Warner Bros is in early talks with Robert Zemeckis to direct a live-action remake of the "The Wizard of Oz" and plans to use the original script from the 1939 classic. WB owns the screenplay because Ted Turner bought it along with the MGM library before Warner Bros bought Turner's empire. This latest Oz twist comes as Disney is trying very hard to mount "Oz: The Great And Powerful." The original "Wizard of Oz" script had 19 writers, with many of them uncredited, including Bert Lahr who played the film's Cowardly Lion. This wouldn't be the first hugely high …

Employees at New Jersey Network received 45-day layoff notices Tuesday as the public television and radio network prepares to move off the government payroll. Whether the station moves off the air on Jan. 1, when it stops receiving state funding and the layoffs take effect, remains to be seen. The notices went out to 130 employees; 17 additional employees who are paid through a private foundation are also expected to receive layoff notices. The notices said the layoffs were done "for reasons of economy," but provided few other details about the fate of New Jersey's only public network. …

Shape editor-in-chief Valerie Latona, who was criticized for putting country singer LeAnn Rimes on the October cover, is out at the American Media-owned monthly after five years. Tara Kraft, the beauty and fashion director of AMI-owned Star, will take over. Rimes has been the subject of controversy since getting caught in an affair with her TV movie co-star Eddie Cibrian while they were both married to other people. The next editor on the hot seat may be Stefano Tonchi at W Magazine. A reliable publishing source said the top brass at Condé Nast are none too pleased with …

American Media Inc, publisher of the National Enquirer, Shape and Men's Fitness, filed on Wednesday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The "prepackaged" bankruptcy is designed to allow American Media to restructure quickly and emerge from bankruptcy protection within 60 days. American Media said it won support for its restructuring plan from holders of more than 75% of its bond debt and more than 70% of its bank debt. It said some creditors would be paid in full, some would receive a mixture of cash and new debt and some would receive stock in a reorganized company. American Media Operations …

"The gloves are off here at Condé [Nast]," said Wired publisher Howard Mittman, whose magazine will end the year No. 1 spot for ad page growth at the company, up 24%. "We're bigger than we've ever been, and we've put the brand in a place to focus on other things, like licensing deals." The tech pub will begin testing the waters with a small collection of limited edition "hybrid" products, such as Jack Spade messenger bags, "The El" bike, headphones and iPad cases. The title will sell this merchandise in a pop-up store that opens on Friday in …

MLS and partner Big Lead Sports are increasing marketing for the newly launched "Pro Soccer Picks," its new online fantasy game, which asks players to select winners or who will score goals in each day's matchups -- in the run-up to the MLS Cup final on November 21. Major League Baseball, ESPN and others have introduced similar simpler games in recent years. The idea is to build a consumer affinity for the sport that will ultimately translate to a more loyal and financially supportive fan base, said Chris Schlosser, MLS director of digital strategy. There are now about 30 …

The joint sales effort between Turner and CBS came about when the networks teamed up to win the NCAA's media and marketing rights last spring with a 14-year, $10.8 billion deal. The coupled effort made sense from a programming and business perspective. Turner's presence mitigated the huge financial pressure that CBS felt to deliver on annual rights fees that average $771 million, and Turner's array of networks -- TBS, TNT, truTV -- would enable national distribution for every game of the men's basketball tournament, rather than the regional approach CBS used in the early rounds. Turner and CBS executives …

John Budkins has been named vice president, programming and scheduling, for the CBS Television Stations group. He has spent the past seven years with CBS Television Distribution as vice president, sales for the Northeast region, will work with the group's 28 stations in acquiring and renewing syndicated programming. Prior to joining CBS Television Distribution in 2003, Budkins spent two-and-a-half years with NBC Enterprises as VP of Eastern sales. Before that, he was director of sales and marketing for Hearst-Argyle Television Productions for two years.

Newsweek.com may survive in some form, but its traffic benefit to The Daily Beast is questionable. One of the supposed benefits of the Newsweek-Daily Beast merger was that it would combine the traffic of the much-bigger Newsweek.com with the Beast's. Newsweek.com has 3.8 million monthly uniques to the Beast's 1.5 million, according to Web measurement firm Compete (although the Daily Beast claims its traffic is actually 5 million). But as critics of the deal are pointing out, more than half of Newsweek.com's traffic comes from MSNBC and MSN. Newsweek pays MSNBC roughly $3 million a year for the traffic, according …

AOL launched a new morning video show, called "AOL Daybreak" on its home page in partnership with Ben Silverman's multimedia studio Electus. Lindsay Campbell, best known for her work hosting humorous financial Web series "Wallstrip" and politics series "MobLogic," serves as the host. The new series, about two minutes long in its debut, featured Campbell asking people in the streets of Manhattan what they would like from a morning news show. It is produced by network TV veteran, Diane Masciale, Adam Eland and Jeff Marks. Masciale, who serves as senior executive producer, previously was executive editor of ABC's "Good …