Gannett Blog
Overall, Gannett slowed the rate of its job cutbacks (7% of the total workforce) in 2010 compared to the previous two years, according to an SEC filing analyzed on the Gannett Blog. The newspaper division lost the most -- 9% of the total -- though two divisions, broadcasting and Career Builder, actually added employees.The Gannett Blog, written by an ex-USA Today editor, "has no formal affiliation with Gannett Co." -- as shown by the slightly antagonistic-to-Gannett-honchos tone of the following: "Today's SEC filing shows that under Craig Dubow, who became CEO in 2005, the company has now eliminated 20,000 jobs …
TV By The Numbers
According to TV By The Numbers, CBS head programmer Kelly Kahl has a specific strategy for some of his low-rated 10 p.m. shows: keeping them alive through roughly four seasons so they'll garner enough episodes for syndication.The question becomes, then, how low can a show like "The Good Wife" go (1.9 preliminary rating for Tuesday) before the lack of ad revenue trumps "the presumed future syndication value of an existing ratings misfit?" Bill Gorman analyzes this query -- and also provides a likely/not likely to-be-renewed chart of CBS shows, complete with very cute happy/non-happy faces.
MIN Online
Some very good news for a host of magazines, according to MIN, which says the overall upward trend is the first since 2007. Most impressively, Architectural Digest tracked ad page gains of a bit over 80% this March over last March. Two more magazines increased pages more than 50% in March: People StyleWatch, up 75%; Seventeen, garnering a 66% hike. Next highest were Texas Monthly, plus 43%, and Elle Decor, jumping 39.91%
Wall Street Journal
Academy Awards organizers are trying a variety of tactics to lure younger viewers to this year's telecast, from picking younger hosts (Anne Hathaway is 28; James Franco, 32 -- presumably the next youngest in recent times, Hugh Jackman, was actually born in 1968, according to Wikipedia) to creating online and mobile methods for viewers to interact with the show while it's going on.According to this Wall Street Journal piece, the median age of Oscar viewers has climbed each year to a high of 50.5 (the horror!) but the total audience has also increased significantly -- 30% when comparing 2008 to …
Forbes
Ok, so it's a bit self-promotional, but Lewis DVorkin's detailed case history of how Forbes created print and online versions of the same story is still a fascinating look at how well-known pubs are evolving in our digital age."The way Forbes sees it, there are two sets of business news consumers - print and digital - and each wants something different," writes DVorkin. "The imperative is to use the same underlying information to serve both. To accomplish that, we're developing new labor and economic models."DVorkin also describes how the mag's editors turned content from Forbes.com into print content.
Multichannel News
Warner Brothers studio will its make movies available for a premium demand service 60 days after their box office run. An initial test of such a service in September experimented with a window of 30 to 60 days; the longer window is said to be a compromise for theater owners "who feared it would severely cut into their business," according to Multichannel News, reporting on am earning conference call with Time Warner chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes. Bewkes did not reveal the pricing for the service, but said it will be available in the second quarter to some distributors, and …
Adweek
Lots more backstage analysis as rumors continue to fly about the tumult at the top at Time Inc. after last week's ouster of CEO Jack Griffin.
New York Post's media reporter Keith Kelly
writes that two possible candidates on the short list to take Griffin's place are former Time Inc. staffers: Google's Eileen Naughton and Parade Publications' Jack Haire. In one long piece in
Adweek, Lucia Moses analyzes the correct situation, noting that "Now, Time Inc. is in the hands of three people who represent stability and familiarity but aren't revenue generators. [Editorial head John Huey, along with …
NPR News Blog
NPR News Blog's Korva Coleman gives a complete rundown of reactions to the news that Al-Jazeera has asked Comcast to carry its English language channel. There are links to Bill O'Reilly's calling it "an anti-Semitic, anti-American network," along with coverage of support for the channel's having a wider U.S. audience, including comments by media professor Jeff Jarvis.
Jewish Daily Forward/The Sisterhood
Interesting piece by Elissa Strauss, who followed up an initial post on "gender disparity in magazine publishing" with emails asking editors at intellectual heavy-hitter pubs -- including The New Yorker -- why the percentage of female bylines was low in 2010."I don't believe any one editor or institution is sexist, and I was not trying to put them on the defensive," she writes. "Instead, I believe the disparity is mostly a result of the somewhat invisible web of social and cultural gender constructs that continue to hold women back despite the fact that, generally speaking, the law and most people …
Adfreak
For your viewing pleasure, Tim Nudd presents 50 ads starring Oscar winners -- good and bad, familiar and current (Jeff Bridges' current voiceover for Hyundai) and not so (Cher touting the Chicago Health & Raquetball Club?)Can't wait for an updated version after Sunday's ceremony -- didn't Colin Firth ever do a commercial playing with his iconic role as Mr. Darcy in "Pride & Prejudice"? (OK, a TV movie, but how many still remember him...)