A long piece in Ad Age discusses ad industry reaction to Newsweek and its merger with the Daily Beast, which may not, despite the company's hopes, actually be creating a "stronger sell for advertisers," writes Edmund Lee. "There's some crossover potential here," Stephen Colvin, CEO of the Newsweek Daily Beast Co. tells Lee. Colvin also admits that, according to Lee, "the two publications have separate advertising ambitions, which may be a function of the fact that, for all the talk about integrated ad buying and breaking down the so-called silos between media, advertisers still set their budgets by discrete categories... …

It's the reshuffling of the senior vice presidents! Starting June 1, Hearst Magazines Valerie Salembier, who was previously senior vice president/publisher, Harper's Bazaar , will now hold that position at Town & Country (also adding the title of chief revenue officer). Salembier will be replaced at Bazaar by Carol A. Smith, former senior vice president and chief brand officer of Elle .

Two TV critics sound off on the plusses and minuses of NBC's new prime-time schedule, just revealed in full. According to Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker, NBC is "trying to build a bridge between what works on NBC now, and starting to create a new identity for the network's future. But what is that identity? Based on its new shows, NBC wants to do interesting work in mostly familiar genres." Meanwhile, Hitfix's Alan Sepinwall also analyzes the schedule day by day, adding some highlights from a conference call with network entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt, who, Sepinwall notes, "tried to establish …

Short piece in Mashable about Glamour magazine's iPad app, which "has come a long way since its debut last August," writes Lauren Invidnik. Glamour editor Cindy Leive talks a bit about what she's learned in the early days of iPad publishing -- that "a feature as simple as style suggestions for different body types, which features tap-to-switch before and after shots, often proves more popular than, say, an elaborate fashion shoot staged in Morocco." Interesting as far as it goes -- but we wanted to hear more, actually.

"We are excited to report that we're getting a totally new audience in our tablet editions," notes Gregg Hano, VP-group publisher at the Bonnier Technology Group (whose pubs include Popular Science and Popular Photography), in a Q&A with Ad Age's Nat Ives. In fact, adds Hano, "something on the order of 95% of the iPad subscribers are new to subscribing to Popular Science." Very good numbers indeed.

Satellite provider Dish Network could be joining competitor DirecTV in offering a premium VOD service releasing movies eight weeks after theatrical release, thus pissing off movie theaters. Dish is currently talking to Hollywood studios about such a program where videos would be priced at about $30 apiece. Cable provider Comcast is also at the table with negotiations for a similar deal.

In a TVGuide.com study, 20% "of respondents said they are now watching more live TV to avoid plot and reality 'spoilers' that may be revealed in real time by members of their social networks." Other survey results were more predictable -- sure, 77% say they discuss shows on social networks "to tell friends what shows they like to watch" -- but the study also found the 10 "most social" shows that viewers were discussing most frequently on Twitter and Facebook. The list was headed by "NCIS" and "American Idol."

Ok, "Two and a Half Men" is gross and kinda misogynistic -- though the excellent Holland Taylor and Conchata Ferrell both play strong but flawed women who consistently best the men. Still, we have to admit that we're part of the female audience for the show. So we were intrigued to hear that it won't be Hugh Grant but Kutcher who will be taking on a role similar to the one Charlie Sheen played on "Men." Television critic Alan Sepinwall explains why this is a very good choice.

A Brit movie star on a TV show? How likely is that? But if Hugh Grant does in fact opt in to "Two And A Half Men" next year, as rumored, we gotta assume that he'll be showing his arrogant, assholy side rampant in "Bridget Jones," not the shy goofiness he exhibits in "Four Weddings And A Funeral," right? Otherwise Grant would be too much like the loser character played by Jon Cryer on "Men."And, oh, yeah, it's been reported in several places that "Chuck," the nerd-spy show that's been on the edge of cancellation many times, has in fact …

Here's a fun piece about the copy editor's lament: that the witty, often punny headline that worked in print newspapers is invariably changed to get more hits online when a story goes to the Web. Editors are taking various approaches to this dilemma, though. Some are not giving up up the funny head, choosing to go after more discerning readers with wit rather than chasing pure reader volume.