John Koten, CEO of Mansueto Ventures, owner of Inc. and Fast Company, worries that his magazines are particularly sensitive to the recent credit crunch. "We're writing for fast-growth companies, and they need credit to maintain their growth. If they can't expand, they are going to be hurt." As a result, instead of the 20% of revenue growth expected this year, Koten is seeing about 10%. "We put a lot of investment in digital media based on expectations of growing digital income, but we are turning back now because the next six-to-12 months are uncertain." He says the …

Harper's Bazaar closed its Los Angeles and San Francisco sales offices this week and hired an outside firm to handle ad sales on the West Coast. The magazine trimmed positions in its merchandising division last week. "Harper's Bazaar hired a firm to manage sales on the West Coast. We think it's a smart decision - given that we've had growth in paging and share," says a magazine rep. No sales jobs in New York were affected. Hearst is joining other publishers in trying to trim its cost structure. President Cathie Black is going "floor by floor" at …

?Will the struggling financial sector be the savior for the struggling newspaper sector? The New York Times Co. reported a dismal third-quarter yesterday with declining advertising revenue, slowing online ad growth, and a possible dividend cut. By late in the day S&P downgraded the company's debt to junk. But at the same time, traffic to NYTimes.com has soared because of the financial crisis, as readers seek updated news. And one of the best performing sectors in ad sales in the last few months has been, yes, the troubled financial-services sector. Banks and related companies sought to reassure their …

MPG is showing that it is not afraid to gamble. It is introducing a new consumer research tool, called Resonance, by using it to predict the presidential election. The tool says Obama will win with 57% of the popular vote in battleground states. McCain will get 43%. The surprisingly specific forecast is based on data processed through social-network modeling. Resonance tabulated the responses of 1,200 "likely" voters who were quizzed about candidate trust, leadership and consistency. The tool also examined views being expressed on blogs and the media strategies the candidates are likely to use during the rest …

Sports Illustrated Kids is hoping that 3-D content will revive ad sales for its magazine the way 3-D movies help boost ticket sales. Many photos and half the ads in the Time Inc. title's November NBA preview issue are in 3-D. Photographer David Klutho, who shot the 3-D content, also shot the photos in SI Kids' new book, "In Your Face 3-D," which is being released in conjunction with the special magazine issue. So far, the 3-D stunt has helped lift ad pages nearly 26%. In general, kids' magazines have fought a tough battle for ad pages as …

News Corp. COO Peter Chernin warns of the danger an upcoming Supreme Court case could pose to First Amendment freedoms. The case, slated for Nov. 4, stems from the FCC's attempt to clamp down on fleeting expletives uttered in live, unscripted programming. The FCC had ruled that Fox stations' airing of Nicole Richie's and Cher's profane comments during a live awards broadcast in 2002 and 2003 was indecent. The FCC ruling was overturned in a lower court, and it is going to the high court to get the ruling reinstated. "If we are found in violation, just think …

Insiders say Time Inc. CEO Ann Moore will reverse her decision to step down in 18 months, preferring to stay in charge though the industry downturn, including a new round of expected layoffs. Most of the cuts are likely to be centered in New York, where the company has about 3,500 employees. On the plus side, Moore can boast that Time Inc. is getting about 15% of its revenue from digital operations, which is far more than its rivals. By sticking around, Moore also hopes to expand cross-magazine sharing on the editorial side. As a sign of …

Fox news has signed up Bill O'Reilly for another tour of duty. The pugnacious pundit says that he signed the contract despite what he sees as a constant assault on his reputation. The deal is for four years at more than $10 million a year. After re-signing Sean Hannity and luring Glen Beck from CNN in recent weeks, Fox has now solidified a conservative lineup that has kept the channel's ratings high. "The O'Reilly Factor" has been the top-rated program in cable news for nearly eight years, averaging more than 4 million viewers nightly since last month. …

This fall, popular broadcast-TV shows are seeing their audiences jump by more than one-third when you include people who record the shows and watch them later on DVRs. But even with those viewers added, fewer people overall are watching the big broadcast networks. During the first two weeks of the TV season, an average of 9 million people watched prime-time programming live and within seven days. That's down 6.6% from last year, per Nielsen. Bigger problems ahead include the growing popularity of broadcast TV shows on Internet services like Apple's iTunes, which are "training the …