Did Bloomberg Businessweek's campaign saying, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, that Millennials are "a drain on this company's economy" bomb with the generation it meant to attract? That's the contention of one columnist writing for the mag's competitor, Forbes -- along with other assorted Web commenters. For its part, "Bloomberg contended that the campaign has gotten a big positive reaction, although it didn't provide numbers," writes Lucia Moses.

Worldwide spend for media and entertainment is expected to reach $2.2 trillion in 2017, rising steadily from the $1.6. trillion tracked in 2012, according to the latest forecast from PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Digital media — fueled by the expansion in ownership of smart devices — is expected to account for 43% of all media spending in the U.S. by 2017," writes Meg James. "That's up from 31% of the total in 2012."The report has less-happy news for the newspaper business: "Total U.S. newspaper revenue is projected to slip at a combined annual growth rate of 2.9% between 2013 and 2017," …

Longtime network programming exec Garth Ancier is planning to launch four decade-specific classic TV channels (from the 1960s through the 1990s) next year, and he’s brought along several other execs – including two from TV Land’s early days – to help the effort.  Preliminary talks for nonexclusive programming rights are said to be underway with the likes of CBS Paramount, Sony Pictures Television, 20th Century Fox, MGM, NBC, Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. and Carsey Werner.  The model for Ancier’s idea? Sirius XM’s satellite music channels that play music by the decade.  His new firm is called Zeus Media …

Disney Media Networks plans to sell seven of its kids-targeted Radio Disney stations in small and medium markets, reports Marc Graser, who says the radio network will now focus on its 24 stations in the top 25 markets.  Parent company Disney sees Radio Disney as a strong platform “to promote its young Walt Disney Records and Disney Channel stars, as well as company TV shows, theme parks, online, game and film properties,” writes Graser.  Disney Media Networks’ other properties include TV channels ABC, Disney Channel and ESPN.  It previously sold six other small and medium-market Radio Disney stations in 2010, …

With the housing market up, so too are ad sales for home and living magazines, reports Sally Herships in this radio report and accompanying article from American Public Media.  Including audio bytes from Kate Kelly Smith of Hearst Design Group and Steve Cohn, editor-in-chief of Media Industry Newsletter, the piece cites increased ad dollars from such categories as paints, designers, kitchens, small appliances, big appliances and “even cars.”

Keith Olbermann is coming back to TV again -- but this time, all the way back to his sportscasting days.  TBS says Olbermann will be hosting its Major League Baseball postseason studio shows this fall. Before he became known as a left-wing news commentator, primarily on MSNBC, Olbermann first achieved fame as one of the hosts of ESPN’s Sportscenter

Comcast holds on to its position as the top pay cable operator, with the most subscribers worldwide -- 22 million in 2012 -- "per a report by SNL Kagen, barely beating Jiangsu by 1 million subscribers," writes Gina Hall. "China, India and the U.S. accounted for almost 50 percent of the 106 top pay TV operators, with 27 companies based in China and 12 in India.The U.S. came third with 11 operators."

European-based magazine publishers like Bonnier, Dennis,  Bauer and Hachette Filipacchi  formerly successful in the U.S. market, are floundering, and "some of these foreign publishers' woes may be of their own making," writes Emma Bazilian. "Martin Walker, a longtime Bonnier consultant, said most European publishers don't understand the U.S. market, whether it’s consumers’ preference for low newsstand prices, the need for ad sales offices in multiple cities or the difficulty in getting nonendemic ads for low-circ titles."

A piece on the failures of the U.S. media by Ron Unz, the publisher of The American Conservative, "is a vital reminder that many things we're told are wrong; that we aren't told many things of vital importance; and that the U.S. media is rife with flaws, many of them easily identifiable," writes Conor Friedersdorf. Parsing Unz' post, Friedersdorf attempts to explain why the media falls short, blaming such factors as "excessive deference to government officials."

Newsweek lost half its subscribers in the years from 2007 to 2010, according to numbers recently released -- a particularly poor showing as compared to the pub's chief rival, Time mag, whose "subscription base has barely dipped, going from 3.27 million subscribers in 2007 to 3.22 million subscribers in 2012," writes Peter Sterne. "Average newsstand sales (which Pew says are a better indication of a magazine’s health, or lack thereof) were 96,334 copies in 2007 but only 42,762 in 2010 and 41,354 in 2012."