Steven Murphy is the first non-family member to be CEO of Rodale, the $750 million publisher. Under Murphy, the company finished last year with a 5% decrease in ad pages, compared with an industry average 12% loss. How did they do it? To a large degree, Rodale uses nearly-free content as marketing for its paid content. The magazines, while they do cost a little money, mainly serve as marketing for the books. "Approximately 42% of our subscribers have bought something else from us in the past 12 months, says Murphy. Rather than a magazine or book company, he …

VH1's improv comedy "Free Radio" is building customized placement for Burger King and Kia Motors into the narrative of the offbeat show. First up is the fast-food giant. Beginning April 9, Burger King will be featured in four episodes of "Free Radio," culminating in a sweepstakes giveaway. The brand first pops up when Lance, the dimwitted host of the KBOM radio show-within-a-show, yells out copy for a live read. He then says "yelling is the most effective form of radio advertising." Another comic in the show-within-a-show will set up the sweepstakes. She alerts listeners of the fake …

After 118 years, JWT is shutting down its Chicago office. The international advertising agency cited the "difficult economic period" for its decision. The storied JWT Chicago outpost at one time had more than 800 employees. But its fate has been in question since 2007, when JWT lost its largest client, Kraft Foods. The Chicago office is expected to officially close this week and about 50 employees are expected to lose their jobs. JWT's Kimberly-Clark business and Nestlé work will be handled out of the shop's flagship office in New York. Over the years, the Chicago office pumped …

News Corp. Chief Rupert Murdoch offered a gloomy outlook on the economy, media and current tech challenges at the cable TV industry's largest annual gathering this week. Murdoch agreed with the widely held conclusion that abundant free content online is breaking the media industry's business models. "People are used to reading everything on the net for free, and that's going to have to change," he warned. He went on to question whether newspapers should continue to allow aggregators, like Google, distribute newspaper content without being paid for it. "If you have a brand like The New York Times …

You have to appreciate the irony in this. Eric Schmidt will keynote the Newspaper Association of America's annual convention this year. As CEO of Google, Schmidt runs the search and advertising company that many newspaper people blame for sucking up advertising dollars from their struggling papers. (Or worse. See Murdoch story above.) Google also is the company that deep-sixed its program to sell newspaper advertising because it didn't make enough money. All that ought to make for a interesting time at the April 7 confab in San Diego, as "21st Century" Schmidt faces a potentially hostile crowd of …

A.H. Belo Corp., owner of The Dallas Morning News and other daily newspapers, will cut employee salaries next month by up to 15%. Robert W. Decherd, Belo's chairman and CEO, will take a 20% reduction in his base salary. The salary reductions, which will begin in May 1, will save the company more than $10 million a year. In addition, Belo said it would suspend its 2009 pension supplement, which would normally be made in 2010, preserving about $6 million in cash next year. Salary reductions will be made on a sliding scale, ranging from 15% for …

Charles Schwab, one of the only financial-services companies not to take any federal bailout money, has put its $100 million media planning and buying account up for review. The business includes both traditional and digital media. Omnicom's PHD has accepted the invitation to defend the account. Contenders include Universal McCann and Aegis' Carat. Charles Schwab consolidated media buying and planning under PHD in 2005. Mike Naughton, Schwab's vice president of media, says that changes in the media landscape since 2005 are one reason for the review. "Media is rapidly evolving and new technologies have created a lot …

The Golden Globe Awards will air live across the United States for the first time next year, meaning viewers in Hollywood and the rest of the the West Coast won't have to wait three hours to see what the Hollywood stars wore. The Oscars already air live across the United States. The time delay seems a quaint vestige of a simpler time, but the music industry's Grammys and television's Emmys still adhere to three-hour time delays. The Golden Globes will be held on Sunday, January 17 at 5 p.m. PST on NBC. The Golden Globes are produced …

In frugal times, more shoppers are making lists before they reach the store. Digital signage has gained traction in influencing those planned purchases, says a Miller Zell report. Digital signs, however, do not influence impulse, unplanned purchases, per the report. Miller Zell polled 999 consumers in March. Among the findings: Internet ads have little impact on either planned or unplanned purchases. In addition, price-focused messaging is age sensitive. Baby Boomers, for example, prefer product-orientated messages to price-point messages.

The Osbourne family's variety special, "Osbournes: Reloaded" will not air or will be buried in late night in about 11% of the country. At least 16 Fox TV stations refused to air the debut of the Osbourne show this week after seeing previews of it. An additional 10 Fox stations moved the show out of prime time and into the wee hours of the morning -- as late as 1:35 a.m. Fox has ordered six episodes of "Osbournes: Reloaded," but has scheduled only this first one, taking a wait-and-see approach. Stations that pulled the special include those in Cincinnati; …