Darden's Media Group's purchase of Maxim magazine from Alpha Media Group may be a dead deal, according to sources cited by Lucia Moses. "The deal was expected to close in the third quarter or early fourth quarter, but that deadline has come and gone," she writes.

Jeff Krolik has been promoted to president of Fox Sports' regional networks unit, in charge of 22 regional sports networks including Prime Ticket and the Spanish-language network Deportes. Krolik joined the company in 2007 from HBO.

The New York Times today debuted a series of 60-second video news segments that will air three times each weekday on the newspaper's website, optimized for mobile devices.  "The segments can be updated continuously to accommodate fresh reporting on any of the given stories," writes Joe Pompeo. First sponsor of "The New York Times Minute" is Microsoft -- though, writes Pompeo, one problem is that "video is actually pretty time consuming and expensive to produce at a high enough quality level to attract sponsors like Microsoft."

Here's how two broadcast networks are making changes.NBC is reportedly looking to its viewers for ideas. Its "Big Idea Bureau"  has been narrowed down to 10 supposedly viewer-created suggestions, according to an inside memo unearthed by the Huffington Post. But we wondered why we couldn't find the logistics of how such ideas were submitted, and why they were all explained in corporate-marketing speak: "The Bubbler: 'A brand that aggregates sharable news targeting Millennials.'"More conventionally, ABC, which "has struggled most in the ratings this fall," is shifting its prime-time schedule, canceling …

The Atlantic Wire is relaunching this week as The Wire, with an expanded editorial range of topics, more news coverage, and its own  sales staff. "A new ad product rolling out later this year, Brand Boost, will let advertisers drop in real-time content pulled from their own social platforms," writes Emma Bazilian.

CNBC cut a mobile deal with some major cable and satellite operators to allow their subscribers access to live-streaming of all programming 24/7 on Apple iOS devices. Missing so far: Time Warner Cable, a deal that may be coming in a few weeks. And Android devices will have a CNBC app early next year.

Bloomberg News is laying off roughly 2% of its staff  -- fewer than 40 employees -- according to a spokesperson cited by Christine Haughney. The company is cutting down on art coverage as well as sports, eliminating game reports and focusing "more on sports stories that intersect with business."

Hearst is outpacing its two main rivals, Time Inc. and Advance Publications, owner of Conde Nast, "with a more diversified portfolio and expansive media footprint," writes Matthew Flamm. He details the moves that have helped the  privately held company project "record earnings, as well as record revenue of nearly $10 billion, up from just over $9 billion in 2012, according to a spokesman." The road to prosperity is paved with investments in cable TV (co-owning A&E, now with hit "Duck Dynasty, and a 20% investment in "sports-television giant" ESPN), as well as business media, less so with print media profits.

The Atlantic is partnering with social network Reddit on a series of videos, "Ask Washington Anything," in which the network's users are solicited to ask questions for "Washington insiders to answer on camera," writes Michael Rondon. First up, in a video that aired last Friday: Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Grover Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, and Sam Kass, executive director of 'Let's Move!"

If Aereo wins its case before the Supreme Court, two major sports leagues will probably be moving all its games -- including the World Series and the Super Bowl -- to pay TV outlets, away from broadcasters. This message was part of "an amicus supporting a broadcaster effort to block Aereo's online TV station delivery service," writes John Eggerton.