Branded content can definitely help raise conversion rates, according to a recent study by IPG Media commissioned by Forbes Media: "Those looking at pages with branded content were 41 percent more likely to express an intent to buy the brand versus those who saw a regular Web page with no branded content," writes Lucia Moses.

Giving the "print is dead" theme the heave-ho,  Simon Dumenco notes that some magazines, including such veterans as 80-year-old Esquire. are doing really well:  "Revenues at various titles have hit historic highs, prompted in large part by ad-page growth; Hearst's Elle, for instance, just published the fattest-ever issue (the September fall fashion issue) not only in its history, but in Hearst's history." History (along with building "thriving digital operations") is a key theme in Dumenco's piece, which details what's happened in the mag biz since 2002, the year Ad Age started tracking its Magazine A-List.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Keith Olbermann "kind of believe[s] in redemption," the ESPN host tells Michael Hainey in an interesting, self-reflective Q&A: "If there's anybody who bothers to write an obit for me, it will include something in the first paragraph about contentious exits," Olbermann says. "And I'd like to change that."

During the middle to late '00s, Fox News PR staffers had the special job of posting "'pro-Fox rants' in the comments sections of negative, or even neutral, blog posts about the network," writes Josh Voorhees. That's one of the tidbits about Fox News coming out before the official publication of the book "Murdoch's World: The Last of the Old Media Empires," by NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik.

David Pogue, perhaps the most well-known writer about consumer technology by dint of his 13 years of covering the topic for The New York Times, is moving on. He is joining Yahoo to help launch a consumer technology site.

Readers will be able to shop from the pages of HGTV Magazine's November issue, using "their smartphone or tablet to scan items from the magazine’s popular High/Low List, a regular section that’s been expanded to nine pages," writes Lucia Moses. They will also be able to share information on products to Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. Fiat is the first sponsor of this feature, which uses "technology from digital watermarking provider Digimarc."

The Associated Press will start native advertising in early 2014, introducing "sponsored articles into the stream of news stories on its mobile apps and hosted websites," as a way to diversify its revenue stream, writes Michael Sebastian. "Licensing our content is a flat to declining business around the world," Jim Kennedy, senior VP-digital strategy and products at the AP, told Sebastian. The company is talking with potential advertisers, with possible deals "centered around major events the AP is planning to cover, such as the Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics and the Academy Awards," writes Sebastian.

With a new CEO, former Fox exec Mike Hopkins, on tap, Hulu is "now exploring ways to boost its reach and make its subscription model more durable," according to an analyst cited by Justin Bachman. "One powerful way to do that would be to make itself a generic solution for cable operators that want to move their signals online," writes Bachman. "The technology needed to make Hulu a portal for pay-TV companies isn’t terribly complex," writes Bachman, and Hopkins may be just the man for the job.

Hearst's new magazine, Dr. Oz: The Good Life, is set to go on sale Feb. 4, and "looks like it will be one of the biggest launches since it joined with Oprah Winfrey to launch, O, the Oprah Magazine in 2002," writes Keith Kelly.  Backed by the brand of the well-known cardiologist, The Good Life will be a "lifestyle magazine, covering food, life, relationships, diet and body information," writes Kelly. "Among the topics [Dr. Oz] said he wanted to delve into was why only 25 percent of women reach orgasm."

Walt Disney Co. is considering hiring an investment bank to explore selling its eight TV stations, which are "in larger markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, and reach roughly 23 percent of US TV households," writes Claire Atkinson. However, Disney may not want to part with the stations because of the leverage ownership brings to retrans negotiations with pay TV providers, Atkinson notes.