MTV Latin America is shaking up its annual awards format this year by holding a multi-city kudocast on Oct. 15 that includes Los Angeles. Bogota and L.A. are the first two cities to confirm participation on the eighth edition of "Los Premios MTV," to be broadcast on MTV nets all across Latin America and on Spanish-language MTV Tres in the U.S. "This year's multi-city format will allow us to expand our reach on the ground unlike any other event in the region," says MTV Networks executive Sofia Ioannou. This year's show will also feature a number of online multimedia …

Magazine publisher Meredith has been pretty happy with user participation in Mixingbowl.com, its food-focused social media site. So happy the company is launching a print magazine extension of the Mixingbowl online network. Meredith sees Mixing Bowl, the magazine, as a "companion publication" bto the site, which was created in January. The site has roughly 16,000 registered members, with 300 to 400 signing up per day, according to the publisher. The magazine is available in major supermarkets and bookstores nationwide, carrying an initial distribution of 260,000 and a $4.99 cover price. A second issue is planned for January. "We …

Esquire, Harvard Business Review and Bon Appetit are among the magazine titles that will launch iPhone applications in coming months through a partnership with developer ScrollMotion, which also created the People magazine app. After the newly released Apple iPhone 3G S sold over 1 million units last weekend, interest in the device as a platform for magazines is heating up. "What we never had before was a good enough device that rivaled what it was like to read in the magazine space," says ScrollMotion co-founder Josh Koppel. "With touch screens, the iPhone is a magic slate." That slate …

The New York Times is likely to begin charging users to read its news on mobile phones before it charges them to read content on its Web sites. Martin Nisenholtz, head of digital operations, says the publisher is considering paid subscriptions on the iPhone and similar devices because they allow for less advertising than the Web. "It's not going to be tenable for publishers to offer their content for free in the mobile platform forever," he says. Currently, The New York Times is available without charge on the iPhone, but the publisher charges a fee for its content on …

CBS' newly appointed Chief Financial Officer Joseph Ianniello intends to avoid acquisitions and scrutinize all expenses, including contracts, leases and capital spending. Ianniello will replace retiring executive Fred Reynolds on July 20. "The only thing you can control as a company, when revenue isn't there, is how you run your business." says Ianniello, 41. There are no mergers or acquisitions on the horizon for CBS because any deal would have to meet a "very, very, very high hurdle," he says. Ianniello will be tasked with finding better ways to manage the company, and will continue to sell …

The most engaged TV viewers spend up to five hours a week discussing a single episode of a favorite series, say researchers. Now Web service Wetpaint has launched a measurement system that tracks that level of fan interest. Called TV Fandex, the service measures "fan engagement" of popular programs on Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Wetpaint's network of 1.5 million user-created fan sites. The first week of public Fandex rankings show HBO's "True Blood" receiving the heaviest online engagement, followed by CBS' "NCIS," Fox's "House," Showtime's "Weeds" and Fox's canceled "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles." Fandex.com plans to release …

Could it be that media companies are finally ready for a comeback? After essentially putting up "going out of business" signs, media stocks are now starting to score double-digit gains, outperforming the broader stock market. Analysts say a new optimism for a strong fall TV season has combined with hopes for more summer blockbusters to help big media and entertainment companies. Some companies have outperformed the gains in the Standard & Poor's 500 by more than a 40-fold rate, such as Warner Music Group. On Monday WMG stock was up 85% this year, after trading at $1.50 just …

Gannett has neglected to make financial moves that would have conserved capital and ensured the company's future. It could have cut its dividend much earlier and, more importantly, staggered credit obligations so they fell due within 10 years, instead of three. "Not long ago, they could have taken their capital structure and pushed maturities so far out into the stratosphere that their debt situation isn't relevant today," says a debt expert. Now it's too late. Because of the credit crisis, an unfortunate bunching of credit maturities and a debilitating number of credit-default swaps -- in addition to the …

The Chicago Tribune is discontinuing its weekly Sunday magazine, Chicago Tribune Magazine, as of June 28. It will be replaced with a new section that will combine content from the paper's Smart and House & Homes sections with some magazine features and puzzles. A series of themed sections related to the magazine will be published roughly once a month beginning in September. The newspaper's Sunday magazine traces its roots to 1914's Chicago Tribune Pictorial Weekly and took on its current form in 1953. Gerould Kern, Tribune editor, told staff the magazine was changed "because declining advertising and high costs …

ESPN's recently launched, locally branded Web site in Chicago and The Huffington Post Chicago have signed an exclusive content syndication agreement. The agreement calls for HuffPost Chicago to provide ESPNChicago.com with news headlines and blog posts. In return, ESPNChicago.com is to be the exclusive provider of sports content to HuffPost Chicago. Launched in April, ESPNChicago is ESPN's first city-specific Web site. In addition to the HuffPost Chicago, ESPNChicago includes content from Disney ABC's local properties including ESPN Radio 1000 and WLS-TV, the ABC-owned TV station.