Swedish-owned Bonnier Group has become one of the 10 largest magazine owners in America with three acquisitions, at a time when most prominent media groups are closing or selling their magazines.The contrarian deals, including the acquisition of five titles from Hachette Filipacchi Media last week, give Bonnier $350 million in annual magazine revenue in the U.S., putting it in the top tier only three years after entering the market. Terry Snow, CEO of the U.S. magazine arm, says the company sees opportunity in magazines' fall from favor and is making a long-term bet that few rivals could make. …

Is there anything that smartphones can't do? In addition to delivering local TV in your pocket, they also could be the future of newspapers, say some industry experts. E-readers will be second place, at best, according to research by Nieman Lab. Statistics tell the story. By the end of last year, the U.S. had 270.3 million wireless subscribers, 87% of the entire population. The New York Times in April served up 60 million mobile views, twice the level of April 2008. Now, with the availability of apps, smartphones have been turned into minicomputers that can easily deliver news. …

Publicis expects the global economic downturn to weigh on its revenue and operating heavily in the second quarter, according to CEO Maurice Levy. He told the annual shareholders' meeting yesterday that his company's final exposure to General Motors would be below $76.1 million. Publicis, the world's third-largest ad group by revenue, posted a 4.4% fall in first-quarter underlying sales. and Levy stated that the second quarter would be worse than the first. The CEO also predicted the overall global ad market would reach a low point in July, with an upturn in the second half of 2009. …

Amid all the recent shuffling in late night TV, David Letterman has quietly been making plans to stay put at CBS for at least three more years. CBS and Letterman are deep in discussions on a new deal that would keep him at the helm of "Late Show With David Letterman" through the 2011-12 season. Letterman's existing deal runs through the 2009-10 season, but the new three-year pact would supersede the final year of the previous contract. That's significant because CBS, in the throes of cost-cutting, is also negotiating a reduction in the license fee that it pays for …

TBS -- once the bully pulpit and launch-pad of former chairman Ted Turner -- seems to be getting its swagger back. If Time Warner follows through on its plan to ditch AOL, TBS will emerge from the relative shadows to become half of Time Warner, based on the profits TBS' cable networks generate. "This is good news for Turner Broadcasting System," says Bernstein analyst Michael Nathanson. Before the AOL spinoff, TBS represents one-third of Time Warner based on profits, says a Time Warner rep. Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes says that Turner's "distinctive brands are central to our …

In recent years, the July 4 holiday marked the end of the upfront, but this time around, most network executives believe serious negotiations won't even begin until July 1. Early indicators suggest the upfront marketplace will prove to be slow-moving and contentious, as both sides remain at an impasse on pricing. ABC, CBS and Fox are looking to secure price hikes of 7% to 10% or more. On the other side, media buyers refuse to consider any rate increases. They say they will cut deals at flat-to-negative CPMs versus last year, across both broadcast and cable. Media sales …

Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer can see the day when much of his studio's programming moves directly to the TV Guide Network, which his company bought for $255 million earlier this year. Lionsgate currently has Emmy-winning "Mad Men" at AMC, plus "Weeds" and new series "Nurse Jackie" at Showtime. Feltheimer did not clarify whether he would move existing shows to TV Guide Network or just launch new shows there. "You have to protect your turf," he says. Even though "Mad Men" doesn't reach a mass audience, Feltheimer says AMC's premium license fee and international sales make the show profitable. The …

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has developed an in-house ad portal that provides advertisers with efficient delivery and receipt of advertising materials. The portal has tabs for all of MSLO's magazines. It allows the publisher to receive and transfer ad files "almost instantly," says Dora Cardinale, executive vp. "We can push ad extensions even closer to press time than we have in the past," she notes. While other publishers have signed deals with Web-based ad portals to manage their ad traffic, MSLO began developing the portal about six months ago using an open-source platform. After a soft launch in May, …

San Diego is California's second-largest city, yet it's a one-newspaper town whose newspaper is faltering. Ad revenue at the San Diego Union-Tribune has dropped 40% since 2006. Last month, the paper's new owner Platinum Equity announced that nearly 200 Union-Tribune staffers would be laid off. A newspaper that once employed 1,422 people will soon employ just 572. With the Union-Tribune cratering, it opens a hole in the market and the opportunity for some unconventional business models, industry watchers say. As a result, you get a glimpse of what local news may soon look like in big cities with …