in Chief, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. “We are grateful to booksellers everywhere for this incredible launch and look forward to working with them to enjoy long and great continuing success with Dan's novel.” In light of the unprecedented inventory demand from U.S. retailers, Doubleday went back to press just prior to publication for an additional 600,000 copies of the book beyond the initial North American print run of 5 million copies. Total number of copies in print for THE LOST SYMBOL is now 5.6 million copies. Doubleday is an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG. September 4, 2009 Diane Sawyer to Take Over World News Tonight Diane Sawyer will take over the lead anchor position of ABC's World News Tonight after Charlie Gibson announced his retirement effective at the end of 2009. Gibson has been anchor of the nightly news show since May 2006. Sawyer has been the co-host of ABC's Good Morning America since 1999 and was co-host with Gibson until he took over World News Tonight. Sawyer will be the second female nightly news anchor along with Katie Couric of CBS. Sawyer is 63 years old and a graduate of Wellesley College. August 29, 2009 A&E Network Merges With Lifetime The Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst Corporation and NBC Universal announced an agreement for A&E Television Networks to acquire Lifetime Entertainment Services. The parent company will retain the name A&E Television Networks, LLC (AETN), and its subsidiary will retain the name Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to occur in 2009. Financial terms were not disclosed. Abbe Raven, president and chief executive officer of AETN, will serve as head of the combined company following the closing. Raven has been recognized with numerous industry awards for building some of the most prominent brands in media including A&E Network, History and The Biography Channel, and for spinning them off into successful global franchises. Andrea Wong, president and CEO of Lifetime Entertainment Services, will continue to head the Lifetime Networks and will report to Raven following the closing. Robert DeBitetto, president and general manager, A&E Network and The Biography Channel, and Nancy Dubuc, president and general manager, History and History International, will both continue to report to Raven and run their respective networks. The new agreement will, upon closing, consolidate three of the nation's top cable networks under single management while preserving the distinct brand identities of each network. In addition, the combined company will be a global media content company reaching over 250 million homes worldwide in more than 140 countries around the globe. AETN will now include: A&E Network, History, Lifetime Television, Lifetime Movie Network, Bio, History International, Lifetime Real Women, History en Español, Military History and Crime & Investigation Network. No word on how many jobs could be lost due to the merger. August 16, 2009 Journal News Lays Off 70 The Journal News, a newspaper owned by Gannett serving Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties in NY, is laying off 70 staff members. The number affected includes 50 newsroom positions and 20 in ad sales. Remaining workers must reapply for newly reclassified positions at the newspaper with an emphasis on digital technology. The cuts are the second round of layoffs this month. Last week the paper said it would eliminate 57 positions in production, information technology, human resources, finance and other departments. The total cuts would reduce employment at the paper to about 700. July 20, 2009 Business Week Up for Sale Business Week, the nation's only weekly business magazine, is available for sale by its owners the McGraw-Hill corporation. McGraw-Hill announced that it is exploring strategic options for the magazine which is likely losing tens of millions of dollars per year. Business Week has a circulation of 900,000 but is losing its immediacy with competition from the Internet and loss of advertisers in financial services and auto makers. July 1, 2009 Vibe Magazine Shuts Down Vibe Magazine, which covers hip hop and R&B music, has shut down this week due to the recession. The magazine has been hurt by falling advertising revenue and about 50 employees have been laid off. Founded in 1993, Vibe had a paid circulation of roughly 800,000 during the last six months of 2008 according to AP. The magazine was acquired by The Wicks Group, a New York private equity firm, in 2006. Producer Quincy Jones, who helped found the magazine, has said he would try to buy back the title and operate its website only. June 2, 2009 Bonnier Acquires 5 Magazines From Hachette Bonnier Corp. announced that it has acquired five niche magazine titles from Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. They include Popular Photography, Flying, Boating, Sound & Vision and American Photo. This is Bonnier Corp.'s third major acquisition in recent months. In September, Bonnier added Working Mother to its leading "mom" brands Parenting and Babytalk. In December, the company expanded its presence in the dive industry, buying Scuba Diving to go along with its dive title Sport Diver. "We have always been committed to growing our portfolio of brands to include other passionate special-interest audiences," says Terry Snow, CEO of Bonnier Corp. "These five titles from Hachette fit very well within our growth strategy of adding brands that serve markets with multimedia opportunities." In addition to print magazines, the five titles have brand extensions including Web sites, books, licensing agreements, videos and branded events. May 11, 2009 NY Times Raising Cover Price Again The NY Times newspaper plans to raise the newsstand price for the second time in 11 months. Starting June 1, the cover price of the weekday and Saturday edition will increase by 25 cents from $1.25 to $1.50. The Sunday edition will increase to $5 in the New York metro area and go up to $6 nationally. The Times is trying to make up for a steep decline in advertising but is still offering the online version for free. April 30, 2009 Conde Nast Closes Portfolio Conde Nast announced it will close its much-hyped business magazine Portfolio and its website after just two years of publication. Portfolio may be one of the last great magazine launches after Conde Nast spent more than $100 million since its debut in April 2007. But a terrible advertising climate and heavy competition from other business publications spelled doom. About 85 workers will lose their jobs according to Crain's NY Business. Ad pages were down 59% through May. April 16, 2009 John Madden Calls it Quits Legendary broadcaster John Madden says he has called his last NFL game. Madden, the 73-year-old Hall of Fame coach and the most honored broadcaster in sports television history, has decided to retire from broadcasting football games on NBC on Sunday nights. "It's time," Madden said in a statement. "I'm 73 years old. My 50th wedding anniversary is this fall. I have two great sons and their families and my five grandchildren are at an age now when they know when I'm home and, more importantly, when I'm not... It's been such a great ride... the NFL has been my life for more than 40 years, it has been my passion – it still is. I appreciate all of the people who are and were such an important part of the most enjoyable, most fun anyone could have... that great life with the teams, the players, the coaches, the owners, the League... my broadcasting partners Pat and Al... the production people and the fans...is still great... it's still fun and that's what it makes it hard and that's why it took me a few months to make a decision. I still love every part of it -- the travel, the practices, the game film, the games, seeing old friends and meeting new people… but I know this is the right time." Madden is also well known for his pro football video games. Madden's EA Sports video game "Madden NFL Football" is the No. 1 selling sports video game of all-time with more than 65 million copies sold since its release 20 years ago. April 4, 2009 Boston Globe Could Shut Down The NY Times Company has threatened to close down the Boston Globe newspaper unless it receives swift concessions of $20 million from the paper's unions. The possible concessions include pay cuts, the end of pension contributions by the company, and the elimination of lifetime job guarantees now enjoyed by some veteran employees. The Boston Globe is owned by NY Times Company and could lose a reported $85 million this year. The paper reportedly lost $50 million in 2008. The Globe is New England's largest newspaper and 14th-largest in the nation. March 26, 2009 NY Times Cuts 100 Jobs, Salaries by 5% The NY Times Company plans to cut 100 jobs and also 5% of salaries for nearly all remaining employees according to an article on its paper's website. The 100 employees who lost their jobs are involved in the company's business operations. However, The NY Times is also considering laying off 60-70 newsroom employees out of a total 1,300 news staff. The company plans to reduce spending on freelancers by 10 to 15 percent and could consolidate some sections. Most nonunion employees at NY Times Company will lose 5% of their pay for nine months and will be forced to take 10 days of leave. March 21, 2009 CBS Sports Sees Huge Demand Online CBSSports.com, in partnership with CBS Sports and the NCAA, released traffic figures for NCAA March Madness on Demand (ncaa.com/mmod) for the first day of the first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship on Thursday. In total, there were over 2.7 million unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video player (56% growth) and a total of 2.8 million hours of live streaming video and audio consumed (65% growth). NCAA March Madness on Demand traffic figures through Thursday, March 19 * Over 2.7 million unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video players (2008 figure was 1.75 million - 56% growth) * 2.8 million total hours of live streaming video and audio consumed - (2008 figure was 1.7 million - 65% growth) * 1.5 million clicks of the "Boss Button" (2008 figure was 2.5 million over the course of the entire tournament) "NCAA March Madness on Demand continues to regularly exceed our most optimistic expectations," said Sean McManus, President, CBS Sports and CBS News. "The combination of the television ratings being up 9% and the continued steady growth of the Internet and wireless provides unprecedented viewing options for the fans and maximizes the Network's NCAA bundled rights agreement." February 21, 2009 Swimsuits Boost SI.com Web Traffic Swimsuits mean big business for Sports Illustrated's website. The site (www.si.com/swimsuit) saw record-setting traffic and growth in video views for the third consecutive year. Ab emphasis on video programming resulted in more than 5.7 million video views on SI.com during the first two days of the 2009 Swimsuit launch. That number far surpasses the 3.3 million videos viewed during the entire six-week Swimsuit launch period in 2008. Additionally, SI's YouTube Swimsuit channel, featuring the SoBe sponsored cover unveiling, had more than 1.8 million video views over the first two days of launch. By comparison, SI's YouTube channel in 2008 had 2.1 million views for the entire month of February. February 6, 2009 Wall St. Journal Lays Off 25 The Wall Street Journal, hurt by slumping ad revenues and losses at its parent company News Corporation, is trimming about 25 jobs in its newsroom. According to AP, 11 jobs have been lost through attrition and an additional 14 will be gone through a restructuring. The Journal newspaper has lost its New York-based fashion and retail group which will be shuttered, with some reporters and editors shifted to other bureaus. The Los Angeles and Boston bureaus will each lose a job as well as the law, health and real estate groups in New York. Bloomberg Cutting 100 Jobs Bloomberg is cutting 100 TV and radio jobs, the first layoffs ever at the company founded by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The news and financial data provider will cut the jobs in the United States, 45 of them from its newsroom staff according to Reuters. Bloomberg plans to shut all non-English language television operations, including those in Japan, Spain and France. The TV and radio divisions at Bloomberg reportedly lose $20 million per year. February 3, 2009 95.4 Million Watch Super Bowl An estimated 95.4 million Americans watched Super Bowl XLIII that was won in the last minute by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The number was down about 2% from last year's game between the NY Giants and New England Patriots which was the most-watched sporting event of all time. Sunday's game became the second most-watched sporting event. Nielsen said the game earned a 42.1 overnight rating and a 65 share on NBC. TOP 25 MARKETS FOR SUPER BOWL XLIII AND RATINGS SHARE: February 1, 2009 NBC Sold Out for Super Bowl NBC has sold all game advertising for the broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII between Arizona and Pittsburgh and set a Super Bowl record of $206 million in advertising revenue. NBC's $261 million in revenue for the entire Super Bowl day, especially impressive in the current economic downturn, also sets a new Super Bowl milestone. "These advertising milestones show the power of the NFL brand and the strength of the Super Bowl as a TV property in this economic climate," said NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker. "The Super Bowl has become one of our country's biggest holidays, a uniquely American day, and advertisers recognized the value in being a part of it, as their commercials are nearly as big a part of the day as the football itself. This is an extraordinary story for NBC against the backdrop of this economy." "The plan to aggressively sell the majority of our advertising early in the process at the record unit price of $3 million showed tremendous foresight," said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. "To finish selling out the Super Bowl in these last two weeks, in this economy and at record levels, is a testament to the dogged determination of Seth Winter [SVP, Sales & Marketing, NBC Sports]." A total of 32 advertisers have taken time in Super Bowl XLIII across a broad spectrum of categories. January 28, 2009 Conde Nast is shutting down Domino magazine due to the poor economy and weak advertising prospects. The home design magazine had circulation of over 800,000 copies and was launched in April 2005. Most of the staff of 80 will be dismissed by next week according to The NY Times. Condé Nast also announec this week it is consolidating all of its web properties into a single unit called Condé Nast Digital. This includes the sites Epicurious.com, NutritionData.com, Concierge.com, HotelChatter.com, Jaunted.com, Style.com, Men.Style.com, Wired.com, Reddit, Ars Technica, and Webmonkey, as well as the individual magazine branded websites, and Brides.com, a bridal destination site. Reader's Digest Cuts 8% of Workforce The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., citing a drop in consumer spending and magazine advertising in most markets in which it operates, today informed its employees that it will adopt a global "Recession Plan" to strengthen its financial performance in the current economy including a planned reduction of approximately 8 percent of its current global workforce or about 280 jobs. Mary Berner, President and CEO, said RDA is making these moves to strengthen the company's financial performance and to act as a buffer against the effects of the global economic downturn. Other cost-savings measures in the plan, which are being adopted with the intention of avoiding additional layoffs, include unpaid time off in both Fiscal 2009 and 2010 where permitted by laws and agreements, and the suspension of company matching contributions to the U.S. 401(k) retirement plan. November 25, 2008 ESPN has reached an extensive agreement with the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), granting exclusive TV, radio, digital, international and marketing rights for 15 BCS games from January 2011 through January 2014. It includes the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar Bowls each season and the BCS National Championship Game in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The new agreement replaces the current contract with Fox Network which was outbid for the rights in a $500 million deal. ESPN will utilize its full media spectrum to cover the college football championship games on its networks including ESPN, ESPN Radio and online broadcasts and highlights at ESPN.com. November 14, 2008 Time Inc., the nation's leading magazine publisher, is looking to cut 600 jobs from its workforce this year. More than 30 people have been let go from Entertainment Weekly and Essence magazines this week according to reports. Buyouts have been offered to employees at other Time Inc. magazines reports the NY Times. Time magazine is looking for 20 volunteers to leave out of 250 news employees, 23 from People magazine's reporting staff of 200 and 40 from Sports Illustrated which has 250 editiorial workers. Another 20 volunteers are wanted from Money and Fortune magazines. The business and marketing side of the publications have also taken a hit with functions likely combined into one group for all the magazines. October 30, 2008 Newspaper circulation continues to drop around the nation according to new data from The Audit Bureau of Circulation. Total circulation for 507 newspapers measured was down 2.6% on weekdays and 4.6% on Sundays. Both NY tabloids saw losses and The Daily News still maintains a slight lead over the NY Post, which raised its circulation price in NY to 50 cents last quarter from 25 cents. Here are the top 25 newspapers based on weekday circulation from Editor and Publisher. USA TODAY -- 2,293,310 -- 0.01% NEW YORK POST -- 625,421 -- (-6.25%) THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC -- 361,333 -- (-5.51%) STAR-LEDGER, NEWARK, N.J. -- 316,280 -- (-10.40%) THE OREGONIAN -- 283,321 -- (-8.45%) October 8, 2008 Gawker Media, the leading blog network based in NY, announced it is cutting 19 jobs at its various websites as it prepares for an advertising slowdown during the next year. Nick Denton, founder of Gawker, said the company is cutting 19 of its 133 editorial positions mainly at sites that aren't generating enough ad revenue including ValleyWag, Consumerist and Fleshbot. However, it plans to hire more contributors for its biggest revenue generating sites Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker and Gawker and other growing properties such as Jezebel, io9, Deadspin and Jalopnik. Denton is also getting rid of bonuses for writers who reach or exceed certain traffic goals. These bonuses were costing the company an average of $50,000 per month. Writers will instead get a base salary increase of 5%. September 30, 2008 The New York Sun, a New York City newspaper published five days a week, is shutting down Tuesday with its final issue. The paper launched in 2002 and has lost a reported $70 million plus since then with current losses of over $1 million per month. With the rough NY economy, The Sun could not find additional investors to bankroll the perpetual losses of the paper. The Sun never clicked with the competitive NY audience since there are three other daily papers - The NY Times, Daily News, NY Post plus two free tabloids -- AM NY and Metro. The Sun reported a paid circulation of just 14,000 and gave away thousands more copies free each day. September 17, 2008 The New York Times said it will reduce the number of sections printed in the New York metropolitan area, in a move to save money on production. The Metro report will become part of the newspaper's A section, which also contains the International and National reports, and the editorial and Op-Ed pages, on Mondays through Saturdays, and possibly on Sundays, as well. The Sports report will go into the section that begins with Business Day, on Tuesdays through Fridays, while Sports will remain a separate section on weekends and on Mondays. Combining sections, which will take effect on Monday, Oct. 6, will not reduce the number of pages devoted to the Metro and Sports reports according to the Times. August 25, 2008 The Beijing Olympics were a big hit for NBC Universal. The Beijing Olympic coverage reached 211 million American viewers over 16 days, making it the most watched event in U.S. television history, according to data provided by Nielsen Media Research. The Beijing Games have surpassed the 1996 Atlanta Games, which were viewed by 209 million Americans. The 211 million viewers are 11 million more than the first 16 days for Athens (200 million) and 5 million more than the Atlanta Games (206 million). NBCU's cable networks through 16 days have already reached 86 million, surpassing the 17-day viewership total for any previous Olympics. MOST VIEWED EVENTS IN U.S. TV HISTORY: 1. 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, 211 million (through 16 days) 2. 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, 209 million (17 days) 3. 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, 204 million (16 days) 4 . 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, 203 million (17 days) 5. 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, 194 million (17 days) The Beijing Olympic 16-day average primetime viewership is 27.7 million, 11 percent ahead of Athens in 2004 (24.9 million). NBC's average of a 16.2 rating, 28 share is the best through the final Saturday for a Summer Olympics outside the U.S. since Barcelona in 1992 (17.3/33), and is a seven percent jump from Athens in 2004 (15.2/27). Saturday night garnered 43 million total viewers in primetime and 16.5 million average viewers. The night earned a 10.2 rating/19 share. The comparable night in Athens did an 11.1 rating/21 share and averaged 18.0 million viewers.
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