Here comes  press coverage of the Oscars, which were announced yesterday. The New York Times did its traditional take, getting reactions from nominees. In its post on three first-timers, all the wit comes from songwriter Bret McKenzie (we love his anecdote about emailing his mother) rather than the actor formerly known for comic movies, Jonah Hill (although we do learn the somewhat amusing fact that his "Moneyball" co-star Brad Pitt actually recommended Hill's weight loss). More interesting, if insidery, is Hitfix's piece on what the nominations taught us about members of the Motion Picture …

The state of agency-advertiser relationships is definitely unsettled, according to a study done by the CMO Council. For example, "Only 36% of marketers are committed to their agency relationships, with 49% saying that they may consolidate or change their global agency rosters," writes Uwe Hook.  And "just 9% of marketers believe traditional ad agencies are doing a good job of evolving and extending their service capabilities." Hook, self-described as a "veteran of the advertising and marketing industry," reports on the study and then doesn't do much to address marketers' concerns: "Marketers have to understand that agencies are not lazy or …

Sean "Diddy" Combs is planning to launch a "well-funded" music and music news cable network in December, according to "three sources" cited by reporter Michael Malone. Titled Revolt, the channel will have an "urban," skew, like the early MTV, "but for more of the African American audience," as described by one of those sources.

Two news items about Chicago newspapers: First, Feb. 26 the Chicago Tribune will debut Printers Row, a 24-page Sunday book section available for an extra $99 to yearly subscribers -- with a charge of $2.99 for single copies on Amazon. In a praise-worthy example of objectivity, the Tribune itself reports this as a business story, and includes a critical quote from an analyst "skeptical that the Printers Row subscriber base could reach critical mass, particularly in light of an abundance of free online book sites": "I think $99 per year is a pretty rich price point for something like …

Gannett expanded its online sports content by buying Fantasy Sports Ventures, a group of blogs covering all major sports, for an undisclosed sum.  The publisher previously held a minority share of Fantasy, whose flagship, Big Lead Sports, was valued in "the low seven figures," according to a 2010 report cited by writer Jeff Roberts. Gannett also owns USA Today's Sports Media Group, and claims combining it with its newest acquisition will create "one of the Web’s top five sites," writes Roberts.

Quick masthead shuffle: Hearst magazines named a new editor in chief for Woman's Day. Susan Spencer, previously of Time Inc's All You, will replace Elizabeth Mayhew, who “has decided to leave the company," according to a press release  (sounds like corporate-speak for you-know-what). Hearst got the mag as part of its acquisition of Hachette Filipacchi Media last spring. Now, "with Hearst already publishing the larger-circulation women’s service title Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day's role remains uncertain," writes Emma Bazilian.

In a historic move, Fox will debut "Touch," a drama starring Kiefer Sutherland, "simultaneously in in more than 100 countries with a global marketing effort from Unilever," advertising a deodorant ("Sure" in the U.S.) with several different names worldwide. The show's theme -- it "features Mr. Sutherland as the father of an emotionally challenged 11-year-old boy who can predict events around the world," with "characters speaking in their native languages for authenticity" --  is obviously a good fit for this kind of launch, writes Steinberg.

Though this is only at the rumor stage, we had to check out what Curbed's Sarah Firshein wrote about the possible reincarnation of Domino, the shelter mag that was killed in 2009 (and one we dearly loved). Firshein got conflicting reports from various sources, but bottom line: there's something shelter magaziney brewing, possibly digital only, possibly the launch of the "long-anticipated Lucky Home, which was mentioned in the Times a year ago and not given a breath of airtime since."

Veteran men's mag Esquire appears to be rebounding after a few bad years, writes David Carr.  In 2009, "Beaten up by a crop of lad magazines like Maxim, then hammered by the flight of advertisers and readers to the Web, Esquire suffered a 24.3 percent loss in advertising pages compared with 2008." At least one forecast -- from  investor Web site 24/7 Wall Street -- had Esquire defunct in 2010. Now, "Esquire is not dying — it is killing it," writes Carr. Signs of its rebound include a nice increase in ad pages in 2011 from 2010 -- 13.5% -- …

RLTV, the channel targeted to  baby boomers founded in 2006, may have a "hard sell" getting placed on major cable operators, but with many older TV actors and news personalities "pastured," it does have "good access to talent," claim its executives. So "former prime-time personalities Sam Donaldson and Florence Hendersen, both 77," and "former morning news hosts Joan Lunden, 61, and Deborah Norville, 53, have RLTV shows," writes Joe Flint. But is RLTV part of a trend? Flint includes quotes from media buyers who "acknowledge that over the last few years more dollars are being pushed toward content that attracts …