• 'Rachael Ray' Squeezes Sub Dollars As Meredith Takes Over
    If this trend continues, next September’s issue of Vogue could fulfill my entire annual subscription!  The November issue of Every Day With Rachael Ray seemed so successful, according to its publisher -- 322 ideas, 121 recipes and 40-plus bonus pages -- that it was counted as two issues for subscribers.  The news, contained in a letter enclosed in the issue, didn’t sit too well with many recipients, so financially stressed Reader’s Digest Association agreed to extend the subscriptions of those who complained.  Those subscription -- and any lingering bad feelings -- will now be handed over to Meredith Corp., which …
  • YouTube Preps 100 Original Channels With Partners Including WSJ, Reuters & Hearst
    Google made the announcement late Friday, so if you were busy over the weekend, you may have missed the details about YouTube’s upcoming $100 million launch of 100 channels of original programming.  David Cohen of Interpublic’s UM tells the Journal that the channels represent the Internet’s “most audacious original programming initiative” ever, but Google said it is trying to complement, not replace broadcast TV or cable.   On the other hand, Google is hoping to get ad rates approaching those two media. Some of the partners for news- and culture-related channels include Thomson Reuters, the Journal itself, and Hearst Corp., …
  • Queen Latifah To Enter Syndie Talk Show Wars
    Sony Pictures Television is preparing to syndicate a Queen Latifah talk show for fall 2013, reports Nellie Andreeva.     Latifah’s own company Flavor Unit will co-produce with Overbrook Entertainment, whose Will Smith, James Lassiter, and Jada Pinkett Smith will serve as exec producers with her.  Sony opted to skip launching the show in fall 2012, the period when talkers from Katie Couric, Steve Harvey, Trisha Goddard, Bethanny Frankel, Jeff Probst and Ricki Lake are already vying for station carriage.  Like Lake, Latifah has been through this before – Telepictures’ “Queen Latifah Show” lasted two seasons after launching in 1999.
  • How Newspapers Can Move Beyond The Paywall Sandbag
      Calling paywalls a “sandbag” strategy designed to shore up print circulation and advertising, Matthew Ingram offers examples of some actual growth strategies that newspapers can take in the digital age: from publishing e-books and running real-world events to licensing their data and information to developers and other third parties via an open API (application programming interface).
  • Washington Post Creates New Post To Represent Consumer Voice
    The Washington Post has created a new position -- CXO, or Chief Experience Officer -- “to strengthen the voice of the consumer in our product development and execution," writes Publisher Katharine Weymouth in a memo quoted here by Jim Romenesko. Former Post Chief Researcher Laura Evans will take on the job -- which may not be a full-time one, since she has also been promoted to vice president of research. But she will vet "new products and major changes to existing products," notes Romenesko. Why a CXO? "In a day when we have evolved to a 24/7 news operation publishing …
  • The Best Cable News Show You May Never Have Heard Of
    David Sirota writes about a rare show on a major cable news network that dares to go beyond the genre’s usual red vs. blue partisan politics. Hosted by Chris Hayes and airing on MSNBC, the program avoids the “vapid pundits” and “homogenized topics” that pervade the field in favor of “more expansive discussions with voices typically deemed too unconventional, provocative or dangerous to be allowed anywhere near a television set,” Sirota says.  Sounds provocative, but set the alarm clock -- or DVR -- if you want to check out the show. MSNBC airs “Up With Chris Hayes” Saturday and Sunday …
  • A Local Look At The Clear Channel Clearing
    In light of radio giant Clear Channel’s purging of local on-air personalities in small and mid-sized markets across the country, here’s one example of how the move can affect one of those communities.   Clear Channel, which owns five stations in Syracuse N.Y., canceled 27-year-veteran talk show host Jim Reith’s show on WSYR in favor of syndicated fare, including Sean Hannity.  Reith’s departure apparently leaves Syracuse with no daily local talk radio show, although another talk station in the market -- one of four local outlets owned by Cumulus Media, the second largest radio station group behind Clear Channel -- …
  • World Series Game 7 Brings Network Dilemmas
    Last night's 11-inning Word Series game 6, with its continual upsets and several last-minute comebacks for the winning St. Louis Cardinals, was arguably one for the record books  -- and definitely great television. But now that there's a game 7 (which should draw increased ratings with such an exciting lead-in) set for tonight, other networks face a counter-programming dilemma. CBS has already decided to replace new episodes of its Friday night dramas -- "CSI: NY,"  "A Gifted Man" and "Blue Bloods" -- with repeats of the first two shows, plus a rerun "CSI:Miami." But NBC, which already pushed …
  • DirecTV Launches Live Home Streaming On iPads
    DirecTV subscribers can now watch 38 channels on their iPads at home, thanks to the company's just-released upgrade to its free iPad app. Among those channels are TBS, TNT, USA, Bravo, MSNBC and CNN. Conspicuously absent: any Viacom channels. Viacom earlier sued Cablevision and Time Warner Cable for similar TV streaming apps, which the programmer claimed violated distribution agreements.
  • Mags Team Up With Other Media
    Noting the attempts of such magazine publishers as Conde Nast and Hearst to team up with Dawn Ostroff and Mark Burnett respectively to diversify their print brands into television, video and even feature films, Jason Colazzo points out the failures of earlier efforts in that direction -- such as Hearst’s venture with A&E and Time/TLC’s “Real Simple, Real Life.”  On the other hand, a relationship between Conde Nast and Home Shopping Network has been flourishing since 2008, with the recent addition of a Bon Appetit line of culinary products. 
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