A trio of under-30 former Wall Street analysts -- Ryan Klenovich, Jian Chai, and Steve DeWald -- plan to save the magazine business with a Web site called Maggwire.com. The free aggregate site will add a premium service that lets users subscribe to a "channel" where they can get premium magazine content from a series of relevant magazines. "The pricing has to be inexpensive to get users to adopt this in mass numbers," says Klenovich. "That's how iTunes became so successful at first-because the pricing was simple," at 99 cents apiece for most songs, he says. Maggwire's magazine …

It's history: Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are joining forces to co-host the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. The only time two hosts have shared the same locale on Oscar night was at the first ceremony in 1929, presided over by Douglas Fairbanks and William C. DeMille. As a solo act, Martin hosted the Oscars in 2001 and 2003, earning an Emmy nomination for his first turn at bat. Although Baldwin hasn't hosted the show, he has appeared as a presenter, most recently in 2004. Martin and Baldwin have had plenty of practice with live TV, leading the …

Vibe magazine is coming back from the dead on Dec. 8 with a buzzworthy cover subject: Chris Brown. In June, Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting fellow performer Rihanna. Vibe will return to print with a wider editorial focus encompassing not only music but fashion, politics, culture, arts and sports. At the same time, the new print product will take a backseat to the companion web site. "Vibe.com is really the hub. That's where everything needs to go back to," says editor in chief Jermaine Hall. The old Vibe died last June, but two months later InterMedia Partners, the …

Bloomberg intends to make BusinessWeek bigger, glossier and more international. Chief content officer Norman Pearlstine promised his staff Nov. 3 that Bloomberg would double the story count and expand its global coverage. As for the Web, Bloomberg plans to keep most of the magazine's content free, but will charge users roughly $100 a year for access to a deep specialized content area. The changes would move BusinessWeek in the direction of The Economist, for which Pearlstine has expressed admiration and which is envied for its high subscription price, robust circulation growth and strong advertiser appeal. Pearlstine also …

Tribune Co. wants to know if its papers, including the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, can do without content from the Associated Press. The financially struggling company would like to cut the cost of paying for the AP material next fall. Instead of turning to the AP next week, Tribune newspapers' print editions will rely on Tribune staff and several other news sources including Reuters, The New York Times and GlobalPost. As part of the experiment, the Tribune says it will keep using some AP material such as sports statistics and stories it considers vital. The …

Cablevision programming unit Rainbow grew ad revenue a stunning 18.2% in the third quarter. Rainbow houses AMC, WE tv, IFC and other networks including Sundance. It grew net revenue 3.5% to $260 million. Operating income was up 82.7% to $53.5 million. Cablevision and its Rainbow programming counterparts have been working hard this year to expand advanced advertising offerings. A slew of new advertisers, including Benjamin Moore and Century 21, are using the cable system's interactivity to allow customers to sign up for free vouchers and testers for products. Financial reports also showed that third quarter net revenue …

Retailer Best Buy plans to compete with Apple's iTunes with a new online store for movies and television shows. The service will use technology licensed from Sonic Solutions, which will be installed on televisions, computers, Blu-ray players, set-top boxes and mobile phones sold by Best Buy. The content will be stored on servers so people can watch on any device, similar to how Web-based e-mail can be viewed on different computers, says Sonic CEO Dave Habiger. "We're creating movies and TV in the cloud that play back anywhere," Habiger says. This digital video store expands Best Buy's foray …

CNN's newly relaunched CNN.com is anchored by the CNN Challenge, a weekly quiz on questions about the week's events or historical moments. Ford Sync has signed on to be presenting sponsor for the game when it formally launches later this month. (Currently the game features house ads.) The Challenge takes five to eight minutes to complete, which allows for in-depth advertising. The current incarnation features two commercial "pods" between rounds and a link to the sponsor's Website on the final scoring page. Visitors can choose from a selection of CNN anchors to lead them through the quiz. …

A slim Australian with a sharp tongue and a penchant for ultra-skinny ties has become the most powerful newspaper editor in America. The Wall Street Journal's editor Robert Thomson has charted the paper's circulation gains and is fast becoming News Corp.'s attack dog in a campaign to re-engineer the industry's failing business model. To get its circulation numbers, the WSJ has spent heavily on marketing and has offered cheap deals on print subscriptions, say industry experts. "Discounting and sales pressure have clearly contributed to this circulation gain," says Ken Doctor, a publishing analyst. Now News Corp. wants …

CBS's "60 Minutes" report about video piracy on Nov. 1 has critics at Techdirt fuming. They say the report covered only the MPAA position, without any attempt to challenge the speakers or to include anyone who would present a counterpoint. In the show, for instance, director Steven Soderbergh claims that "piracy is costing Hollywood $6 billion a year at the box office," but fails to mention that Hollywood has been making more at the box office every year the past few years. "No one at "60 Minutes" thought to talk to anyone outside of the studio system …