• McGraw-Hill TV Revs Up 2.2%
    The McGraw-Hill Companies reported its Broadcasting Group's revenue increased 2.2% to $18.7 million in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. National and local time sales benefited from an increase in automobile advertising. Health-care issues, propositions in California, the race for governor in California and a Senate seat in Colorado combined to produce an increase in political advertising in the first quarter. The company as a whole reported net income for the period increased 63.9% to $103.3 million versus $63.0 million for the first quarter of 2009. Revenue grew by 3.7% in the first quarter to …
  • 'Glee' Proves Bonanza For Songwriters
    "Glee" looks poised to be pop's new taste maker. Much like "Idol," "Glee" is helping alter the dynamic between music and television, showing ways that both media can help prop up each other. It's music that drives the show, and the show in turn drives music sales. On Monday, the three cast albums were No. 1, 7 and 10 on Apple's iTunes album chart and together have sold more than 1 million units, according to SoundScan. Most crucially, "Glee," like "Idol," is bridging the gap between classic rock favored by boomers and hip-hop popular with their kids. It's used …
  • CNN Integrates Outside.in
    Outside.in, a major aggregator of local blogs, has begun the integration with CNN, starting with the cabler's home page, weather page and profile page. Users can click on Local Weather & News in the right sidebar, enter their Zip code and get local news. On the weather page, headlines appear below the map when Zip codes are entered. This is just the beginning for Outside.in, which will position the company for any site. "To support the 1 billion+ monthly page views on CNN.com, our team tackled the challenge of massively scaling our platform and providing CNN with a robust, …
  • Scripps To Sell United Media Licensing Biz
    E.W. Scripps Co.is selling its United Media Licensing business to Iconix Brand Group for $175 million. Much of the licensing unit's $2 billion in annual sales comes from merchandise associated with the "Peanuts" comic strip, which was introduced in Scripps newspapers. Scripps said in a news release that the family of the late Charles Schulz, creator of "Peanuts," has formed a partnership with Iconix to continue marketing the brand. The sale will leave Scripps with its daily and weekly newspapers in 13 markets, 10 broadcast TV stations and Scripps Howard News Service. It ontinues to operate United Media, which …
  • Opposition To Comcast, NBC Merger Makes Strange Bedfellows
    Many labor unions are against the Comcast-NBC merger, but former FCC chair Kevin Martin? Since leaving the FCC and joining the powerhouse Washington law firm Patton Boggs, Martin has made battling the Comcast- NBC deal a full-time job, notes the LA Times. His clients include Bloomberg, as well as the communications workers union, or CWA, and the African American-owned media advocacy group, or NCAAOM. None are enamored of the possible merger. While Martin adopted a deregulatory stance toward much of the media industry when he was at the FCC, he was known for a hard line when it …
  • Gray TV To Manage Young TV
    Young Broadcasting overpaid for KRON San Francisco a decade ago, and to date earned a dubious return on investment for its management deal with Gray TV. Last summer, Gray announced a deal to manage seven of the Young stations for $2.2 million per year, plus incentives. But as a pair of banking groups scrapped for several months in bankruptcy court for control of the Young stations, Young told Gray in December 2009 to stay away from its stations until the judge decided who gets them. Still, Gray was paid its management fee. Arthur J Gonzalez"Judge Gonzalez ruled last week …
  • 'The Wrap' Raises $2 Mil., Waxman Goes CNN
    TheWrap.com, the Hollywood blog started by former New York Times correspondent Sharon Waxman, has closed a $2 million second round of funding led by Maveron, the VC firm co-founded by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and other first round investors. The site raised $500K in the first round from friends and family. This funding dovetails with stories by her fierce Hollywood rival Nikki Finke, claiming the site was out of money and devoid of investors. The new funding for TheWrap will be used for expansion of news coverage, including a redesign that's coming later in summer. The site started …
  • No Sheen, No 'Two And A Half Men'
    No Charlie Sheen, no "Two and a Half Men." Sheen, who is battling marital, legal and substance abuse problems, has not committed to coming back to the show. While there has been speculation the sitcom's producers at Warner Brothers would reconfigure the series without him, a well-placed WB source says that's unlikely. Sheen is the highest paid actor on TV and after seven years playing the womanizing, hard-partying Charlie Harper on the CBS show, he is ready to move on. The show's schedule has meant he can't take movie offers, something he is said to be interested in. …
  • NBC, YouTube Put 'Talent' Audition Online
    NBC and the producers of "America's Got Talent" are teaming with YouTube to put the show's audition process online. Starting Monday, acts can upload their videos onto a special page on YouTube for consideration for the summer show. From the submitted videos, producers from FremantleMedia North America will select 40 to be posted on a "Got Talent" YouTube channel. Users will vote on their favorites. A total of 12 acts from YouTube submissions will perform live on the NBC show.,br> "Got Talent" videos have often become viral sensations on YouTube after airing, from last season's winner Kevin Skinner to …
  • 'WSJ' Offers Super Cheap Ads To Slam 'NYT'
    The Wall Street Journal is betting New Yorkers want an alternative to The New York Times, reports Reuters. And to entice advertisers onto the pages of the New York edition, the WSJ is deeply cutting the cost of a full-page ad and, as a bonus, throwing in a full-page ad in the New York Post, also owned by News Corp. Some local businesses currently advertising in the WSJ can buy a full-page ad for $19,000, according to sources. That is a steep discount; full-page print ads in large newspapers can cost up to $90,000. It's the type of …
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