For years, ABC, NBC and CBS insisted that network integration fees were necessary to cover the cost of inserting ads into programming. Now those networks have agreed to phase them out. Talks between media agencies and the networks to ditch the fees began over the summer. The deals were wrapped up two weeks ago. So far, GroupM has made the most progress, negotiating with the three nets to eliminate fees for clients at all four of its media shops-MindShare, Mediaedge:cia, MediaCom and Maxus.< MediaVest cut deals to eliminate ABC's fees for a majority of its clients, but …

Philip Balboni, chief of Boston-based Global News Enterprises, hopes to build the next great global news organization. The test version is slated for launch this fall, with a full-scale debut in January. He's signed up 40 correspondents and five editors so far, including Politico's Barbara Martinez as a managing editor. Next he will line up reporters in Asia and Eastern Europe. His bait: the lure of ownership. None of the journalists will be full-time employees. Instead, they will get equity stakes (not stock options) and a five-year guarantee of about $1,000 a month. Correspondents will report to regional …

The National Enquirer, "one of the most dangerous creatures in American media," has one clear advantage over the mainstream media: Its editorial judgment has never been clouded by a sense of civic duty. "Big news organizations tell people what they think they should be interested in, whereas we give them stories they are interested in," says an insider. The simple explanation is that most of its revenues are derived not from advertisers, but from single copies bought at newsstands. The Enquirer has always been driven solely by the need to move copies, serving as an unwavering barometer of …

Stores and restaurants around the world are starting to use new technology in digital point-of-sale ads for real-time promotions, instantly tailoring their sales pitches to match individual customers' selections and changes in product availability. Aroma Espresso cafes say sales of items featured on its targeted display screens have increased up to 68%. YCD Multimedia, an Israeli company run by a former DoubleClick exec, is testing tiny in-store cameras that scan shoppers' faces to determine their sex, race and approximate age, and then flash appropriately targeted ads. The test includes undisclosed U.S. retailers. Why put such ads in …

Because Web traffic numbers fluctuate widely depending on the source, MTV, NBC and other TV networks have signed on to use online measurement tools from 2-year-old Quantcast, as a viable alternative to traditional services such as Nielsen and comScore. Quantcast differs from the other services in that it delivers demographic data on a daily basis, along with the more commonplace Web-streaming and unique-viewer figures. Other methods don't report demographic data until at least one month later, says Alan Wurtzel, NBC research chief. NBC used Quantcast during the Olympics to glean the demographic breakdown of its online users. …

General Motors, which lost $15 billion in the last quarter, plans to cut its digital-media budget after dramatically increasing it in the past few years. Mark LaNeve, marketing executive, says GM "is going to pull back slightly in all media types" in 2009. In each of the last two years, GM pulled back on TV spending and beefed up digital. Unlike in prior years, the automaker will not advertise during the Super Bowl in 2009. A month ago, GM also dropped out of its longtime sponsorship of the 2009 Academy Awards. Two months ago, GM's CEO Rick …

Two weeks ago, the New York Sun told readers it was on the verge of shutting down unless it can quickly find some new investors. Now managing editor Ira Stoll says the paper's future is "a very fluid situation that will be resolved quickly." He notes that plenty of politicians have come out in support, most recently Congressman Anthony Weiner, who praised the paper on the floor of the House of Representatives. As a result, even though Sun employees are bracing for a Sept. 29 shutdown date, Stoll says that's not yet a foregone conclusion: "There is …