Maxus, the youngest of GroupM's media agency networks, has named Lindsay Pattison to the new post of global Chief Strategy Officer. She had been CEO of the agency's UK operations in London and will retain that role while taking on her new global responsibilities.

Yahoo unveiled the 2012 version of its fantasy football game Wednesday with an eye toward play across multiple platforms. Now in its 15th year, Yahoo's fantasy football app for the first time will be across the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Users can also access the app via Yahoo Connected TV, Android phones and the Kindle Fire. Fans can now compete for money in Yahoo’s Pro Leagues, with payouts and cash prizes available up to $500. Other new features include trading and waiver options that let players instantly improve their teams on the go …

Hallmark Channel just unveiled a new tagline and brand image: "The Heart of TV."

PayPal and credit card provider Discover are teaming up to bring PayPal payments to Discover's network of 7 million U.S. merchant locations. Under the alliance, PayPal's 50 million customers will be able to make payments at retail stores beginning in April 2013. The move gives additional momentum to PayPal's efforts to make the jump from online to in-store payments through its own digital wallet services. In May, the eBay unit struck partnerships with two the largest point-of-sale (POS) terminal companies—Verifone and Equinox—to expand its in-store payment system to 15 more …

Announced back in June, Facebook on Wednesday rolled out widely Facebook Studio Edge, an online tutorial program to keep ad agencies up to speed on new Facebook products and best practices. Building on Facebook Studio, showcasing top campaigns, the new offering provides self-guided courses focused on topics related to apps, Pages and ads. Each course takes 10-15 minutes to complete and users can earn “recognition” badges as they progress through course modules. Now there's an incentive for passing. At launch, Facebook Studio Edge will be open to agencies within …

GroupM has named Ari Bluman, a long-time executive of WPP sister company 24/7 Media, Chief Digital Investment Officer for North America.

Time Warner Cable issued a press release Tuesday crowing about hitting 1 million fans on Facebook. Never mind that brands and celebrities including Facebook, YouTube, “The Simpsons,” and Shakira are north of 50 million. But, hey, that's a lot for a cable company. TWC credited its “Enjoy Better' campaign for nearly tripling its fan base on Facebook from 338,000 in February. The effort included specialized tabs on the company's Facebook page to let viewers get special content around movies and sports on TWC channels.

Meredith Corp.'s Meredith Xcelerated Marketing unit just made a couple of key hires from digital savvy agencies, including Organic's Steve Kerho, who joins as senior vice president-Chief Strategy Officer.Kerho was senior vice president-strategy, media and analytics at Organic, which is a unite of Omnicom.Also joining MXM Doug Rozen, who was named senior vice president-general manager of mobile practice, The Hyperfactory. Rosen joins from Aimia Inc. (formerly Carlson Marketing Worldwide), where he was senior vice president-global lead for creative, interactive, media & mobile.

Barnes & Noble reported sales of its Nook devices fell in the quarter ending July 28, even as overall revenue rose 2.5% to $1.45 billion. While sales of digital content sold through Nook increased 46%, total Nook sales, including its e-reading devices, dipped to $191 million from 191.4 million a year ago. The biggest U.S. bookstore chain said Nook sales had declined because of reduced prices and its inability to meet demand for the Nook Glowlight model, which allows users to read in the dark. Barnes & Noble has an estimated 25% to 30% of …

On the heels of the sale of Buddy Media and Clickable, Gannett just announced the acquisition of BLiNQ Media LLC. Terms were not disclosed, but Gannett said the acquisition would help Gannett's Digital Marketing Services organization develop innovative social marketing solutions for marketers.