Google's YouTube video site has hammered out a deal with Time Warner to show clips from the media conglomerate's cable networks, TV shows and movies. The arrangement follows the same rough template as deals YouTube has forged with Sony and Disney: the content providers get to embed their own video player within YouTube and control ad sales. But you won't be seeing full-length shows or movies from Time Warner on the video site--it's saving those for cable companies that play along with its "TV Everywhere" plan. If you want to see the whole thing, you'll have to watch …

Among bidders for Cox's Travel Channel are News Corp., Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. and NBC Universal. First-round bids were due Tuesday. Time Warner Inc. may consider making a bid later in the process, say sources. As soon as next month, selected bidders will get access to the channel's financial data and the parties will then submit final bids after due diligence. Cox Communications said in June that it had received unsolicited inquiries about the Travel Channel Media unit and subsequently hired Goldman Sachs to evaluate its options. Hale Holden, Barclays Capital analyst, has put the channel's value at $600 …

The news yesterday was filled with notices about the death of "60 Minutes" creator Don Hewitt, 86, an industry pioneer. Hewitt transformed television journalism by showing that news programs could generate money. He also helped make TV an essential part of politics when he produced and directed the first televised debate between U.S. presidential candidates. Hewitt spent his career at CBS News and directed programs of early TV news giants Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow. With the debut of "60 Minutes" in 1968, Hewitt merged elements of news and entertainment and shattered the traditional view that news divisions …

Cathy Collier, president at X, an affiliate of MDC Partners' Zig, presents her argument for "connection planning," a specialty of her agency. She calls it a marketing process, not a media-planning process, in which the idea is the media. It is an alternative to the more conventional 360-degree approach, which typically ends up with multiple small, disparate marketing tactics "that look like a stew and create little impact." A parallel to the connection-planning approach is how account services evolved with the introduction of account planning in the late 1980s. Briefs and research were already being done by account services …

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' structure and politics -- which seek to foster below-the-line democracy in an above-the-line-dominated world -- has gradually disenchanted industry leaders. The Emmys are just a part of it. Many within the industry have no clue how the TV academy operates -- that the board consists of 28 branches, with two elected governors representing everything from actors, writers and directors to sound, makeup/hairstyling and title design. The arcane underpinnings remain a mystery to the ever-changing network honchos whose license fees largely support the organization and its charitable endeavors. On top of that, …

The bankruptcy of Reader's Digest Association is another black eye for private-equity firms, which bet big during the boom years earlier this decade that they could turn around media concerns and create outsize profits. The investment group led by private-equity firm Ripplewood Holdings, which bought Reader's Digest in 2007 for $1.6 billion, will see its investment wiped out. It's a familiar story. In headier days, media-company revenue was predictable, allowing investment firms to pile on debt and repay it with steady -- albeit slightly ebbing -- profits. Instead, revenue is dropping more quickly than almost anyone imagined. Here's …

Univision CEO Joe Uva says that the TV ad market appears to be stabilizing, based on current scatter market spending. Uva reports that Univision's upfront market is still in its early stages with only a handful of deals completed so far. Based on those early deals Univision appears to be "outpacing results" of the English-language broadcasters that reportedly dropped prices 2-5% or more. Categories where spending has improved recently include packaged goods, quick-service restaurants and telecommunications. There is not a lot of movement in the auto category, Uva says. As far as quarterly results go, Univision reported …

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is in talks with Time Inc. executives to work together on a year-long flood of stories about the re-invention of Detroit. Time's "reinvention bureau" will operate from a 95-year-old home, recently purchased by the company, in Detroit's historic West Village neighborhood. Time Inc. writers and editors will live in the house for a year, blogging and writing about rebuilding Detroit. The articles will appear in Time-owned publications in business, sports, real estate and in shelter magazines such as Real Simple and Coastal Living. The first story will be about Mayor Bing and will appear in …

Fox Business News is believed to be in talks to hire radio shock jock Don Imus to present its breakfast TV show and to draw in much-needed viewers. Cowboy-hat wearing Imus, who departed CBS and MSNBC over charges of racism in his commentary, would present his "Imus in the Morning" syndicated talk radio show over FBN, ending his current simulcast contract with rural station RFD-TV. The move would displace Alexis Glick's 'Money for Breakfast.' The arrival of Imus would potentially increase the channel's visibility. However hiring him will not be without its risks. It remains to be …

Visible World, an established player in the realm of targeted TV advertising, is partnering with Acxiom, Experian and Nielsen for a first-of-its-kind data exchange. The partnership will merge set-top-box data that determines the effectiveness of targeted ads - all under one platform. Visible World currently has a zone-based addressability product that is available in 52 million households in 105 markets. By merging all three data streams together, Visible World will better help advertisers test different versions of the same ad against various demographics and household incomes. For example, Cablevision's Optimum cable service has been using Visible World's system …