Darden Media's deal to buy Maxim magazine and parent Alpha Media is over. Darden failed to come up with the dough, a source tells Keith Kelly. Looks like the new owner will be the "No. 2 bidder, a joint venture that includes Infinity Group, a licensing company, and Hilco Global, a buyer of distressed assets."

Most major consumer magazine publishers generally opted for low-key holiday celebrations -- especially fitting at Time.Inc and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, both of which recently ordered staff layoffs, writes Emma Bazilian.

NBC's hit "The Blacklist" was the year's most time-shifted show among U.S. viewers, gaining nearly 7.8 million who watched the show after its first airing, according to Nielsen's rankings. Next up on this list was "The Following," whose numbers were boosted by 5.6 million by time-shifted viewing. Nielsen also ranked social media followings for the first time this year, and (no big surprise) "Breaking Bad," whose long-awaited and much-talked-about series finale was earlier this year, was number one for Twitter TV Ratings (NTTR) Top Series of Fall 2013.

Good news in magazine statistics for 2013: "Just 56 titles shuttered in 2013, down more than 30 percent from the prior year and [down more than] 60 percent from 2011," writes Michael Rondon. However, there were fewer launches than in 2011 -- only 185, down 18%. These numbers came from a year-end report by MediaFinder.

Cosmopolitan is "shrewdly playing on the brand’s popularity and promoting a feeling that readers are included in the editorial process" by livestreaming an actual editors' story conference, writes Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke. "The result is audience engagement and brand loyalty, two key components to any successful social media strategy."

Time Inc. has been cut from the potential pool of Forbes buyers, according to a source cited by Keith Kelly. The company was formerly a "top contender" to get the rights to the business mag.

TiVo's co-founders are set to roll out QPlay, a streaming video device, possibly at CES next month, writes Janko Roettgers. Although some details are still sketchy, "the device will likely give consumers access to content from Netflix and Hulu Plus as well as possibly Amazon."

Reader's Digest's editorial revamp (now out on newsstands) was accompanied by such changes on the biz side as "price discipline" (eliminating discounted agent-sold subscriptions) and "exclusivity and premium placement for advertisers," writes Michael Rondon. "As planned, the magazine sold fewer (but higher-priced) ads in the new issue—16, in all—and plans to have 34 ads per issue by the summer. That contrasts with an average of 60 to 70 per issue in the first half of 2013."

Comcast is considering several scenarios for a purchase of Time Warner Cable: a full takeover, buying some markets, or teaming up with another cable company, according to anonymous sources cited by Reuters reporters. "The potential entry of Comcast into a still-developing bidding war could complicate months-long efforts by Charter and its largest shareholder, Liberty Media Corp, to acquire Time Warner Cable."

USA Today is expanding its editorial overview of Miami, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas and the West, hiring reporters to "focus on breaking news and enterprise coverage in their regions," writes Hadas Gold. The announcement comes after last week's that parent company Gannett "plans to insert a condensed version of the paper into 35 local newspapers early next year, eventually expanding the program to all of Gannett's 81 local newspaper markets."