Randy Michaels' new company Merlin Media, partnering with private equity firm GTCR, has bought Chicago radio stations WLUP-FM and WKQX-FM, as well as one New York station, WRXP-FM, from Emmis Communications. Chicagoland Radio and Media describes Michaels as "the disgraced ex-CEO of Tribune Company, Clear Channel and Jacor."Both of the Chicago stations will face format changes in future, according to "sources" cited in the post. WLUP-FM will become a rock station focusing on the 80s, while WKQX-FM will become a talk station.

CBS, which has been airing the Grammys since 1973, just closed the deal to extend its agreement to host through 2021. That's after "two years of improved ratings and a sharp uptick in advertising rates," according to the New York Times.

Gannett will fire about 700 employees at its 80 U.S. community newspapers -- roughly 2% of its workforce, according to a memo attributed to the community publishing division's president, Bob Dickey. Since Gannett flagship USA Today is not part of that division, it won't have to suffer layoffs -- at least not immediately, anyway. This is the fourth mass layoff at Gannett in the past three years, writes PaidContent, citing Gannet Blog's Jim Hopkins for the stat.

Paid Content's Staci D. Kramer calls it "one of the most poorly conceived paywall efforts I've come across-and I've seen more than a few." Seems The New York Post is trying to restrict access to its digital version on the iPad to its subscription-based app only. Those who click on a link through Safari can't reach any part of the paper -- "You can't even see the front page or the day's front/back cover images," writes Kramer. Meanwhile,"apparently no one there noticed or cared that users of other iPad browsers like Skyfire and Opera Mini can slip right in."

"As great as they are from a user standpoint, live blogging / tweeting, crowdsourcing and hosting 'experts' blogs bring very little money - if any, to the news organization that operates them," writes Frédéric Filloux. "Advertising-wise and on a per page basis, these services yield only a fraction of what a premium content fetches."Filloux argues that such efforts do "connect the brand to the user. Therefore, I still believe news organization should do more, no less [sic] of such coverage."But he's down on journalism that's always in process, as in breaking stories with continual updates that offer plenty of possibility …

New York magazine has partnered with the dating website HowAboutWe to create a co-branded dating site, housed within nymag.com. Revenue within the two brands will be split evenly.In HowAboutWe, folks post ads suggesting dating ideas, as in "How about we... sit on a park bench and make up conversations for the people we see."

Indie music magazine Spin has revamped its masthead to more closely integrate its print and digital versions. Among the changes: both the mag's editor in chief (Doug Brod) and publisher (Malcolm Campbell) have left. Brod will be replaced by former deputy editor Steve Kandell. Mike Albanese has been promoted to publisher for both print and digital.

Redbook and Kiwi are just two of several magazines that are looking into promoting themselves and the brands sold by their advertisers. The former is pairing with House Party, which will help the magazine stage 1,000 "girls only" parties in reader homes on Saturday. Attendees, estimated at 15,000, will get gifts, samples, coupons and other merchandise from Redbook advertisers, including L'Oreal Paris, Seattle's Best and Snyder's of Hanover. The Kiwi program amasses 14,000 mom ambassadors for regular meetings averaging 20 attendees each. Participants discuss articles on the parenting site and receive product samples, which they also discuss.

Here's the fiction part: Leslie Knope, the character played by Amy Poehler, is writing a nonfiction book about the town of Pawnee, Ind., where she serves as deputy director of Parks and Recreation in the NBC series of that name. Here's the nonfiction part: The 240-page book, "Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America," is a work of fiction co-written by Michael Schur, the show's co-creator and executive producer.  It's set to be published in October under a licensing deal between NBCUniversal and Hyperion Books. Husna Haq, writing in the Monitor's "Chapters & Verse" blog, puts the Pawnee tome into a …

Multitaskers rejoice: you can watch TV and send instant messages thanks to an upcoming partnership between Comcast and Skype.Comcast is rolling out a trial offer to consumers later this year with a broader reach available to customers next year. "Many cable companies have promoted digital phone call functionality and features that show caller ID information on the TV screen," said Brian Stelter of the New York Times. "But the Comcast-Skype deal is one of the first forays into video calls. For customers with Comcast's phone service, their address books could potentially be moved into the Skype-on-TV service."