In a first pitch and win for the newly relaunched Y&R California, the agency will be take on chores as the new lead creative for Crystal Cruises, after a three-month review. Mediacom West will be the company's new lead media shop.

Sarah Carey has been named the editor of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's Everyday Food, replacing Anna Last, who has left the company.  The selection of Carey, who has been a long-time "face of the company on the subject of food on TV and radio," may mean the company is trying to "beef up the brand’s profile on multiple media platforms," according to Lucia Moses.

Apple's new IOS features for publishers have boosted digital magazine sales significantly since their launch. In fact, "some magazines have experienced a 150 percent increase in sales," according to Adam Hodgkin, co-founder of Exact Editions, which digitizes such print titles as The Spectator and Press Gazette for purchase  as iOS apps.

Every celebrity weekly out there, from People to OK to In Touch, is now facing circulation declines in newsstand sales.  Amy Wicks chronicles the situation, noting that some pubs may not survive -- like Life & Style, whose parent, Bauer, is the same company that owns competitor In Touch.  Wicks begins her piece tongue-in-cheek,  imagining "the kind of blockbuster event needed for the celebrity weekly sector" to perk up: "Kardashian octuplets? Unnamed sources report that desperate gossip rags have offered to pay for fertility treatments for Kim Kardashian in the hopes that she might produce a record-breaking…celebrity cover."

"Given the long-term vulnerability of their online advertising prospects, news organizations owe it to themselves — and more importantly, to the future of independent journalism in the public interest — to explore the possibilities for online subscriptions." So writes Bill Mitchell in this thoughtful piece on why -- and how -- news media can make the move to  metered paywalls. Mitchell includes coverage of a panel on the topic at the World Editors Forum, where the New York Times' Jim Roberts notes, "There is more of an investment I feel in the newsroom among our journalists since the introduction of …

Boo! SyFy has bought six episodes of "School Spirits," an unscripted series co-produced by reality show veteran Mark Burnett and experienced ghoulmesister Seth Jarrett, producer of Bio's "Celebrity Ghost Stories." The show features student, teachers and parents from high schools around the country discussing their experiences with paranormal beings.

Starting next week, on-air personalities at 500 Clear Channel Radio stations nationwide will use "unscripted patter" to promote LivingSocial discount coupons available on the stations' websites, according to Stu Woo and Ethan Smith. "The agreement is the latest way traditional broadcasters are responding to competitive threats from online newcomers," Woo and Smith write.

Fortune magazine is releasing its list of "editorial franchises" -- or, as we'd put it more simply, telling us that all of its 18 issues in 2012 will have a specific theme, from "Best Advice I Ever Got" to “How it Works,” which "will explore the secret sauce of products and concepts," writes Lucia Moses. Advertisers and readers apparently love such issues, according to Fortune folks quoted by Moses.

"Clients don't need agencies anymore," writes Uwe Hook in in this thoughtful piece, which analyzes a RSW/US survey that polled 174 key marketers on agency-client relationships. Among the key points: "Only 55% of marketers state they would consider using their primary agency again if they were to put up their account for their review." In fact, Hook begins by noting, "I've met with a few CMOs and agency heads in the last few weeks and was astonished how painful relationships between agencies and brands have become." Bottom line, according to Hook:"[Marketers] still need creative production and media placements/negotiation, etc. But …

New York City's Channel 2/CBS station is launching a digital channel that will include input from all of CBS' local outlets: NewsRadio 880 AM, 1010 WINS and sports radio WFAN 660 AM. The channel should begin operating by the end of the year. The plan is to create similar channels for CBS-owned stations in other markets.