GroupM North America has laid off 93 people, or about 2.7% of its staff, as the economic pall continues to pummel ad budgets. The cuts were across-the-board, affecting all four GroupM companies -- Mediaedge:cia, MediaCom, Mindshare, and Maxus -- as well as corporate staff. The cuts included a wide range of digital and traditional positions across all accounts. Most of those let go were in New York, since GroupM operations are concentrated here. Numerous senior-level employees were dismissed, including directors, account managing directors, and supervisors. At least 20 of those affected came from GroupM's digital ranks. GroupM agencies …

Pali Research analyst Rich Greenfield has been a longtime advocate for News Corp., but those days are over. He cut his recommendation on the company from a "Buy" to a "Sell" due to CEO Rupert Murdoch's "lack of strategic direction related to News Corp's television station, newspaper and book publishing assets." Greenfield sees News Corp. as two different business groups. Its film studio, cable networks and MySpace are good assets, and its broadcast TV and newspaper units are bad assets. He once thought the bad group would wither away without pulling down the rest of the company, but …

A group of newspaper executives has launched a communications campaign to promote the importance of newspapers to the public, to the marketplace and to democracy. Called the "Newspaper Project," the group uses www.newspaperproject.org to provide feature stories and commentary about the value of newspapers, and share tips among publishers about how they can cope with tough times. This week the group unveils print and online ads hyping the fact that American newspapers and their Web sites daily reach 100 million people. The ads will appear in major newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and in scores …

Print and TV advertisers may be feeling the pain of lost auto ad dollars, but auto is a growing category for cinema. Car companies are increasingly turning to movie theaters as a primary medium for advertising their new launches. Both Screenvision and National CineMedia, which are running national schedules for Nissan and Kia, expect the auto category to be up in 2009. For Nissan, cinema advertising is the core element of its marketing for the 370Z, reinforced with only a smattering of network TV spots. "Cinema is the broad-reach medium. It is more conducive to a spring and …

Working up to the last minute, NBC, host of Super Bowl XLIII, sold all its advertising spots at a record $206 million, even as some longtime advertisers pulled out. The network also set a record for pre-game through post-game ad revenue with $261 million, says Jeff Zucker, NBC Universal CEO. "These advertising milestones show the power of the NFL brand and the Super Bowl as a TV property in this economic climate," he says. Thirty-two advertisers were represented during the game. Missing were previous advertisers General Motors and FedEx, which said their financial situations prevented them from investing …

American Media, publisher of the National Enquirer, Star and Shape, has barely managed to stay out of Chapter 11. After weeks of feverish negotiations, the company's bondholders reached a bailout agreement that cuts $227 million off the company's debt. Under the agreement, bondholders who originally put in $600 million will now get only about half that in newly issued debt that doesn't come due until 2013. CEO David Pecker retains his position but will be dealing with a new board of directors. "This is a new beginning for American Media. It gives us the flexibility and freedom we need," …