American Media CEO David Pecker, who publishes Shape, Star and the National Enquirer, is slashing and burning through employee perks, as his company scrambles to avoid bankruptcy. In the biggest change, the company will no longer match employee contributions to 401(k) plans. A memo to employees says, "As the economic downturn continues, most families have had to make changes to their lifestyle, some painful. As a corporation, we also must make changes." American Media is expected to see a seven-figure savings from the cuts.

As TV distributors wrestle over which will be first to deliver nationally scalable interactive TV to advertisers, ESPN, has jumped ahead. Beginning in summer 2009, the sports-entertainment network will offer three new iTV products. "ESPN My Vote" will enable viewers to participate in voting and polling during live broadcasts of pro and college football and baseball games. "ESPN In Game Extra" will let viewers access additional game stats during live telecasts. "My Bottom Line" will let fans customize news about their favorite teams on the scroll across the bottom of the TV, regardless of geography. The move …

A chain of four newspapers outside Detroit owned by the Journal Register Company is poised to move into the home-delivery market being partially vacated by Detroit's two major dailies. Kevin Haezebroeck, svp of the JRC papers, sees opportunity in the delivery cutbacks on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. "I think there are a fair amount of people who still want a seven-day paper delivered to their home," he says. Two of Haezebroeck's local papers publish seven days a week and another publishes six days. The papers boast a combined circulation of about 130,000 and span much of the …

The era of commanding downtown newspaper buildings appears near an end. At least half a dozen newspaper companies have said this year they plan to sell their buildings. Some want to lease back space for their news operations and others are moving to smaller offices as staffs dwindle. But the option of selling off buildings to raise money may be drying up, as frozen credit markets make commercial real estate deals scarce. "If you tried to do a sale-leaseback 18 months ago, the deal would have been done before the end of the day. Now, you've got your …

Campbell Soup has stayed away from movie partnerships for years, but when "The Tale of Desperaux," an animated film about a kingdom built around the love of soup, came around, it seemed like a good time to establish some Hollywood connections. The result is an integrated marketing campaign built around an animated TV spot from BBDO, in-store displays, newspaper coupons and "Desperaux" signage on 50 million soup cans. A video game at kid-themed MySlurp.com, encourages youngsters to enter proof-of-purchase codes and play for a chance to win a variety of prizes. Campbell is using the opportunity to specifically …

ABC is putting the finishing touches on its controversial show, "Homeland Security USA." The new reality series will track U.S. border guards as they trying to stop people from sneaking into the country, sometimes with contraband. It is a show like "Cops," that focuses entirely on "one of the hottest of hot-button issues in the country." Early episodes show drug smugglers in Washington State and undocumented workers lost in the Arizona desert. Critics are labeling the show, which debuts Jan. 6, as propaganda. Executive producer Arnold Shapiro acknowledges the show will paint the Dept. of Homeland Security …

The TV ad tug of war has begun. Media buyers are asking TV networks to roll back advertising prices, both in the current scatter market and for ad time booked during the 2008 upfront. But network executives say there's enough demand in the market to keep prices near where they have been since the May upfront. "Every client in town is trying to push every network to see if they can get lower pricing -- we'll see what the market bears," says Andy Donchin, Carat director. So far there's been little movement. Cable sales executives say that in …