Mediabistro
The Sports Illustrated story of Boston Celtics Jason Collins' coming out as gay was "an amazing scoop for SI, and one that came together quickly," writes Chris O'Shea. "Chris Stone, SI’s managing editor, explained that they didn’t know Collins’ identity or if he was going to go through with telling his tale, until only six days ago."
New York Post
O magazine editor Susan Casey is leaving the publication after an almost four-year stint, to be replaced by her deputy editor, Lucy Kaylin. Casey, an author of ocean-adventure bestsellers now planning her next book, "had the tough task of presiding over the magazine when Winfrey ended her talk show in May 2011 after a 25-year run," writes Keith Kelly. "The loss of daily TV exposure translated into a huge drop in profitable newsstand sales," along with "continued ad erosion."
New York Times
The Economist's new ad campaign, aimed at increasing readership among the academic community, will feature digital ads directing potential subscribers to "a microsite,
dare2godeep.com, with content that includes video clips featuring comedians like J.B. Smoove, interactive games, information about The Economist and
an offer for a free, two-week digital subscription," writes Stuart Elliott. The mag's new agency, Atmosphere Proximity in New York, has a budget of just under $1 million to work with.
The Hollywood Reporter
Sirius XM Radio ended March "with a total subscriber base of 24.4 million, an all-time high for the company," writes George Szalai.The company also made Jim Meyer its permanent CEO. Myer had been interim CEO since December.
Adweek
"In its first big retail foray, Wired is putting its name behind an assortment of gadgets sold at Target," writes Lucia Moses. "Target stores will feature products picked by Wired editorial staff, like an Adonit stylus for tablets, NuForce earbuds and Olloclip camera lens for the iPhone 5."
Boston Business Journal
Despite being up for sale, The Boston Globe is hiking the price of its print editions -- 14% for home delivery of its Sunday edition and 6% for the 7-day version.
New York Times
The Huffington Post's eight-month-old Internet channel, HuffPost Live, will have six hours of its programming appear daily on Mark Cuban's cable channel AXS TV, previously known as HDNet. "Executives at The Huffington Post have been trying for months to have their channel picked up by cable and satellite operators, with nothing to show for it yet," writes Brian Stelter.
Advertising Age
"Some major magazine companies are expanding efforts to guarantee that advertising with their brands directly increases sales" -- including Meredith Corp. and Time Inc., writes Nat Ives. Time, for example, "plans to add evaluation of tablet and mobile ads to its program this year, a company spokeswoman said."
Silicon Valley Business Journal
118 "production workers at the San Jose Mercury News will lose their jobs at the paper's San Jose facility beginning April 28, as a decision to sell its longtime home marches forward," writes Nathan Donato-Weinstein. However, "an undetermined number of those workers will be offered jobs at other facilities connected to the paper."
Bloomberg
The days of special price promotions for Time Warner Cable customers are over. The company is "scaling back its discounts after years of offering low introductory rates on all-encompassing packages of Internet, television and phone service," writes Alex Sherman. The "new strategy: Figure out exactly what customers want and make them pay more for those pieces." The company "is less worried about losing subscribers, so long as it squeezes more profit out of the ones that are left." Gulp (yes, we're Time Warner customers).