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The ‘Times’ Gets With the Wines
As they’ve watched their advertising revenues plummet, no one would blame newspaper executives for hitting the bottle every now and then. Or every now. The New York Times, however, appears to be looking at this as an opportunity. On Thursday, the paper announced something called the New York Times Wine Club, which will “offer members…
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Brill’s Journalism Online Claims 506 Publications
In April, when Steven Brill announced his latest start-up venture — dubbed Journalism Online, a service that purports it will help publishers charge for digital content — there was plenty of skepticism among critics. And rightfully so. After all, no traditional media company has been able to crack the code on monetizing the type of…
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Comedy Central Sacks ‘Reno 911!’
It’s a sad day for fans of Lt. Jim Dangle. And his package. Thomas Lennon, the actor who plays the aforementioned character on “Reno 911!,” announced via his Twitter feed that Comedy Central has cancelled the show. "’Reno 911!’ was cancelled at 1:30 pm today," Lennon wrote. "Won’t be wearing the shorts again."…
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Bill O’Reilly: The Reporter?
Last week I called the latest feud between Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly and NBC’s Keith Olbermann little more than a made-for-summer-doldrums ratings grab. If it truly is a work of arson, though, O’Reilly is going to great lengths to keep it going. On Tuesday’s “Factor,” O’Reilly said there is a “federal investigation into whether American…
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Nielsen Down 6%, but Media Properties Slide 30%
Operating income for the Reporter, Billboard, Adweek down more than 70 percent.
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L.A. Times Website Gets Slick Overhaul
Some of its top editors may be getting poached by web-only players, but the Los Angeles Times finally has a flashy site worthy of its Hollywood home. The LATimes.com unveiled the redesigned site Wednesday with a sleek, clean new design and simpler navigation that includes links to news stories above the fold. “We now…
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After ‘Sex’ and ‘Lipstick,’ Bushnell Looks to the Web
It’s hard — perhaps even impossible — to follow up a series like “Sex and the City.” Candace Bushnell knows this. Her post-“Sex” best-seller, “Lipstick Jungle,” became an NBC series. It lasted less than a year before NBC pulled the plug. (The show, for the most part, never came close to recapturing the 7 million…
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Breaking News! New Magazine Actually Launches!
Hard to believe, but it’s true. A new, glossy, ink-on-paper magazine launched last night with a party in New York. The magazine – Afar – is devoted to what its founders call “experiential travel.” It was conceived by Greg Sullivan, an entrepreneur and former arcade game manufacturer, and his business partner Joe Diaz, a former…
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Is the ‘Globe’ Worth $35M?
And would the Times Co. sell it for less? We may soon find out, as bids begin to trickle in for the Boston Globe, which the New York Times Co. admitted last week is on the block. Platinum Equity, which bought the San Diego Tribune earlier this year, is offering a reported $35 million for…
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Are Newspapers About to Cheat Death?
Maybe the death of the American newspaper has been greatly exaggerated. Or maybe it’s just going to take longer to bury than previously thought. As Advertising Age noted late last week, one research firm forecasts ad revenue for print newspapers will rebound 2.4 percent in 2010. What’s more, according to the firm, Borrell & Associates,…
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Longtime ‘Post’ Staffer Out at Page Six
Richard Johnson continues to shuffle the lineup card at the world’s most famous gossip page. A week after hiring Emily Smith away from Life & Style to replace Paula Froelich as his new top lieutenant, it appears that Bill Hoffman, longtime New York Post staffer and Page Six columnist, is the odd man out. Johnson…
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Have Stock in Media? Read This
More public media companies held their earnings calls this week. And, like last week, the reports from the executive suite were dire. Playboy warned that its magazine may lose 47 percent of its ad pages during the third quarter. News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch’s sprawling media empire, reported a startling $3.4 billion fiscal year net loss,…
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Who Would Buy a Newspaper Now?
After months of scuffling — and threatening to shut the paper down — the New York Times Co. said for the first time on Thursday that it is seeking a sale of the Boston Globe. The admission came in the form of a disclosure in a regulatory filing to the S.E.C., and was first…
