"Should magazines automatically activate any web addresses mentioned in a print ad -- whether it's Folgers.com or Facebook.com/DKNY -- when the ads get digitized for tablets? Or should advertisers pony up for the privilege?" Nat Ives asks that question of three major publishers and gets three distinct answers. Of the trio, only Conde Nast charges extra for each hot link -- $5,000, to be exact. Here's the money quote from a CN spokeswoman: "We feel strongly that we offer our advertisers a unique environment in which to reach our affluent and influential readers, and that our pricing is in line …

A dispute over subscriber fees between MSG Network and Time Warner Cable could mean New York City-area basketball fans watching a blank screen rather than Knicks games in the new year. MSG's contract with the cable operator expires at midnight on Jan. 1. Meanwhile, the two are said to "be far apart on a deal, with MSG looking for a per-subscriber increase of a couple of dollars," according to a source consulted by writer Claire Atkinson. During the last contract dispute between MSG and Time Warner, in 2005, "MSG went dark for two months," writes Atkinson.

Can personalized ads help print mags gain advertisers again? Lucia Moses presents evidence for an affirmative answer to this question with two case studies. For example, a location-based ad could mean "a little more to the consumer than just a generic ad," says Jane Wladar, associate publisher of Popular Mechanics, which has been using this technique. "Magazines have had the ability to individualize copies before, but never this inexpensively and with accountability measures," writes Lucia Moses, paraphrasing Wlader. "While being able to customize ad messages to the individual may seem like the end-all, be-all for marketers, whether …

The just-launched NBCPolitics.com "is a way for people to have one destination, where they can get all the political coverage from all of our political reporters in one place, from all of the shows,” NBC News chief digital officer Vivian Schiller tells Nieman Journalism Lab. "One of the main impetuses [for the site] is we have so much strong politics coverage both on television and on the web, but you have to seek it out.”

A new quarterly bilingual (Spanish/English) health publication distributed in doctor's office through the U.S., Vida y Salud, will debut next year. “We are planning on launching the first issue in June, but could go as early as March if ad pages fill up quickly,” publisher Carl Kravetz tells Portada. The brand already has a Web site, and is partnering with Meredith for distribution and ad sales.

Los Angeles Times editor Russ Stanton resigned before the latest round of personnel cuts at the paper would be announced -- a "sad tradition," according to a source in this story, which noted Stanton "is the fourth editor in a row – after John Carroll, Dean Baquet and James O’Shea – to leave amid demands for cuts." Stanton, who took the editorial reins in 2009,  will be replaced after Dec. 23 by Davan Maharaj, managing editor for news since May 2008. In other but related news, an L.A. Times paywall will be announced in the first quarter of the new …

The Federal Communications Commission approved rules to protect viewers from loud commercials, in response to a  law passed in Congress called CALM (the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act). According to the rules, which go in effect next December, "an ad’s average volume cannot be louder than that of the show it interrupts," writes Matt Abrahams. "On its website, the FCC encourages consumers to 'report TV commercials that seem louder than the program they follow to the FCC' as a means to 'identify possible problem areas' and help evaluate the legislation's effectiveness once it goes into effect," according to Lucy Madison, …

Hearst will launch an English-language version of Cosmopolitan Latina twice a year in both digital and print formats, starting in May 2012. The brand already has a Spanish-language version, Cosmopolitan en Espanol, published as  a joint venture between Hearst and Virginia Gardens, Florida-based ET Publishing International LLC. But this new format will target the mag's Latina readership, who "would love to see content even more tailored to her specific needs, cultural identity and beauty and fashion sensibility," according to Cosmopolitan publisher Donna Kalajian Lagani.

Aiming to "meet a perceived need for impartial international news," BBC World News will roll out to nearly 15 million U.S homes by the end of 2012 with its deal with "Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider," according to Brian Stelter.  "While that represents just a fraction of the 100 million American homes with cable or satellite subscriptions, it is an important foothold for the BBC," Stelter writes. "The channel also believes that the United States can be a crucial component of its commercial revenue going forward."

Hulu will be partnering with 11 new Spanish language content distributors: Azteca America, Butaca, Caracol Televisión, Comarex, Estrella TV, Imagina US, Laguna Productions, Maya Entertainment, RCTV, Todobebe Inc and Venevision. Shows from these companies will be available for streaming on Hulu's new Spanish language section, which currently contains shows from existing partners Univision, Galavision and Telefutura. Targeting this market makes sense since "Latinos are... watching way more TV online than their white counterparts, according to Nielsen," writes Janko Roettgers.