While Time magazine is facing some of its own survival problems, it is examining how to keep newspapers from becoming extinct. The problem is that news organizations are "merrily giving away" their news to growing hordes of young online readers. "I am hoping that this year will see the dawn of the bold, old idea of news organizations charging users for their services and journalism," writes Walter Isaacson. The key to attracting online revenue is to come up with an iTunes-easy method of micropayment. Needed is something like digital coins or an E-ZPass - a one-click system with …

News Corp. is expected to trim jobs at its London and New York newspapers in the coming weeks, including The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ, which so far has avoided deep cuts in the newsroom, is expected to lose about 25 positions, or 3% of editorial jobs, through attrition, voluntary departures and possible layoffs. News Corp. is in the final stages of an efficiency review conducted by the Boston Consulting Group and could cut some 2.5% of its staff, although new posts may be created. The expected reductions pale in comparison with cuts being made across the rest …

Financial news network Bloomberg Television pulled the plug on its "Night Talk" program and said goodbye to longtime anchor Mike Schneider, whose final program was Monday. Additional staff cuts and TV programming changes are expected as part of a restructuring of Bloomberg News' multimedia group, which includes Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Radio. Bloomberg News has expanded aggressively in recent years and until now has avoided the cutbacks that have plagued other news organizations. Four months ago, Andrew Lack, a former NBC and CBS executive, was hired to manage Bloomberg TV and radio and shake up the operations. …

Virtually every annual award show has suffered annual audience erosion. The Oscars, Grammys and many other award shows on broadcast TV have suffered their lowest or near-lowest ratings in 2008 or 2009. Brad Adgate, senior vice president at Horizon Media, points out that some of the problems faced by these shows are obvious. The shows are too long, there is a glut of award shows, many of the nominees are too obscure, and too much time is spent on less-prestigious categories. Other challenges are growing. The current median age of award programs proves that younger viewers …

NBC squeezed in a record total of 84 spots from the opening kickoff to the final whistle of the Super Bowl, totaling just over 45 minutes in ad time. The past four years' Super Bowls (which aired on NBC, Fox, CBS, and ABC respectively) now occupy the top four slots in terms of most in-game commercial time in the game's history, according to TNS Media. At the same time, this year's game was the most watched Super Bowl in history, according to Nielsen's updated final national ratings. General Electric, NBC's parent company, contributed 2:30 of advertising time …

Drug companies, as well as the television stations and magazines that subsist on drug ad dollars, are concerned about the future of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ads. The U.S. is one of only two countries that permit them (New Zealand is the other). President Obama has vowed to fight Big Pharma to lower drug costs and the Democratic Congress includes several anti-DTC advocates. But the worries may be overblown. The DTC issue is unlikely to be dealt with until weeks or months after Obama names a nominee for FDA commissioner. Plus, some of DTC's most vocal critics in Congress aren't calling …

After enjoying a string of successful series launches, TNT is struggling with its latest entry, ad agency drama "Trust Me." The show scored just 1.9 million viewers in the 10 p.m. slot Monday. That represented a significant retreat from the show's Jan. 26 premiere, which drew 3.4 million viewers. Reviews for "Trust Me" have been mixed. Since launching "The Closer" in 2005, TNT has introduced only a few new series that didn't gain renewal for a second campaign. The network's successes over that span have all gotten off to strong starts, with "Saving Grace" premiering to 6.4 million …