• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, February 4, 2010

Fremantle, Source Re-launch 'Idol' Mag

"American Idol," now in its ninth season, is again getting its own monthly newsstand magazine devoted entirely to the popular talent show, courtesy of Fremantle Media Enterprises and Source Interlink Media, which are partnering for the re-launch of American Idol. The magazine will publish four monthly editions covering the Fox show, with the first hitting the newsstands March 26.

As before, the magazine will offer readers behind-the-scenes glimpses of the TV show's many dramatic and absurd moments, as well as interviews with contestants and judges, including newcomer Ellen Degeneres, and this season's guest judges, Victoria Beckham and Avril Lavigne. Edit also covers hair, makeup and fashion, and updates on previous "Idol" contestants and winners.

The magazine's final edition will also include a farewell tribute to Simon Cowell, the caustic Brit responsible for bringing the show to America. The publishers are touting the magazine as a vehicle for advertisers to reach highly engaged fans of the show, which airs on Fox Tuesdays at 8 p.m. and Wednesdays at 9 p.m.

Lucky Gets Microsoft Smartphone Tag Technology

Shopping mag Lucky will begin including Microsoft Tag technology with its upcoming March issue, allowing readers to take pictures of two-dimensional bar codes using their smartphones, bringing up digital content related to the subject of the article or ad connected to the codes.

The Microsoft Tag technology will debut in the March issue of Lucky , which is set to hit newsstands on Feb. 9. In the forthcoming issue, the tags allow interested readers to bring up online videos with how-to demonstrations for the magazine's clothing styling advice. On the ad side, Lacoste and Bing also have tags in the March issue, which steer the reader's phone to their mobile Web sites.

Hearst Launches Delish Bookazine

The publishing world is seeing more "bookazines" -- hybrids of magazines and books usually published by a magazine brand and focused on a special niche content area. The latest entry comes from Hearst, which earlier this week announced the launch of Light & Delish , a bookazine drawing content from its popular food Web site, Delish, which it operates in partnership with MSN.

The book became available on Feb. 2, with an initial distribution of 300,000 and a cover price of $9.99. Light & Delish includes three ads for Kraft, but is otherwise ad-free.

Reader's Digest Association Delays Chapter 11 Exit

The Reader's Digest Association has temporarily delayed its planned exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for reasons unrelated to its American business, to accommodate one of its overseas divisions.

RDA is delaying the end of its Chapter 11 status to allow its British division, The Reader's Digest Association Ltd., to gain the approval of a British regulatory agency for the company's proposed plan to deal with a deficit in its pension fund. The company had already obtained the approval of the pension plan's trustees and the official Pension Protection Fund, but ran into a roadblock when the U.K. Pensions Regulator withheld approval.

RDA's plans to exit bankruptcy were approved last month by a U.S. bankruptcy court.