Music magazine Spin is lowering its print frequency from 11 to six issues annually, starting next year, but will publish on bigger, heavier paper stock "to emphasize the qualities of print in a competitive ad market," writes Lucia Moses. The pub -- which in June replaced both its editor and publisher -- also upped its digital reach earlier this year with an iPad app called Spin Play. It also plans to reconfigure its Web site in 2012.

"It's new for us to be accountable for every dollar like our friends in advertising," said David Carey, Hearst Magazines president, at MPA's American Magazine Conference today. Discussing Hearst's acquisition of digital marketing firm iCrossing, he noted, "While marketing services may seem to be in conflict with our main business, we want to have exposure to all those ships." No major news, but other comments from major mag bigwigs in this piece, including Bob Sauerberg, president of Conde Nast, saying "We have to encourage content, not fill the gap with tech."

Print advertising revenue for the Wall Street Journal increased 24% during August compared to the same month last year, reported the paper's managing editor Robert Thomson in a staff memo (that somebody undoubtedly leaked). Thomson, primarily talking up WSJ's design changes -- which included "color-coded sections" -- to his staff, also compared the encouraging metric to that of "other national newspapers[, which] have reported distressing declines in advertising."

Here comes the first casualty of the new TV season: NBC just canceled the retro drama "The Playboy Club." Why? Low ratings, plus an aggressive hate campaign by the Parents Television Council, which might have led to seven advertisers pulling out after the second episode.Yep, odds are bad when you're targeted by the right and the left (no less a feminist icon than Gloria Steinem suggested we all boycott the show). While Playboy bunnies are out at NBC, the network also just called for a full season of episodes of "Up All Night," the show about the …

Yahoo News is revamping by partnering with ABC News, which will have more of an integral role on the Yahoo site and provide such content as "web-first" digital series featuring ABC News anchors. This "News and Information Alliance" takes aim at CNN and other online news portals, writes Jason Kincaid.The first video of the deal will be a live stream today: George Stephanopoulos interviewing President Obama.

First off, Hulu launched Ad Swap, which allows viewers to substitute an ad they don't like or find relevant with one of three other choices. Advertisers aren't charged if viewers don't watch their ad, and Hulu claims better performance of those chosen ads.Second, another round of bids for a Hulu sale are due this week -- though it may not be sold at all, since its present owners -- content companies -- are concerned about whether they can be "principal players in the new world of digital streaming, or whether they will remain licensors of their products - outside …

Two takes on Ad Week from major media. In the Wall Street Journal piece, Suzanne Vranica asks "Should Advertising Week be called Silicon Valley Week?," noting that tech companies like Google and Facebook "are expected to dominate the discussions" rather than agency execs. And in the New York Times, Stuart Elliott's quick overview of Ad Week (which amusingly notes the Mad Ave. take -- "New York Fashion Week for smart people" -- versus that of the "fashionable set," which "counters that Advertising Week is like Fashion Week for ugly people") the first two events mentioned do feature Facebook. However, …

As part of its investment in original programming, Netflix will premiere "Lilyhammer," a Norwegian-produced show starring Steven Van Zandt as a mobster who moves to Norway as part of the Witness Protection Program.The show includes English and Norwegian dialogue. This latest news definitely fits the thesis that Netflix has begun to stream more TV shows than movies:"'50 percent and sometimes 60 percent of viewing is TV episodes now,' said Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos, during a joint keynote at the Mipcom conference in Cannes with Miramax CEO Mike Lang," according to Paid Content.