Private equity pioneer Warren Hellman has organized a team of business and media experts to develop a new, sustainable model for newspaper journalism, starting with Hearst's San Francisco Chronicle. Hellman, who is based in San Francisco, said the group is exploring options that could have implications throughout the news media industry. He is positioning the tech- and innovation-friendly Bay Area as a potential epicenter for efforts to revitalize daily and Web journalism. After studying the issues in depth for two months, "we will pursue the options that make the most sense," he says. The team includes Andrew …

Many people have no clue just how Nielsen collects data from consumers because the company shrouds its process in secrecy. Media columnist Joef Adalian was one of those in the dark -- until his mother was recently sent a Nielsen diary to track her viewing. He says that among the surprising steps in the diary process is requesting participants to list every channel they get on their TV and the city from which the station originates. It's an odd request in an era in which the average TV consumer has access to more than 100 channels. He also …

USA Network's year-long ratings winning streak has been broken by TNT. An epic first-round NBA playoff series helped the Turner network secure its first ratings crown of 2009. In live-plus-same-day ratings data, TNT averaged 3.45 million total viewers during the week ended May 3, besting its rival by some 600,000 viewers, per Nielsen. TNT also served up 1.9 million viewers aged 18-49 and 967,000 viewers 18-34. In the opening-round NBA playoff series, the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls notched a record seven overtime periods in seven games. Saturday's clincher delivered 7 million viewers. The deciding game …

DirecTV added 460,000 net new subscribers in the first quarter -- its highest quarterly U.S. user gain in four years. As a result, the satellite TV company is raising its 2009 subscriber growth estimate from the mid-800,000 range to more than 1 million. The company reports that first-quarter revenue rose 7% to $4.9 billion as U.S. net subscriber gains rose 67% over the year-ago period. DirecTV's U.S. user base was 18 million at the end of March. But those new users were expensive. The company also reported first-quarter net income fell 46% to $201 million and operating …

ABC unveiled a new online "music lounge" this week that offers a full menu of songs and artists featured on its shows. The Web site features a streaming "radio station" playing 200-plus singers and bands whose songs have been heard on ABC, as well as Web pages for featured artists and a link for online song purchases. ABC Music Lounge's debut coincided with the 100th episode of "Grey's Anatomy" yesterday. To mark the occasion, the Web site offered a retrospective of the music featured throughout the drama's run. The Music Lounge is another measure of the growing importance …

After a prolonged decline, the long-suffering "vertically integrated media conglomerate," commonly called Big Media, seems to be passing away. It endured as the industry's prevailing business model for nearly a generation, spawning Viacom, News Corp and NBC Universal. But it essentially failed in its goal of giving a handful of companies unprecedented power and outsized profits. In the prime example of Big Media's demise, a scaled-down Time Warner will soon be left as a sharply focused, purebred content company comprised of filmed entertainment and news brands. Basically, it will be a corporate reincarnation of its original form. So …

Forget the online social communities that are all the rage. Real physical communities are looking to marketing and media to help them deal with hard times. As the recession wallops cities and towns across the country, many are paying for image makeovers and media campaigns in the hope of attracting tourists and business investment. This isn't the first time real-life communities have rebranded during hard times. Mira Engler, Iowa State University professor, says a 1980s recession inspired many Midwestern places to repackage themselves as frontier towns or enclaves with Dutch or Norwegian themes. In one current example, …

With the introduction of the $489 version of the Kindle electronic reader yesterday, the question of whether Kindle will overhaul the news industry may soon be answered. The new Kindle's 9.7-inch display with auto rotation makes it possible to read newspapers and magazines in a format resembling the traditional paper versions. Starting this summer, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe will offer the Kindle DX at a reduced price to selected readers in exchange for long-term subscription commitments. News execs hope the Kindle DX may enable a return to the subscriber model and provide …

HBO has sold the off-net syndication rights to "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Entourage" to Tribune stations, with telecasts to begin in fall 2010. Because of the language and content of the shows, both series will have to be edited to accommodate broadcast standards. Episodes will air on Tribune's 23 stations in 17 markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Both series will run in strip form. All seven seasons of "Curb" and six seasons of "Entourage" will be aired under the terms of the three-year deal. "With the pipeline of future off-net comedies diminishing, this is an …

Microsoft is taking a first step in bringing TV and video games closer together. As part of its Xbox Live Primetime initiative, it is offering a TV game show "1 vs. 100" that will air Friday and Saturday nights starting this summer. Honda and Sprint are among the advertisers for the show. Xbox Live Gold members will be able to play live versions of the game during the show. Microsoft also will have a sweepstakes tied to the show, giving Xbox Live members the chance to win home theater systems and other goods. Microsoft is strategically positioning …