• ABC Sells Out Ads For 2014 Oscars
    Ad inventory for ABC's March 2 broadcast of the Academy Awards is all sold out, according to sources  cited by Brian Steinberg, with record fees ranging from $1.8 to $1.9 million for a 30-second spot.  This year's show had rates from $1.65 million to $1.8 million.
  • 'Philadephia Inquirer' Co-Owner Offers To Buy Out Adversary
    George Norcross, co-owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, has offered to buy out his partners and adversaries, Lewis Katz and H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest, for $29 million. "Katz summarily rejected the notion in a brief telephone interview, but indicated he'd be open to an idea proposed by the Newspaper Guild that the warring sides bring in an 'impartial industry expert' to run Interstate General Media, the company that owns the Inquirer, Daily News, and Philly.com.," writes Dave Davies.
  • Time Inc. Signs On To Flipboard; Has Masthead Shuffle
    Time Inc. will put its magazine content on mobile news aggregation app Flipboard, starting this week with People and InStyle. This despite the fact that "some publishers have pulled out of Flipboard, questioning its value as a revenue driver," writes Lucia Moses. In other news, the publisher just announced a masthead shuffle that includes the exit of longtime editor in chief Martha Nelson. Norm Pearlstine, who had formerly held Nelson's position, is coming back to Time Inc. in the newly created role of executive vice president and chief content officer.
  • 'Consumer Reports' Faces Uphill Battles
    Consumer Reports has been losing money since 2011, facing such challenges as an aging readership (and seeming inability to attract younger readers) and digital competition from the likes of Amazon user reviews. Jim Romenesko goes deep, interviewing many current and former employees to provide an excellent insider look at how the pub is attempting to change course.
  • 'Bloomberg Businessweek' Cover Deftly Depicts Obamacare Website Fail
    Gee, it's like Bloomberg Businessweek had some trouble finishing its Obamacare cover this week.
  • 'People' Mag Sets TV Special For Late 2014
    People magazine is partnering with Dick Clark Productions for a two-hour TV special set to air on NBC in late 2014 that will focus on such topics as the Biggest Phenomenon of 2014, the Most Stylish Person, the Funniest Person and the Sexiest Woman of 2014.
  • 'Closer' Mag Debuts
    A newsstand pub devoted to positive news about celebrities 40-plus women grew up with, Bauer Publishing's Closer magazine launch "flies in the face of industry trends," writes Lucia Moses. "Single-copy magazine sales have been declining for years, falling 10 percent in the most recent reporting period." Still, "Bauer executives said that they believe Closer will succeed because it’s got a huge target market to draw from, namely, 75 million women over 40, who are underserved by other celeb weeklies."
  • CBS News Considering 24-Hour Digital Video Service
    CBS News is "quietly developing" a digital video project that would probably stream content 24/7 from the network onto mobile devices and online video platforms, according to anonymous sources cited by Peter Lauria. "The service under development would be separate and distinct from both other CBS News-branded and show-specific (i.e., 60 Minutes) websites and apps."
  • Tom Wheeler Confirmed As FCC Chief
    The Senate confirmed nominations of two officials of the Federal Communications Commission, including Tom Wheeler as chairman, a nom earlier blocked by Republican Ted Cruz. Second official to be confirmed was Michael O'Rielly as a commissioner, which filled the two "seats that have been empty since the previous chairman and a Republican member announced their resignations in March, writes Edward Wyatt.
  • Disney Trumps TV Rivals In Social Reach
    Disney's TV networks are solidly beating their rivals when it comes to social media reach, interacting with 3,434,668 unique individuals in September, according to a Dachis Group study. "The company also reportedly has the most 'shareable' content of any of the networks studied, with almost 5.7 million shares in the period between September 1 and October 1, 2013," writes Todd Gilchrist.
« Previous Entries