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April 28, 2008 The NY Post has gotten shorter. Starting last week, the scandalous tabloid of NY reduced the height of its paper from 13 1/2 inches to 12 inches. The move follows similar trimmings by the NY Times and Wall Street Journal, both of which reduced the width of their papers within the last two years. Owned by News Corp., The NY Post has reportedly lost up to $50 million per year and reducing the paper size could save millions of dollars in newsprint. April 22, 2008 Viacom Inc., its Paramount Pictures unit, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) and Lionsgate have formed a joint venture to create a new premium television channel and video on demand service that combines new and classic feature film output and original television series of five leading studios. The new premium channel will launch in the fall of 2009 and has yet to be named. The new venture will have access to Paramount and Paramount Vantage titles released theatrically on or after January 1, 2008 and MGM, United Artists and Lionsgate titles released theatrically on or after January 1, 2009. The venture's programming slate will have exclusive access during the pay television window to such recent and highly anticipated films as Iron Man, Star Trek, Pink Panther 2, Cloverfield, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Shutter Island, GI Joe, Love Guru, and Valkyrie, along with many others currently in production including planned new installments of Robocop and Outer Limits. In addition, the new venture will have access to motion picture titles spanning the vast libraries of the five studios, which libraries include Braveheart, Forrest Gump and the Mission: Impossible, The Godfather and Star Trek franchises from Paramount; the James Bond, Pink Panther and Rocky franchises from MGM; and Dirty Dancing, Reservoir Dogs, Crash, Monster's Ball, the Saw franchise, the Tyler Perry catalogue and The Blair Witch Project from Lionsgate. The new venture will also feature new original television series created by the five studios. Viacom will provide operational support to the venture, including marketing and affiliate services through its MTV Networks division. April 12, 2008 The Wall St. Journal is launching a new glossy magazine titled WSJ this fall and Ellen Asmodeo-Giglio has been named vice president/publisher. Ms. Asmodeo-Giglio will oversee all of the advertising and marketing initiatives for WSJ. and develop strategies to drive revenue in the luxury categories through print, online, other digital properties and strategic partnerships. The Journal's new high-end lifestyle magazine is scheduled to launch Sept. 6, 2008 and will be published quarterly in the Saturday Journal then monthly beginning in 2009. "WSJ. is a natural extension of the Wall Street Journal brand and will draw upon the resources, access and reporting strength of the Journal. Ellen is the right fit for this important, new venture," said Michael Rooney, chief revenue officer for The Wall Street Journal. ""We can promise that the journalistic quality will be impeccable, and advertisers will be able to reach one of the most affluent and influential audiences." WSJ. offers the inside track on the world of wealth and is
a celebration of the lifestyle of its readers. From cars to fashion,
from property to philanthropy, from personalities to travel,
WSJ. magazine is the authority on how to live life to the fullest.
The magazine will offer unique insight that only the Journal
can offer into living well and making the best choices. April 2, 2008 CBS News has laid off about 120 people or 1% of its staff of 1,200. The company is looking to cut costs in a weaker economy for print and TV advertising. Also affected are local CBS-owned stations which have cut staff including on-air talent in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco and Sacramento. No cuts were made at the CBS Evening News according to the NY Times, despite its third-place standing in ratings. About five employees were cut at the Early Show. March 23, 2008 The NY Post has closed its PageSix.com gossip site after only three months in operation citing a weak economy. The site was launched last December to capitalize on the huge market for celebrity gossip and photos using the strength of the NY Post Page Six brand. Jennifer Jehn, Senior Vice President of pagesix.com, announced that pagesix.com is being closed down. Ms. Jehn said: "Given the difficulty in the economy, it was not the right time for this launch." A total of 18 editorial and support staffers will be let go and three reassigned within the New York Post. The Page Six column will continue in the NY Post newspaper and the Sunday Page Six magazine will continue to be published. CBS Sports and the NCAA are broadcasting every game from the men's basketball tournament online and fans are watching. About 1.8 million people logged in during the first day of the tournament Thursday to watch the first round games according to MediaWeek. Quality of the online broadcasts are much improved and every game in the tournament will be shown online, including the Final Four games. February 29, 2008 Newsday announced it will cut 120 jobs from the Long Island newspaper or about 5% of its total workforce. The paper cited declining sales and soft advertising environment. The company did not disclose how many management jobs will be eliminated. Of the union positions, at least 25 of those reductions will take place in the newsroom, on top of 13 vacant positions that have gone unfilled. The pressroom will be reduced by at least 24 union positions, and the transportation bargaining unit will be reduced by at least five drivers. The cuts are just part of several hundred overall at the Tribune Corp., which owns Newsday. Other Tribune newspapers also affected are The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and Hartford Courant. February 19, 2008 The NY Times is not immune to the troubles of the newspaper industry. The nation's largest newspaper said it will reduce its newsroom by 100 people through attrition, buyouts and layoffs. The cuts will be achieved "by not filling jobs that go vacant, by offering buyouts, and if necessary by layoffs," said executive editor, Bill Keller. The Times says it has 1,332 newsroom employees, the largest number in its history; no other American newspaper has more than about 900. The LA Times also announced this month it will cut 40-50 jobs in its newsroom. USA Today and Washington Post have offered similar cutbacks and buyouts over the past several months. February 7, 2008 The Giants' stunning comeback victory over the New England Patriots Sunday was seen by a record number of people for a football game. According to Nielsen ratings, a record 148.3 million watched all or some of Super Bowl XLII on Fox. The average of 97.5 million viewers surpassed the previous record of 94.3 million in Super Bowl XXX when Dallas Cowboys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Super Bowl is still second behind the final episode of MASH in 1983, which had an audience of 106 million. Before Rupert Murdoch closed on his deal to acquire Dow Jones, he said he planned to make The Wall Street Journal's website free to all visitors and make up the lost subscription money through advertising. Now that Murdoch owns the paper, he's changed his tune. WSJ.com will continue to charge a subscription fee but will offer up more pages that are free to all users. Apparently, the revenue from paid subscriptions was too much to give up. January 24, 2008 Wal-Mart, the nation's leading retailer, is cutting back on the number of magazines it will sell in its stores by up to 1,000. The NY Post reports that smaller niche titles and also larger titles that aren't selling well are among the victims. Some of the magazines getting the boot include Better Homes & Gardens and Ladies Home Journal. Other axed titles include Town & Country, Home and Metropolitan Home (Hachette), Cookie, The New Yorker and W (Conde Nast), the Robb Report (CurtCo Media), The Economist, BusinessWeek (McGraw-Hill), Forbes and Fortune (Time Inc.), as well as a number of niche titles such as Boar Hunter Magazine, Spirituality & Health, Cabin Life and Log Home Living. Wal-Mart sells almost 20% of all magazines so this would be a big blow to the publishing industry. January 15, 2008 The most powerful woman in show business is getting her own cable network. Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications announced plans today to create "OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network." The new multi-platform media venture will be designed to entertain, inform and inspire people to live their best lives. OWN will debut in 2009 in more than 70 million homes, on what is currently the Discovery Health Channel. The venture will also include the award-winning digital platform, Oprah.com. In addition to providing her talent, and personal commitment, Winfrey will have full editorial control over the joint venture and will be responsible for OWN's programming, branding and creative vision. Winfrey will serve as Chairman of The Oprah Winfrey Network, LLC and the venture will be 50/50 owned by Discovery and Harpo. This is a cashless transaction and The Oprah Winfrey Network, LLC will be an independent company. January 4, 2008 The fledgling Fox Business Network cable channel isn't lighting the fire under viewers just yet. According to Reuters, Fox Business is averaging just 6,000 viewers a day based on studies by Nielsen Media Research. Fox Business launched in October and is found in just 30 million homes. Most cable systems place Fox Business on their high-numbered digital channels. CNBC, the No. 1 business channel, is averaging 283,000 viewers per day according to Nielsen. CNBC, owned by the General Electric corporation, is available in 80 million homes. Fox Business is a division of News Corp. December 27, 2007 The NFL Network finally caved in. After facing an avalanche of complaints about this Saturday's New England Patriots- NY Giants contest being aired only on the NFL Network, the league announced that CBS and NBC have both agreed to air the game on national free television this Saturday. Because of disputes with the two largest cable companies Time Warner and Comcast, more than 75% of the country would have been unable to view the NFL Network and the big matchup. The NFL Network has shown 8 games this past season and only viewers on some cable systems and DirecTV have been able to view the games. CBS and NBC will not pay the NFL Network to air the games but will likely share ad revenue. The game will air with broadcasters from the NFL Network. The much-hyped game this Saturday features the 15-0 New England Patriots versus the 10-5 Giants in New Jersey's Meadowlands. The Patriots are looking to become the only team to finish a 16-game NFL season unbeaten. December 12, 2007 Business Week magazine is laying off 12 staffers this month from both the publishing and editorial sides according to trade journal Media Week. Some of those affected are longtime art director Malcolm Frouman, national correspondent Mark Morrison and senior editor Elizabeth Weiner. The weekly business magazine has suffered in a tough ad climate and recently introduced a sweeping redesign two months ago. Ad pages are down 17% for the year and circulation is down 1.2% to 919,343 copies. The magazine also announced new organizational changes to manage print and online sections together. December 1, 2007 The NY Times will be cutting 12 jobs in administrative areas at the newspaper and a hiring freeze will continue through next year . A recording room where audio tapes were trnascribed has been closed at the paper. No journalists at the Times are affected but some could be offered early retirement packages if financial situation doesn't improve. Weak ad sales are to blame. Executive Editor Bill Keller said the following in a memo to staff as reported by Editor and Publisher: "As we move into 2008, we will be rethinking coverage priorities and how we use our space and our people, but always in ways that preserve what The Times does best. In the future, as in the past few months while these matters were under review, we have worked closely with our partners on the business side, with a single shared ambition: to seek cutbacks and reductions that are as strategically focused as possible, and do nothing to damage our core journalism." Sales of CDs since Black Friday after Thanksgiving have been weak reports Billboard. Stores have seen a 15-25% decline in sales since the previous year so far since last Friday. According to data from Nielsen Soundscan, sales of albums totaled 13.9 million for the week after Thanksgiving, down from 17 million the previous year. However, strong sales of movies and videogames have softened the damage. Retailers cite lack of hit CDs this season for the sales drop. November 21, 2007 Even the nation's largest newspaper is not immune from the troubles in the newspaper industry. USA Today announced this week it will cut 45 newsroom jobs out of 500 total employees in the paper's newsroom. The paper will seek voluntary buyouts from employees with more than 15 years of experience with Gannett (publisher of USA Today) and less than five years of online experience. If not enough workers come forward, layoffs would be possible. Ken Paulson, editor of USA Today, said in a memo to staff: "It's unfortunate that we have to take these steps, particularly when our newspaper circulation is growing and USATODAY.com has been named the top news website in the country by the Online News Association. Unfortunately, revenue has not kept pace and we're now facing the same cutbacks that so many other news organizations have already experienced."
Adweek, a trade magazine covering the advertising industry, said it would expand its Internet site with news updated seven days per week. It will scale back its print version from weekly to 36 times per year in the first quarter of 2007, another sign of the Internet becoming more essential as a news resource. Sabrina Crow, senior vice president of the media and marketing group at Nielsen Business Media, said in an article, "Today, Adweek is focused not on the antiquated idea of a weekly-only model, but on the minute-by-minute schedule that our audience desires. Adweek is published by Nielsen Business Media.
There's good news for readers of business news. Rupert Murdoch, head of media giant News Corp., says he wants to turn the Wall St. Journal's online website into a free service when his company acquires Dow Jones. Murdoch thinks WSJ.com could draw up to 15 million visitors per month for its business content while only one million now pay $79 per year for access (less for print subscribers). Murdoch thinks he can more than make up the $50 million in lost revenue through advertising targeting the Journal's upscale audience. News Corp. plans to close on the $5 billion acquisition of Dow Jones next month.
There will be no crowing by the NY Post this year after the latest circulation figures showed the tabloid has lost its one-time to lead to arch nemesis the NY Daily News. The Daily News reported circulation of 681,415 during weekdays, which was down 1.7% while the Sunday paper decreased 6.8% to 726,305. Figures were reported by Media Week and the Audit Bureau of Circulation for the six months ending in September. The New York Post slipped this period with daily circulation down 5.2% to 667,119 and Sunday fell 5% to 405,486. The Post had eclipsed the Daily News according to figures last May but the lead has been short-lived. The Post attempted to raise its circulation price in NYC from 25 cents to 50 cents in August but was thwarted by the Daily News when it dropped its price to 25 cents for a few weeks. The NY Post has launched a Sunday magazine called Page Six last month in a bid to boost Sunday sales.
The four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies by the Boston Red Sox was the second-lowest World Series telecast ever, beating last year's contest between Detroit and St. Louis. According to the Associated Press, the four games averaged a 10.6 rating, ahead of only the 10.1 in 2006 for the St. Louis Cardinals' five-game win over the Detroit Tigers. The Red Sox victory in 2004 had ratings that were 50% higher. That year, Boston swept St. Louis for its first World Series championship in over 80 years. The sweep was bad news for the Fox Network, which broadcast the games. It would have made more money if the Series could have been extended for additional games.
NBC Universal, a division of General Electric, has agreed to buy Oxygen Media, a cable network for women. Under the agreement, NBCU will acquire Oxygen for $925 million. Net of financial assets, the purchase price is approximately $875 million. Oxygen, which is available in more than 74 million homes, has been registering significant growth in both ad sales and viewership, with the just-completed third quarter being the most-watched in the history of the network. Launched in 2000, Oxygen is the only fully distributed entertainment cable channel launched in the last decade. The acquisition by NBC Universal is part of the company's strategy to transform its portfolio and focus on assets with potential for rapid growth. Oxygen joins NBC Universal's fully-owned cable entertainment networks, which include USA Network, the most-watched basic cable network in every key demographic; Bravo, the most upscale basic cable network, which just completed the best third quarter in its history; and SCI FI, the sixth-ranked basic cable entertainment network. Along with CNBC and MSNBC, NBC Universal's cable networks account for 50% of the company's profits, and are experiencing double-digit, year-over-year growth. Oxygen was founded by current Chairman and CEO Geraldine Laybourne along with talk show host Oprah Winfrey and television producers Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner and Caryn Mandabach. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is also an investor in the company.
MSNBC has agreed to acquire Newsvine, a social news website where users can comment about news stories and post links. Terms of the deal were not disclosed according to NY Times. It is the first acquisition that MSNBC has ever made. Newsvine attracts about 1 million unique users a month while MSNBC.com averages 29 million. MSNBC is the cable news division of NBC, which is owned by General Electric.
Time Inc. announced it will close Business 2.0, a monthly magazine covering the Internet and new economy. The magazine's final issue will be in October. The magazine reportedly had several buyers interested in purchasing the title but Time Inc. decided to shut it down instead of selling to another owner. Time Inc. is a division of Time Warner. Business 2.0 had a circulation of about 600,000 but lost money for years and suffered a big hit in advertising pages recently. Time Warner bought the magazine in 2001 for a reported $68 million and combined its operations with its own fledgling business magazine, eCompany Now.
The premiere of the movie High School Musical 2 on the Disney Channel last week set a record for cable TV viewership. The movie, aimed at kids and teens, had 17.24 million viewers according to The Hollywood Reporter. The ratings were the highest ever for a cable program and was the week's most-watched show, even beating out network TV programming. "Hannah Montana," which followed "High School Musical 2" on Friday, averaged 10.7 million viewers, the top telecast for a series in cable history.
Quadrangle Capital Partners II LP, a private equity fund focused on the media and communications industries, has completed its acquisition of Dennis Publishing, publisher of Maxim and Blender magazines. Longtime media executive, Kent Brownridge, will serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the newly renamed company, Alpha Media Group Inc. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed but have been reported to be worth $240 million. "Alpha Media Group's assets are among the best in the publishing industry," said Brownridge. "The magazines and websites are uniquely positioned among the young male demographic and are extremely attractive platforms for advertisers. I am particularly pleased to be partnering with Quadrangle, whose experience and expertise in the media industry is unmatched." Alpha Media Group also announced today that Stuff magazine, launched in 1998, will cease publication after the October issue-it will then appear as a regular section in Maxim magazine. The Stuff website will continue on.
Jupitermedia Corporation has agreed to buy Mediabistro.com, a career and community site for media and creative professionals, for $20.0 million in cash and a two year earn-out that could result in an additional $3.0 million in cash consideration. Based in New York City, Mediabistro.com was founded in 1999 by Laurel Touby. Mediabistro includes job postings, educational courses, events, forums, and a premium subscription service. It is also known for holding occasional parties where media workers can get together. The company also publishes the blogs TVNewser, covering the broadcast news industry, and GalleyCat, covering the book publishing industry. "Becoming part of the Jupitermedia team will mean a huge growth opportunity for Mediabistro. Our organizations' product offerings complement each other perfectly. We are so excited to be working with people who are very experienced at cross promoting products and services across their networks and customer bases," said Laurel Touby, CEO and Founder of Mediabistro. "And the members of the Mediabistro community will certainly be interested in all Jupitermedia has to offer on their online media networks and digital content libraries."
The News Corp. announced that Fox Business Channel, a cable network devoted to business news, will officially debut on Oct. 15. The long-awaited channel will be available in 30 million homes includng New York. Headquartered in News Corporation's street level studios in midtown Manhattan, FBN has also established bureaus in such key markets as Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco (Silicon Valley), Washington, D.C. and London. Neil Cavuto, Fox Senior Vice President and Managing Editor, said in a statement, "I'm extremely excited to be part of such a dynamic venture and I look forward to building on the success of our existing top five business programs in cable news." The new channel looks to take on CNBC and ride the coattails of the Fox News Channel. FNC has been the number one cable news channel for over five years and is available in more than 90 million homes in the United States and 108 countries internationally. |
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