The news that Gourmet magazine will be shut down by its owner Conde Nast is hitting the restaurant industry hard. Gourmet has long been viewed by chefs, restaurateurs and the rest of the food world as one of the most prestigious food magazines, covering high-end restaurants and luxury vacations. Its demise signals how severe the financial crisis is for food and restaurant companies. Editor Ruth Reichl dedicated many articles to issues of food politics, organic farming and artisanal food producers, giving the publication a reputation for intellectual rigor. A positive review for a restaurant in Gourmet was the …

In another cost-cutting step, Conde Nast has ousted Details publisher Steven DeLuca. His duties will be handled by William Wackermann, the publishing director who already oversees "Glamour" and the bridal category. DeLuca had been publisher since April 2008. Ad pages in Details from January through October this year fell 33.65% from the same period in 2008, worse than monthlies' average decline of 21.96%, per the Media Industry Newsletter. There had been rumors that Details would be shut down for basically the same reason Conde closed Gourmet and two bridal titles Monday. Details and GQ both serve the men's …

Keeping up with changes in digital technology remains a constant struggle for growing radio and TV station Web sites. Only 38% of news directors say their stations are on top of new technology, according to a survey by the Radio and Television News Directors Association with Hofstra University. Other findings: both TV and radio stations find that their Web site audiences are most interested in local news and weather. Compared with last year, TV Web sites are now using more live newscasts and audio streaming and fewer recorded newscasts. Radio stations say their sites have more pictures, audio, streaming, …

You may have thought of the NBC reality show "The Biggest Loser" as a slice of popular entertainment. But it's proving to be equally effective at promoting merchandise. The weight-loss competition is expected to generate $100 million from health and fitness products this year. Add to that two new spinoffs from NBC and producer Reveille Entertainment: the show's first videogame, through publisher THQ, and the rebranding of Fitness Ridge in Utah as "The Biggest Loser's" official resort. The resort offers a weight-loss program similar to what contestants on the series experience, and it will be featured in upcoming …

ESPN has signed Levi's as the presenting sponsor of a slate of documentary films that will serve as the centerpiece of the network's 30th anniversary celebration. Levi's is leading off each film in the "30 for 30" series with a branded 45-second "Director's Statement," in which the film's director talks about his motivations. A second branded Director's Statement will run at the end of each film. The apparel brand may also run a 60-second commercial pod leading into the third act. In addition, the deal includes integration across several ESPN platforms, including the microsite for the film series. …

Magazines are getting savvier about using Twitter to boost traffic to their Web sites. People.com editor Mark Golin says that from April through August, there was a 150% increase in referrals from Twitter back to the magazine's site. PeoplePets.com is the newest addition to the site, and its Twitter feed plays to more than 700,000 followers. At InStyle.com, Twitter followers linking back to the Web site from April to August, increased 500% with successful draws like "style tweets" and promotional giveaways. In September, InStyle promoted four days of 50 gift cards per day. The first day, all 50 cards …

The first simulcast of "Imus in the Morning" aired yesterday on Fox Business Network under a new multiyear deal. Don Imus may not be particularly conservative, but he's a good ideological fit with the Fox organization, in that he lives "to tweak politically correct sensibilities and harbors weird, illogical pet obsessions," says Daily Finance. Whether Imus's peculiar potpourri of politics, sports and "other" appeals to business-news viewers is an open question. But perhaps it doesn't matter. If Fox Business already had a large business audience, it wouldn't need Imus. "He gets away from the core intention of the …

The International Olympic Committee's decision to award the 2016 Summer Games to Rio de Janeiro instead of Chicago is prompting tough negotiating tactics by U.S. TV networks. They want to pare down the rights fees for the 2016 Games and the 2014 Winter Games in Russia. NBC's Dick Ebersol told CNBC that the Rio Games were worth 10% to 15% less to U.S. TV networks, advertisers and sponsors than a Chicago Olympics would have been. NBC paid $2.1 billion for rights to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2012 Summer Games in London. With Rio, the …

A deal to merge General Electric's NBC Universal into a new joint venture with Comcast's cable networks faces significant financial and legal issues. As a result, the talks are still at an early stage. Insiders give the transaction "50-50" odds of coming together. In the deal, Comcast would contribute cash and its cable networks to NBC Universal for a 51% stake in the expanded company. NBC Universal would borrow money that would be turned over to GE, along with the cash contribution. GE would use that cash to buy out a Vivendi's 20% stake in NBC Universal and …

NBC Universal will completely re-brand its international television business. At the same time it is admitting that it won't meet targets for overseas expansion. In April 2007, the company said it planned to double revenues in international business to $5 billion in three years. But Roma Khanna, president of NBCU Networks, now says the $5 billion figure won't be reached until 2011. In a new international strategy the company plans to streamline its portfolio of nine channels to five, all under the Universal Networks International name. "In a fragmented entertainment world, brand is everything," Khanna says, which is …