In the wake of Newsweek's move to Web-only publication next year, the Alliance for Audited Media (formerly the Audit Bureau of Circulations) has issued new guidelines for pubs making that transition. Such mags must "give subscribers the option of receiving the digital subscription; converting to another print publication; or receiving a refund for the remainder of the subscription," writes Emma Bazilian. Also, in a move to "toughen up circulation-reporting requirements for publishers," the AAM's board "agreed to require U.S. magazines with circulations over 250,000 to provide issue-by-issue circulation data to the AAM's Rapid Report."

Turkey day/foodie goodie: If you like TV host/chef Anthony Bourdain, most recently in the news for his product placement dust-up with the Travel Channel, you'll enjoy this Q&A. Bourdain discusses everything from his upcoming CNN show (he's happy that the channel's "big news org" status means he can go "places we couldn't with any other network" -- and, yes, that could include war zones for "bomb shelter cuisine") to Rachael Ray's inherent likability (he may make fun of her, but she "tells good dirty jokes") to his work writing the restaurant scenes in HBO's "Treme." Oh, yeah, he mentions …

The Hollywood Reporter, which played its own part in the Hollywood blacklist, commemorates the 65th anniversary of its beginning with a host of articles. Most memorably, perhaps, W.R. Wilkerson, the son of the pub's first owner, Billy Wilkerson, has a public apology for his father's naming alleged Communists in his Tradeviews column. The "anti-communist campaign, which began as a schoolyard spat with the movie brass, snowballed out of control," W.R. Wilkerson writes of his father.

Vdio, the new video service from Skype co-founder Janus Friis, has launched in private beta, apparently touting program deals with Disney, Fox, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, AMC, BBC America, Lionsgate, Paramount, CBS and DreamWorks Pictures.  Janko Roettgers writes that contrary to initial reports a year ago, Vdio now doesn’t plan to compete with Netflix but rather with iTunes and Vudu.  And it will launch in the U.S., at the same time as in the U.K.  TV shows available on the service include “Breaking Bad,”  “Family Guy” and “Doctor Who.”    

It’s official. NBC has won the November sweeps for the first time since 2003, when its shows included “West Wing,” “Friends” and “ER.”  This year’s surge has been led by “Sunday Night Football,” “The Voice,” and newcomers “Revolution” and “Go On.” Fox, which led November last year, dropped to third place. CBS placed second and ABC fourth.

Yes, the guy who voiced and pulled the strings for “Sesame Street’s iconic Elmo over the past three decades has resigned amidst scandal, but let’s not confuse the puppeteer with the ageless furry red Muppet. Thankfully, Gothamist’s Jen Carlson has confirmed that Elmo’s next big televised appearance -- on a float at Thursday’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade -- will go on as scheduled.  No word yet anywhere from Elmo’s co-star Big Bird, who had his own controversy to deal with last month when Presidential candidate Mitt Romney vowed to fire him.  Maybe Romney just chose the wrong Muppet?

By creating an "endless news cycle," a more level playing field among newbie and veteran reporters, and a contest among journalists "to see who was 'snarkier,'" Twitter made a major impact on campaign journalism and strategies this year  according to advisors to both Obama and Romney, writes Jennifer Moire. "As a result, each day featured a different Twitter strategy, with new hash tags and messages for different audiences—volunteers, surrogates and media," according to Obama's traveling press secretary.

News Corp. should announce this week that it will take a 49% share in Yankee baseball's YES Network, in a deal that will allow the giant media company to have majority (80%) control of the channel in three to five years, according to unidentified sources. "The deal would allow YES to raise the $2.99 monthly fee per subscriber it currently charges cable and satellite operators to carry the channel," writes Ronald Grover. 

Scott Dadich will be Wired's editor in chief,  replacing Chris Anderson, who left recently for the robots of 3DRobotics. Dadich, considered "Condé Nast’s digital savior when he moved over to corporate in 2010 to become Condé’s iPad king," was previously Wired's creative director from 2006 to 2010, writes Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke.

Who's most in danger of falling off the fiscal cliff next year? Not necessarily big packaged goods companies -- but "media companies, already looking at the prospect of difficult comparisons to a relatively weak 2012 that was buoyed by the Olympics and political spending, [and who] clearly expect to be the canaries in what might be more like a fiscal coal mine," according to Ad Age staff in a worried-sounding trend story. "The reality is, the media industry doesn't have much room to avoid a down year, cliff or no. It's already facing comparisons to a 2012 that included a …