All Things D
Hearst Ventures, the media company's investment division, is making an estimated $30 million investment in Los Angeles-based tech studio Science. "Somewhat akin to a startup accelerator,
Science is attempting to quickly create and scale a number of promising companies in a variety of areas, and has launched 13 so far," writes Kara Swisher.
The Hollywood Reporter
TV Land is picking up the 12-episode series "Kirstie's New Show," starring Kirstie Alley as a Broadway star, with sitcom vets Michael Richards ("Seinfeld') and Rhea Perlman ("Cheers") in featured roles. The comedy will premiere in the fall.
Huffington Post
CNN's continual coverage of the stalled cruise ship Carnival Triumph's travails, which was virtually the only story on-air for much of Friday, was a chance for new CNN chief Jeff Zucker to begin his strategy of broadening "the definition of news," writes Jack Mirkinson. And other media outlets' "grumbling about the newsworthiness of the story"-- as Mirkinson noted, "Jon Stewart will probably have a field day," which Stewart in fact
did -- "was also a good preview of the kind of pushback CNN is likely to receive as it plunges into softer territory. Even so, it's not as if …
USA Today
Meredith's potential purchase of most Time Inc. titles -- which could be spun off "into a separate, publicly traded company that would also include Meredith titles like
Better Homes and Gardens and
Ladies’ Home Journal," according to
the New York Times -- is just the latest possible deal in a year chockful of M&A action for media companies. According to Dealogic, global dealmaking in the technology, media and telecom industries is "off to the strongest start since 2000," as
USA Today reporters note. "So far this year, U.S. companies have spent more than $100 billion buying up technology, media …
Mashable
Swimsuit models from, yes, that special
Sports Illustrated issue prance around in a QR-code-enabled mobile version of a Lexus print ad, in "the latest attempt to sex up the annual issue with digital bells and whistles," writes Todd Wasserman. "The effort comes as
many see QR codes as a clunky technology that hasn't lived up to its early promise."
Lost Remote
The New York Times unveiled a digital platform that allows advertisers to use "Time Machine," a Web archive of 70 years of the newspaper's content -- from 1851 to 1922 -- that displays "electronic pages with the look and feel of the original printed stories,” according to a company release. Launch partner National Geographic Channel will use the technology in its campaign for the Feb. 17 show "Killing Lincoln," displaying the front page of the paper the day after President Lincoln's assassination.
The Next Web
In a just-announced deal, Clear Channel Media will share its radio revenue (including, in a gesture that's not yet standard industry practice, the proceeds from digital radio) with music label Robbins Entertainment's dance music and pop artists. This arrangement "follows similar deals closed over the last few months with companies such as Big Machine Label Group, Glassnote Entertainment Group, DashGo, rpm Entertainment and Naxos," writes Anna Heim.
Broadcasting & Cable
Someone hacked the Emergency Alert System (EAS) at several small market TV stations on Monday, warning viewers that zombies were on the attack. An EAS manufacturer tells B&C that other stations risk similar hacks by not changing the default passwords on their devices. Stations affected included KRTV in Great Falls, Mont., and the WBUP/WBKP duopoly in Marquette, Mich. Entities concerned or investigating the hacks include FEMA, the FBI, the FCC, and state and local police.
Folio
Prevention's website traffic has increased significantly -- adding 1.8 million visitors from December 2012 to January 2013 -- since a revamp that included refreshed visual elements, a more conversational tone, and a new focus on breaking news, "adding sometimes up to 10 new stories a day," the site's executive editor, Siobhan O’Connor, tells reporter TJ Raphael.
Paid Content
Women are finally starting to embrace subscribing to digital mobile magazines, thanks to the smaller, 7-inch screen devices such as the iPad Mini and the Nook that have come on the market, according to Hearst Magazines President David Carey. Apparently men were drawn to the burly, more masculine, 10-inch screens of the iPad, while women were looking for "smaller screens that can fit in a purse," writes Jeff John Roberts. "Still, overall tablet figures are hardly overwhelming. Despite the fact that 40 percent of Hearst’s traffic is coming through mobile sites, tablets still account for only three percent of overall revenue."