When it comes to predicting print demise, there is an online site that charts potential victims: "magazinedeathpool.com." Launched in February of last year, it is a run by an anonymous well-versed insider who styles himself or herself the Grim Reaper -- and has a good track record of picking the next books to go down. Among the site's current favorites for early departures are Business 2.0 and Condé Nast's new Portfolio. So far, the site has forecast virtually all of this past year's major closings, including Life, Premiere, Shop Etc., and Jane. All had been publicly struggling, …

Ann Curry, Natalie Morales and Hoda Kotb will host the new fourth hour of NBC's "Today," insiders say, and the trio will be joined by a rotation of guest hosts, including Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis and New York Giants running back Tiki Barber. The additional hour of the show will launch Sept. 11 and main anchors Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer will not be part of it. Curry is "Today's" news-anchor and a co-host of prime-time newsmagazine "Dateline," while Morales is a national correspondent on the show who frequently fills in at the news desk. Kotb, a …

Merv Griffin, a former talk-show host turned billionaire from his investments in real estate and the creation of games shows like "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune" died Sunday of prostate cancer at the age of 82. Griffin spent 23 years hosting an eponymous talk show that was often the most successful syndicated program on American TV. He also owned 17 hotels at his peak, along with casinos in Atlantic City and the Bahamas. Says former U.S. First Lady Nancy Reagan, who knew him for 50 years and sought his comfort after the death of her husband, "He was …

Cable television, long a favorite of summer audiences bored by broadcast networks that seem to be on vacation, have come into their own. A pack of channels have scored big wins thus far, with original shows like "The Closer" and "Saving Grace" on TNT; "Army Wives" on Lifetime; Damages" on FX; and "Mad Men" on AMC. All have been both critically acclaimed and popular with viewers -- and all are on basic cable rather than premium channels. "We're at the tipping point," says Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment. "It's our belief that we and the other basic cable …

A new campaign by Nike, from agency Wieden+Kennedy, could pave the way for transforming DVRs from ad-skipping devices into a method for advertisers to actually engage their consumers. Nike is using interactive TV tools to forge a new "Quick is Deadly" campaign for both broadcast and Dish Network DVRs, in which 22 minutes of video are downloaded in the background to a DVR drive. When a Nike ad appears on any of 15 nets, like ESPN and MTV, the viewer gets an invitation to go interactive and can then look at additional content, such as short videos, games or long-form …

ABC has ordered a summer pilot in the form of an untitled multi-camera comedy starring "Cedric the Entertainer." The new project has Cedric as the longtime breadwinner who has to adjust when his wife's hobby turns into a multimillion-dollar vocation. With the pickup, ABC joins the other big nets as they grab pilots -- and pitches -- ahead of a potential writers strike. ABC also seems to be looking back to its one-time base of comedies, like "Roseanne," and "Home Improvement," and to edgier shows, going with new half-hour series like "Samantha Who?" "Carpoolers" and "Cavemen." …

CNN and Nancy Grace want a judge to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses the TV host of inciting the mom of a missing toddler to commit suicide, claiming that a wrongful death action brought by Melinda Duckett's family would "severely chill" coverage of missing-persons cases. "The law does not permit people to recover money from reporters who ask routine questions while covering ongoing stories of national significance to the public," writes lawyer Judith Mercier. Duckett was on Grace's show last year after her son Trenton disappeared, and Grace accused her of hiding something because she did not take a …

Newspapers need to plan for the resulting automotive ad trends, which relate to the oil situation. For instance, higher fuel prices can lead to less driving, which means people keep their cars longer. A recent survey found that those who bought a car in the last year intend to hold onto it for eight years, compared with seven years in 2006, and just four years back in the 1980s. ' That trend presages a steep decline in auto sales and with multiple vendors trying to get their share of the shrinking market, newspapers might see some short-term increase in …

Nascar is making a push to attract more Hispanic fans with marketing and promotional efforts to bring more of them -- and interested sponsors -- to the track. Currently, only about 9% of the racing circuit's fans are Hispanic vs. 16% for the NBA, 13% for the NFL and 12.9% for Major League Baseball. (All trail Major League Soccer, with a whopping 35%.) In the last few years, Nascar has launched the Mexico Corona Series and an annual Busch Series race in Mexico City. It also has a "Drive for Diversity" program to develop African American, Hispanic and …

While it has recently reorganized to focus more on digital, Carat's new boss Sara Fay says that traditional media will be still be respected at the agency. Last week, Carat USA and interactive shop Carat Fusion, were combined under Fay, who also runs parent company Aegis Group's digital marketing arm. But she stresses that a new structure doesn't mean any big changes in how the agency spends client money. "This move is about making TV more accountable and more impactful," she says. "It's not about cutting into budgets." Rather, it is an attempt to bring the various …