• Newsweek's Crazy-Eyed Michele, Ghost Diana: Covers Generate Buzz More Than Sales
    Have the recent designed-for-controversy Newsweek covers championed by editor Tina Brown (Michele Bachmann looking slightly crazed, Diana come back from the dead to pose at 50) actually boosted newsstand sales for the ailing publication?Not significantly, according to Lucia Moses. "Though to be fair, given the current state of weekly newsmagazines, just keeping sales from dropping might be seen as a victory (of sorts)," she writes.
  • Carl Icahn Will NOT Be The New Owner Of Lionsgate
    Carl Icahn has ended his long-running quest to gain control of Lionsgate Studios, agreeing to sell almost of all of his 33% share in the company. Both Icahn and the movie/TV studio also agreed to drop pending lawsuits against the other.
  • Shades Of 'Baywatch': Why Is 'Jiggle TV' Returning Now?
    Tim Kenneally analyzes "the resurgence of Jiggle TV" for the fall season, with multiple shows showcasing actresses in skimpy clothes and subservient roles, from "Pan Am" to "The Playboy Club." Why the return to shows sure to provoke Gloria Steinem, who in fact called for a boycott of "Playboy Club"? Kenneally posits several reasons, from backlash against women's gains in society, and the urge to return to comforting, simpler (yet misogynistic) times because of economic uncertainty. Or maybe because "the industry remains mostly male, and these programs may reflect the behind-the-scenes gender ratios," notes Martha M. Lauzen, …
  • NYT, Google, Launch 9/11-Themed YouTube Channel
    The New York Times and Google have teamed up to create "Reflections on 9/11: 10 Years Later," a YouTube video channel commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Content now includes archived broadcasts from September 2011, along with unique features from the Times; crowdsourced personal stories and clips will appear on the infamous day.
  • News International Reviews Journalistic Standards Across Empire
    Rupert Murdoch's scandal-hit News International confirmed Tuesday it is reviewing journalistic standards across the company. A source says the review includes the 226-year-old Times, its sister-publication the Sunday Times, and The Sun, Britain's biggest-selling daily. Allegations of wrongdoing at other U.K. newspapers have since spread a cloud of suspicion over the entire U.K. media industry. The publishers of the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail, which both compete with Murdoch's papers, have announced their own, separate reviews of editorial procedure in the wake of the scandal. In a statement, News International said its internal review was launched "a number …
  • Cable Stocks Benefit From Dow Rise
    A day after Hurricane Irene hit the East Coast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 250 points -- and cable stocks benefited from the upswing. The Dow finished at 11,539.25 points on Monday, up nearly 255 points, driven mainly by gains in insurance stocks. Various cable stocks went for the ride: Charter Communications up 4.4%; Cablevision Systems up 3.8%; Comcast up 3.3%; and Time Warner Cable up 2.4%. Satellite stocks also posted gains, with Dish Network up 4.8% and DirecTV up 2.5%.
  • Publicis' Levy: 'I'm Not A Masochist'
    "I am not a masochist," Publics Chairman-CEO Maurice Levy says in a guest column published by the Financial Times. Levy says he was inspired like other super rich industrialists, singling out the "sage of Omaha," Warren Buffet, that it is time for the rich to pay higher taxes.
  • Beyonce's Baby Bump Sets Twitter Record
    Not only did the MTV VMA's score its highest rated telecast ever, with 12.4 million viewers, but it also set Twitter a flutter. When Beyonce Knowles took the stage to perform and rubbed her pregnant belly, Twitter recorded a record breaking 8,868 tweets per second.
  • Product Placement Big In Telenovelas
    Viewers who watched Telemundo's telenovela "Mi Corazón Insiste" saw a new type of cliffhanger last week. It directed them to a Web site with exclusive content sponsored by JPMorgan Chase. Both Telemundo and Univision, are lining up more ad opportunities to incorporate products into their telenovelas. The twist is the campaigns take the products from the telenovela to the Web and mobile devices. In the Corazón campaign, viewers can watch "webvelas" featuring parallel story lines with original content. The mini-Web series, which will be called "Y Vuelvo a Ti," features the characters paying for a meal using a …
  • Weather Channel Is News For Some, Funny To Others
    Non-stop coverage of Hurricane Irene was the Weather Channel's forte and, with an especially wide storm system, it affected a humongous number of people on the East Coast. Therefore, TV images of reporters standing surfside served as a warning to some, as entertainment for others. All of the major television networks extended hours of news programming over the weekend; they knew that although some viewers laughed at images of reporters being blown over by winds, they were definitely watching. They were accused by many of overhyping the storm, but as the longtime anchor for NBC's New York …
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