And this is news because...........................

OK so the word "Brokeback" is Hollywood's word of the year, not that we are surprised but was it really fucking worh a headline on Yahoo!? In second place was "Brangelina," the hybrid name given to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as Hollywood's hottest new couple. They beat out "TomKat," bestowed on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and "Vincifer," a hardly used term referring to Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. We really hope to god that these words don't make it into the fucking dictionary because then the world would really see us in a whole new light. See the rest of the words some nothing to do organization put together via [Reuters]

Did they really think the stock price wouldn't drop at some point?

Sergey and Larry's house saw a 10% drop in their stock price but who is really crying over at Google right? They still have more money that you and I probably won't ever see in this lifetime. Does Wall Street think Google isn't serious enough about their financials? "They have a history of not really providing much in the way of financial data," said Steve Weinstein, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities. "There are things I'd love to hear but that we are unlikely to hear." [cnnmoney]

Pro bono, Buffett wants your kids to know the value of a dollar

"I can't afford to go Hollywood,There's no money in this stuff." Warren Buffett will play himself in an upcoming 13-part DVD series, "The Secret Millionaire's Club," produced by Burbank-based DIC Entertainment Corp. The 75-year-old grandfather plays an animated version of himself who offers his wisdom with the kind of down-home delivery that has made him a folk hero to investors. Hmmmmm! This new toon will be aimed at kids ages 8-12. These kids must be reading the New York Times of Wall Street Journal. [LAtimes]

Comcast pisses off theater owners even more with "day and date"

Comcast Corp. and IFC Entertainment are set to announce a deal Tuesday that will ensure simultaneous distribution for independent films in select theaters and via video-on-demand. The indie drama "American Gun" will be the first title to get day-and-date treatment, on March 24, in the 9 million homes that comprise Comcast's digital footprint and in IFC's own IFC Center theater in New York. [reuters]

Roger that: Tivo freebies...maybe

New Tivo boss Tom Rogers says that his company will give away free set top boxes via new pricing options on the horizon. Said Tommy: “We're continuing to pursue the prospects of zero upfront and all upfront" What ever the hell that means. [Reuters]

Hartle Media into Spin-ing Blender

What's next Vibe? Music monthly Spin is set to be acquired by publisher Tom Hartle on Tuesday, according to sources familiar with the situation. Once the deal closes, Hartle has plans to replace top personnel at the magazine with the launch team behind Dennis Publication's Blender. As first reported in WWD last week, Hartle tapped former Blender editor Andy Pemberton to replace current editor in chief Sia Michel, and former Blender publisher Malcolm Campbell to replace Spin publisher Jacob Hill. Campbell, most recently group publisher at Vice, served as publisher of Spin for 11 years before joining Blender. [Mediaweek]

Barry officially puts Jeeves to sleep

IAC honcho Barry Diller officially killed Jeeves and rebranded the AskJeeves.com site simply as Ask.com We don't know though. Killing Jeeves caused the site a whole lot of Character. Anyway her is more info on the killing of Jeeves. While unveiling his company's newly re-branded search engine, Ask.com, Barry Diller has a message for those expecting him to make a serious run at Google and Yahoo -- be patient. "We're very serious about this," said Diller, chairman and CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp. "We've put up a lot of capital. But we don't expect great earnings to come for a long time."As of Sunday evening, AskJeeves.com (which IAC acquired for $1.9 billion last July) officially became Ask.com. The site features a retouched homepage -- minus Jeeves, the famous butler mascot. During a frank keynote address delivered at the opening of this week's Search Engine Strategies Conference in New York, Diller acknowledged that chipping into Google's search dominance is going to take some time, even with a revamped product. [Mediaweek]

Stacy Snider dreaming

Over the weekend, Hollywood waited on tenterhooks as Snider chose between keeping her highly compensated job running Universal and its annual release slate of about 30 pictures and moving on to a new career phase, supervising a live-action slate of four to six pictures for the newly owned subsidiary of Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures unit. Snider will report to Paramount chairman and CEO Brad Grey and will share the chairman title with DreamWorks partner David Geffen. She will run the day-to-day operations of DreamWorks, where she will collaborate closely with Oscar-winning director-producer Steven Spielberg, whose latest film from Universal and DreamWorks, "Munich," is an Oscar contender. "It's all about Steven, it's not about anything else," one senior Universal executive said. [Reuters]

Covers this morning: Gotti overkill

Both the NY Daily News and Post have been chasing the Gotti love child story for the past week but do we really care. The two seem to be having a who can report it better competition. But all we really want is out usual New York City news about yellow cab mo-downs, MTA bickering, the Ron Perelman and Ellen Barckin divorce, you know the usual New York shit. [NYP] [NYDN]

The Braun watch: Any day now Terry

We have been watching current Yahoo! Media Group boss Lloyd Braun for the last few weeks and waiting for an official announcement of his departure. So we are officially launching the Braun Watch where every day we will post something even if there is nothing to post. Our friends in our heads at super hot tech gossiper Valleywag.com have also been watching and waiting for the official Braun departure announcement by posting the latest info. Come on now......Who would really take news from a fucking puppet??

Rupe wants to force us to take channels we don't even watch

Rupert Murdoch is speaking out against the very people who made him the rich little man that he is..........we the consumer. Why are we forced to take a shit load of channels we don't even watch and pay a shit load of money for them? Well Rupe and many of his media buddies are saying we either take what they give or pay more money. Yeah like our DirectTV bill can be any fucking higher. But not to worry the FCC is on there asses. [ap]

Wow, you mean Bill Gates can give us all a dollar and still be loaded

This has to be huge news if it was on Yahoo! News' front page. The world is going to have exactly 6.5 Billion people at exactly 7:16 p.m. Eastern Standard Time this Saturday. We guess they subtracted the thousands who die each day from cancer and every other human killer known. "These are estimates, of course, but clear trends emerge from the data behind them" Oooohhh!! [LiveScience.com ]

Ted Turner supports Dick............kinda

Ted Turner the man who took the biggest hit after the disastrous merger of AOL and Time Warner kinda came to the defense of Time Warner boss Dick Parsons.........kinda. Turner said Parsons is doing a good job "for the most part." "I'm not convinced about anything as far as stock markets are concerned, but I would hope for a rise in the share price" Yeah you and every other shareholder Teddy! [nyp] Fresh News: Ted Turner to de-Time Warner himself [reuters]

Current TV, currently facing lawsuits

The channel former VP Al Gore co-founded is being sued by two companies. A Maryland company is suing in federal court in Cincinnati claiming trademark infringement. Minnesota Public Radio has made a similar complaint in a Minneapolis court. "This is a straight-forward case of trademark infringement," according to briefs filed last month in U.S. District Court by Current Communications Group of Germantown, Md., a provider of broadband Internet services that relies on a Cincinnati company to help distribute its service. Will Al lose this battle as well? Ya know........Courts never seem to rule in his favor!! [ap]

Judy Woodruff to report her findings on young people's views on religion, politics and other issues via PBS

After talking to a cross-section of Americans age 16 to 25, Woodruff will detail her findings in reports on "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" beginning later this year and in a January 2007 documentary, PBS said Thursday. January 07?? Will we even remember about this in 2007? Oh yeah. Judy's statement: "Our objective is to create a profile of the next generation, and to provide current decision-makers with better information about them. We want to help everyone understand the views of young people." But we do understand their views. Males 16-21 think it should be OK for hot pop stars to show their breasts on TV. Females 16-21 think their should be a class based on Paris Hilton's life that will teach them how to be sluts because it's sooo cool! [ap]

Riverhead Books: Goodbye Jimmy Frey and soooo long!

After all that was written, said and done, Riverhead Books said no thanks to fake writer James Frey. The man who pissed Oprah off but sold 1.7 million copies of his fake memoirs 'A Million littler pieces" because of the gab queens got the boot due to the controversy surrounding the book. But one has to ask why did it take Riverhead so long to drop the axe on Frey? Our guess: They were hoping to spin the negatives into positives to drive sales other Frey books but realized it could jeopardize their standing as a publishing company. And no book publishing firm wants to be known as the fake writer publishing firm!! Despite the controversy Frey's sales remain strong. "A Million Little Pieces" was in the No. 2 spot on The New York Times' latest paperback non-fiction bestseller list, just behind Elie Wiesel's "Night," which is Winfrey's latest Book Club recommendation. "My Friend Leonard" was in fifth place on the hardcover non-fiction list. [reuters]

Media Soup:Les reports less, Zannino going heavy on the media, The CW isn't quite here yet but the hirings must go on

Today's soup not all that tasty and easy to digest: Les Moonves' CBS Corp $9 Billion in the hole [ap] New Dow Jones topper Dick Zannino postioning DJ as a major media player [ap] The soon to be launched CW network is on a hiring spree [B&C] Is John Malone Time Warner's new problem? [nyt] Hey Tom Freston's Viacom aint looking too good right now either, but it's Brad Grey's fault [ap] Another Greenspan is suing News Corp over myspace.com takeover [lab]

Want to open a restaurant? Want to grow tomatoes on a farm upstate? Want to become a nun? New York mag will guide your want’s

New York Magazine's change your life guide will help you on getting on the path to fulfilling that long dream of being a new person. Tell your boss to fuck off and quit your job and start a business. Your friends and even you think you're boring, well remake that boring life loser. Are you an artsy fartsy closet case well bring out the artist in you. We can go on but NYM has it all and then some. Read on kids read on!!! [nym]

Another "9-11: What really happened story" via Village Voice

We thought these stories were over but I guess we were wrong. The Village Voice wanted to take us back there even though major publications like Time and Newsweek did years ago with their versions of the "What really happened" stories. But what could The Village Voice tell us about 9-11 that Mike Moore and the mags mentioned above as well as others haven't? Did they get a late breaking scoop. Has another Bush admin member gone AWOL? And how not cute is the cover? The poor kid looks like he is terrified. Jarrett Murphy writes: Everyone has a September 11 tale about how we watched the events in "disbelief." But some people really didn't believe, and in the immediate aftermath of the attacks their doubts took form on the Internet on sites like serendipity.li, plaguepuppy.net, and Killtown. "They were a group of conditioned conspiracy theorists who have been around since JFK and before," says Steve Ferdman, now a 22-year-old marketing major at the New York Institute of Technology, who joined the Truth movement well after the attacks. "They knew how to get the ball rolling immediately. The moment it happened, the conspiracy theories were flying." [VV]

CBS reports Les! but more in ad sales

Les Moonves's CBS Corporation posted a large quarterly net loss as it took another massive charge to write down television and radio assets, but increases in advertising sales at its namesake TV network helped boost operating income. Hey Les we know that the recent spin off which a lot of us still don't get had something to do with this. So we know you're not worried right Les! [reuters]

Morning Blabber: WSJ's new editor, Viacom's income

Dow Jones & Co. put online-publishing chief Gordon Crovitz in charge of the company's flagship newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, merging the company's print and Internet divisions. The newly formed Viacom Inc., owner of MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon, reported lower earnings due mainly to charges and weak results at its Paramount movie studio. [nydn]

Kargo vs. Cargo

Mobile entertainment company Kargo Global has filed a complaint against Condé Nast, publisher of men's monthly Cargo, for trademark infringement in a federal court of the Southern District of New York. "Use of the mark Cargo by Advance in the field of wireless connectivity is likely to cause further confusion, cause mistakes or deceive the public, and cause the public to believe that the goods and services sold under the mark Cargo emanate from or are otherwise sponsored or endorsed by Kargo," the suit said. Ummm!! Yeah! [mediaweek]

FRESH: Rupe's planned MyNetworkTV will carry left overs

Never one to be left out in the cold of all the major media shuffles going down, Newscorp ruler Rupert Murdoch says that his company will launch a new network to air programming on television stations left without a network after the creation of Time Warner Inc.'s and CBS Corp.'s CW channel. MyNetworkTV, which will be overseen by Fox television stations chairman Roger Ailes, will feature a combination of self-produced shows and shows by outside producers. It will also include several reality shows, such as "Celebrity Love Island." Yeahh another friggin reality show!!! [reuters]

Its Alive: Time Inc launches online guyzine Office Pirates, but you should still do your work

Not to sound like we are the fucking announcement committee for Time Inc but the long awaited (we think) launch of Office Pirates an online zine for horny 20 something males who spend most of their time surfing the web at work is live and well. O.P is sure to be a daily resource for bloggers seeking shit to blog about like Mediawiredaily.com We would run down the features on the site but why do that when you can go and see for yourself!? [officepirates.com]

When will Terry Semel fire Lloyd Braun and his puppet news show idea?

Lloyd Braun the flamboyant head of Yahoo's media group is on the hot seat but Yahoo won't admit it. Braun who was Chairman of ABC's entertainment group has yet to make a dent in the digital world since being tapped by Yahoo boss and fellow digital illiterate Terry Semel to head the company's media properties. The first sign that you may have hired the wrong person to run your media business is when the person comes up with most bullshit idea to launch a news show anchored by fucking puppets!!! Only to be politely ignored by his underlings. [news.com]

Emily Listfield unfit for Fitness

Emily Listfield, the editor-in-chief of Fitness for nearly six years, is out even though during her tenure the magazine's circulation jumped from 1,050,000 to 1.5 million. So to hell with the fact that she drove circ to an all time high. If the CEO who hired you got canned, chances are you will be canned as well. "It was a wild ride," said Listfield, reached at home yesterday. Hey maybe she is working on launching blog!!!

Our hunger for gossip keeps the loids on the press

Thanks to our ever growing need for the latest gossip and snapshots of the stars we love to hate and weekly tabloids are kicking ass. The circulation of US Weekly, climbed 12.7 percent, to 1,662,000, in the last six months of 2005, from 1,475,000 a year earlier. In Touch rose 15.5 percent, to 1,178,000. And Star magazine climbed 12.3 percent, to 1,460,000. [nyt]

Les movies , the merrier

Media loving media mogul Les Moonves wants to wet his whistle in the movie business. The CBS ruler has been in talks to join the Motion Picture Association of America, an overture that is sure to increase speculation that the broadcaster has designs on launching a film business. Please don't name the new movie studio (if any) CBS Pictures!!!! [NYP]

When no one bites

Corporate raider Carl Icahn is backing away from his plan to take control of Time Warner after lukewarm interest from investors. Icahn now plans to offer a smaller slate of directors, which could be as low as just five candidates for Time Warner's 14-person board. The news came yesterday as the Icahn camp was in discussions about a possible settlement with Time Warner management. Being that he was unable to penetrate the mighty Time Warner wall of Dick Parsons loyalists, who will Carl Icahn target next? [NYP]

Media Quicky: Disney doesn't fire, they just create undefined bullshit positions

Marty Sklar a 50 year dinosaur (dude it's time to call it a day) of Disney stepped down as vice chairman and principal creative exec for Walt Disney Imagineering in the wake of Pixar executive vp John Lasseter being named principal creative adviser of the theme park division. In his new position, Lasseter reports to Disney CEO Robert Iger, bypassing parks and resorts management. Sklar will serve as Walt Disney parks and resorts Imagineering ambassador, a role as yet undefined. Imagineering Ambassador?? [Reuters]

Les Moonves' underlings read blogs for him

We bet you Tom Freston does! Do you read blogs? Not usually. When it's something interesting, my people bring it to my attention. We are getting independent market research on how bloggers are treating some of our shows and personalities. Early on we knew "Ghost Whisperers" was going to be successful because Jennifer Love Hewitt had a lot of attention among bloggers. It would be silly to ignore blogs, and we don't. [Newsweek]

With all the drama in the world

Foxnews.com just loves the way polls look on their website. Iran is totally off the table huh? [FNC]

Fake it till you make it

Even among the countless bits of gimmickry taking up space on the Internet, the ads for Pherotones did look a little fake. The real client is behind the Pherotone ads is Oasys Mobile, a little-known cellphone content provider that sells games, cellphone wallpaper and ring tones that can be downloaded. Oasys, based in Raleigh, N.C., enlisted the advertising firm McKinney & Silver, in Durham, N.C., to introduce its brand inexpensively — with a nontraditional campaign that it hoped would grab the attention of its desired 18-to-24-year-old demographic. [NYT]

Chaunce Hayden fucked with the wrong fans

Steppin' Out magazine's Chaunce Hayden may be hiring bodyguards to protect him from crazy ass Howard Stern fans who want his head on a platter. Chaunce got on the hot seat for criticizing Howard Stern on the Fox News Channel last month. One posting on the Stern Network site read: "I pray that Chaunce gets killed in a horrible and painful way very soon." Now if that's not a true fan, we don't know what is. [NYDN]

One of the best days of Fox News' life

Fox news is pulling all stops in promoting tonight's interview with Vp Dick Cheney. The Foxnews.com website is playing it's part by providing the official report via a Findlaw PDF, hunting safety rules and videos. America finally will get the Dick grilling they have been waiting for. [Foxnews]

Media Soup:Budget living is now Budget dead and more of the days redundant but informative media news

Budget Living kicks the can [Mediaweek] MTV trying to convince us the "M" stands for MORE TV [Mediaweek] Sumner goes to court [Money Sense] CBS names spy chief [B&C] The bloodshed ends at Time Inc........we think [Gawker]

And the winner is.... Fox News of course

VP Dick Cheney will further boost the media blitz over his trigger finger when he sits with the good folks over at Fox News. It is no surprise at least to us that Fox won the interview all the major networks were eyeing. Will Dick's tale of how he shot his hunting partner be even more entrancing than the coverage it has been getting or are we really Cheneyed out? [AP] previous: Wolfe addicted to dick And the Dick loving continues

Another Dick dominating media and his last name aint Cheney

No wonder all our favorite shows are being pushed around and shuffled. No one wants to go up against NBC Sports & Olympics Chairman Dick Ebersol and his audience grabbing Olympic programming. Monday's primetime competition, pulled in more than 20 million viewers to its coverage of figure skating and speed skating, among other events. NBC's 8-11 p.m. coverage averaged 21 million viewers and a healthy 6.5 rating/16 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research. Go Dick Go! [Reuters]

But if you flirt, isn't that cheating on your office husband or wife?

From telling us we should all get office husbands and wives and now encouraging flirting on the job. CNN seems to have the recipe for high drama on the job. Just think what would happen if your office wife our husband catches you flirting with another co-worker. Things could get really ugly really quick. [CNN]

Bob Pittman's sweet tooth could be worth $100 Million

It's like a fixerupper. You buy it at a reasonable price fix it up, clean it up run with it for a minute so the value skyrockets then just when it looks like it has hit it's highest point......sell the bitch. Former AOL-TimeWarner-er Bob Pittman who snapped up Dailycandy.com is now looking to sell his bag of candies according to the Wall Street Journal. Hmmm we wonder what Pittman will dump the money into and who will take DC off his hands? Our money is on Viacom. [Wall Street Journal via Gawker]

Follow-up: Brent Redstone wants daddy to come out of the closet with his loot

Sumner Redstone's son Brent is blowing the whistle on his poppa and his sister. Brent filed a lawsuit looking to force a break-up of his father's empire, charging that he has not been treated fairly and his sister is being favored. Sounds more like a mix of Icahnism and sibling jealousy. The lawsuit bares a long-simmering conflict between Sumner Redstone and his 55-year-old son, who is asking that his father's $8 billion movie theater company be dissolved. Brent Redstone, who lives on a ranch in Evergreen, Colo., wants access to his one-sixth interest in the company, valued at $1.3 billion. That stake is in a trust he does not have access to and does not derive any income from. [NYT]

Deutsch confidential

Steve Dworin, the disgruntled former employee threatening to sue Donny Deutsch, may be motivated by a lust for publicity for his new consulting venture. Dworin apparently hasn't had a regular job on Madison Avenue in more than seven years. Now he claims Deutsch's autobiography "Often Wrong, Never in Doubt," breaches a confidentiality agreement signed in 1994 when he left Deutsch's employ. Deutsch's book describes Dworin as "secretive." But Deutsch's law yer, Judd Burstein, told us he almost fell over laughing when Dworin's lawyer spelled out in a let ter: "This lawsuit will provide more coverage and publicity than any amount of paid advertising." Burstein added, "There is no possible way for this gentleman to win this frivolous suit." [Page Six]

And the Dick loving continues

The New York Daily News and Post are still at it headline for headline. The Post strategically places a block arrow pointing at the smiling face of White House Chief of Staff Andy Car with the headline..."White House laughs at VP's follies" (not that you couldn't see that for yourself) . The Daily News went easy with a simple "No Joke" headline but the stories are all the same. [NYDN] [NYP]

Wolfe addicted to Dick

The Cheney media blitz continues and CNN's Wolfe Blitzer was dead center last night dedicating about 45 min of his show to discuss the many fucking ways Dick Cheney could have avoided shooting the poor bastard. And of all things Wolfe called in not only a longtime hunting partner of Dick Cheney but an expert hunting advisor. It was also an open mic to anyone else who wanted to drop there two cents in. But we are a bit Cheneyed out at this point.

Media Soup: Primetime ratings are in, and AI is happy to be number one. War of the Redstones on the horizon

American Idol crushed the competition two nights in a raw and Randy Jackson didn't even have to sit on anyone [Ap] American Express Publishing will launch Travel+Romance because the two just go so well together [MWD] Big media investors have better things to do than listen to Carl Icahn [cnnmoney] CBS Corp and Warner Bros Entertainment are already hiring for the CW [mediaweek] A new position for Joanna @ CBS corp. We wonder if Les thought of this all by himself? [TVweek] War of the Redstones: Sumner Redstone has a problem in Brent Redstone [B&C] Television execs really love the music business [Reuters]

Whitehouse Media Inc.

The Whitehouse is slowly becoming a media conglomerate. Not only did they spend $1.6 Billion of our tax green on 137 contracts with advertising agencies over the past two-and-a-half years, they are also becoming content producers by rolling out ads to convince teenagers that pot is no good for them when chances are half the Bush Admin smokes it. At the rate they're going they may end up giving Rupert, Bob, Dick, Les, Tom and Jeff a run for their money. Next up... Whitehouse Records. [adweek]

Because low income families are stupid

Greedy ad execs looking to reach out to "high-income, well-educated households" now have a new outlet in their arsenal: M: The Magazine for Montessori Families. The new, bi-monthly publication is a component of The Montessori Initiative, a parent education and marketing campaign undertaken by the Montessori academic community. "The benefits to this partnership are immeasurable as far as brand positioning, and general association with such a highly regarded institution as Montessori," Jack Brady, editor of M: The Magazine for Montessori Families, said in a statement. Oh yeah only rich well-educated folks should be reading this post. [mediaweek]

T&L to add T&R for loverbird R&R

American Express Publishings' Travel + Leisure and online wedding resource The Knot will debut in April an annual spinoff, Travel + Romance (T&R). T&R will give you love birds the goods on destination weddings, honeymoons and trips for two. 400,000 copies will be sent to select Theknot.com members and T&L subscribers. And for us, 100,000 copies to newstands. It's only $3.99 [mediaweek]

CNN Asks Media Wire Daily answers

CNN as usual wants to know what you think and this time it's about the Dick Cheney shooting. So do we think the late night comedians were too tough on Dick Cheney? Hell no! it WAS some funny shit they dropped on us. [cnn]

Bob Johnson now has many pillows to rest his head

From BET to hotels. Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, said his hotel investment company will pay $1.7 billion to buy 100 White Lodging Services Corp. hotels. One guys seems to think it's a sweet deal: "Lodging is undergoing a very robust recovery, which is going to go on for a long time," said James Corl, of Cohen & Steers Inc. [NYP]

And we thought he was soooo over Disney

Former Disney top mouse Mike Eisner can's seem to let go off Mickey's balls. Mike who was fired from the company reportedly called board members (we can't believe they still take his calls) in an attempt to kill new top mouse Bob Iger's plan to by Pixar. A spokesman for Eisner said: "We don't comment on rumor, but Mr. Iger has Mr. Eisner's complete support in sustaining the growth of Disney." Does it really matter though? [NYP]

Wascals headline sucks ass

Make no mistake about it. Our beloved hometown papers like the Post (right) will milk the whole Dick Cheney shooting till it runs dry and even then they will still attempt to be funny. However the Post's attempt at humor on this morning's front page fell short. You just gotta know when to move on from trying to be funny about a topic already milked by latenight talk show hosts and just about every other paper. Wealy Now!

At least Larry and Sergey are still billionaires

Google investors are shitting bricks this morning due to the more than 4% drop yesterday in Google's stock price. So far about $40 Billion in shareholder value has been wiped out. But we are so sure Larry and Sergey are still sitting pretty on a pile of cash. Hey want to see how the tech side lives and spends their money? Valleywag will fill you in. [NYDN]

The week's covers:

The Village Voice: Stories of the alleged Catholic secret boy loving society just keep popping up. A priest's lawsuit alleges the Catholic Church is hiding pedophile clergy and offers a stunning reason why. [Voice] Time: Hey most of us were never good at the subject anyway and we always knew we weren't the only ones failing. But we also didn't know that the rest of America was failing science as well. Or are we? [Time] Businessweek: What can we say we not only love this cover but we are Judy McGrath followers. We just can't gain access to the floor where her office is located. Never the less this BW article follows Judy's path from her start at the bottom to her rise to the top of a media empire that can stand on it's own two feet. She may wear designer suits but Judy McGrath is one of the coolest media execs in town. Wow can you say major ass kissing on our part? [BW] Newsweek: You can feel the evilness radiating off of this week's cover of Newsweek. The cover is graced by non other than Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. This guy is on something! [NW] And there you have it folks. The covers and stories we think is worth the read in bed under the blankets. That is unless you actually have a life after work on a Friday and have plans to actually have some fun with friends.

BIG HEAD ALERT: Les Moonves loves to love himself

Media loving media mogul Les Moonves must love visiting his company's website and seeing his huge my shit don't smell smile because since the split from Viacom we can't seem to escape his face. Every major announcement posted on the company's website is accompanied by the face of Les. Is Les trying to project an "I'm Approachable" profile, or does he just really loves loving himself? On the Viacom site the only thing you see of Tom Freston is his name and title. Ok les we get it.........your are the fucking CEO of CBS Corp.

Teen People ask' real questions about real teen issues

Teen People magazine really likes to know first hand what their readers think about important issues like if Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine is banging Jessica Simpson. Nevermind serious teen issues like eating disorders and drugs. But then again those two seem to be the in thing now anyway right? Oh and for the record.........we do think he is banging her! Hmmmm.......... a little off course for us but hey it's a slow news day in media so fuck it.

CNN.com gets good advice to share daily

And we thought we were with it. Project Runway designer Daniel Vosovic warns: if you can sleep comfortably in it, I don't want to see it on the street." [Are we really that hopeless? ] CNN also shared some advice on how to deal with that pain in the ass micromanaging dick head of a boss who just won't let up. But chances are you could be the cause of it all. Start meeting those deadlines and easy on the porn download. [Quick fix]

Fuego calls it a day

Another casualty. This may be old news but its new news to us. I guess we slept on this one but here it goes anyway: Fuego magazine, Harris Publications Inc.'s first foray into the Hispanic marketplace, has been shuttered after less than one year. The quarterly English-language men's lifestyle magazine, which launched in April 2005, had a circulation of 200,000, targeting second- and third-generation Latinos. Arlene Ramos-Noel, an advertising rep for Fuego, told Marketing y Medios in summer 2005 she had secured new advertisers, including Colgate-Palmolive, Kenneth Cole, L'Oréal, Estée Lauder and Unilever, with interest from the alcohol, auto, electronics and retail categories. [Mediaweek]

MEDIA QUICKY: A&E gets the Scheff Special

It's a beautiful thing when you can quit your job and still work for your former employer. Artie Scheff, senior vp of marketing for A&E Television Networks, has parted ways with the company. Scheff is hanging up his own shingle, establishing an independent marketing firm called Scheff’s Special. A&E has signed on as his first client. [Mediaweek]

Walt's little bunny back home via Al trade

Turn's out Disney would have done anything to get Oswald the lucky rabbit back home and they did. They traded ABC's Al Michaels to NBC for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It turns out the big-eared bunny was one of Walt Disney's first animated characters, a star in his own right before Mickey Mouse was even a gleam in his creator's eye. But Disney lost the rabbit after he found out that Universal Studios, now part of NBC Universal, owned the rights to develop the character. [LAT]

Bonnie Fuller set off the numbers craze a dozen years ago.

Mag Editors are finding more ways to get us to buy their magazines. The latest technique is the numbers game. Can you imagine sitting and going through 1,200 ways look your best, or 500 ways to get the girl or the guy? A trip to the newsstand these days can be a dizzying descent into a blizzard of numbers. The March issue of Elle Girl promises readers "375 excuses to shop." Harper's Bazaar offers "783 new ideas to flatter you." Marie Claire trumpets not only "71 easy hair and makeup how-tos" but a mind-blowing "1,157 hot looks (all shapes, all sizes, all prices)." [KATHARINE Q. SEELYE/NYT]

Sex is better than humor

Time Inc's super duper been in development for a year lad mag Officepirates.com will finally launch on Feb. 22. The site will debut with a dangerous mix of beer and car ads. The new project is being edited by former Maxim and Details Editor Mark Golin. The site is aimed at twentysomethings to early thirties. "It will be more humor than chicks," Whaat?? More humor than chicks for twentysomethings to early thirties? We predict that this site won't last long. Back to Maximonline.com. [NYP]

The Post's website goes yellow for GM, and it's ugly

The New York Post, apparently starving for ad dollars went ugly for GM's Go Yellow campaign to promote the company's Flexfuel vehicles. Wow we really hope this campaign ends soon on the site because it's a real eye killer. [NYP]

Why isn't Judy McGrath stressed?

Businessweek did a nice little piece on MTV's queen bee Judy McGrath. The cover shot is a nice one too, clean and centered. But how does Judy do all that she does and not pull all here hair out? More power to you baby girl. But can we get more episodes of "Meet The Barkers"? We are openly addicted to that show. [Businessweek]

Biondi Comprehension

Frank Biondi goes on record to tell Hollywood Reporter contributing editor Diane Mermigas about the rationale behind the drive to split Time Warner into four companies. Here is a little taste: THR: You mentioned selecting (Time Warner president and chief operating officer) Jeff Bewkes as the CEO of the new Time Warner content company. Have you spoken with him yet? Biondi: I haven't. Jeff was quoted today as saying that he and (Time Warner chairman and CEO) Dick Parsons are a team, which any No. 2 would have to say. Is he saying Jeff really doesn't like Dick? [Reuters]

Oprah signs deal with XM for pocket change

Chit chat queen Oprah Winfrey and XM satellite Radio announced that they have entered an agreement to launch the new "Oprah & Friends," channel. The deal is for 3 years and will pay Oprah $5million more than she paid for her California Estate (do the math). Winfrey's new channel on XM will feature personalities that appear on her show and in her magazine including Bob Greene, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and Nate Berkus. What? No Dr. Phil? [AP]

Univision on the block for $10 big ones

Univision Communications Inc. has disclosed the possibility of putting itself up for sale, the New York Times said Wednesday. Citing people familiar with the situation, the daily says Univision executives will meet today to consider the sale. In other words to see exactly what their cut will be. The company is valued at $10 billion.The long-rumored transaction could generate interest from U.S. media giants such as News Corp., Time Warner, CBS Corp. and General Electric Co., which owns NBC Universal, the parent company of Telemundo. Don't hold your breath for Time Warner to put in a bid. Not with all the Icahnisms going on. [Mediweek]

The morning's covers: One funeral, a perv and the obsessed

We were down and out all day yesterday due to technical issues that we know nothing about. So we had to wait for our hosting company to fix the problem and now here we are, a whole day missed but no love lost. Anyway as we move along. The morning's covers just can't be ignored. The Daily News of course comes of with the better picture of the Corretta King funeral, crisp and clean. But it's the headline below that really got us reading. The Post........Well as usual the picture raw and not as dramatic as the Daily News' but we have to give them the 'Hell Yeah' on their headline. Oh yeah Angelina Jolie gracing the cover of the first issue of the Post's Page Six mag debuting tomorrow for an already gossip obsessed MTA ridership helps as well. [NYDN] [NYP]

The morning's covers

Both the New York Post and Daily News ran at the recent shooting involving rapper Busta Rhymes' bodyguard who was killed. But the Post' headline annoyed the shit out of us. Who comes up with these things? Oh yeah the NYDN made it clear that the murder happened at a 'RAP' studio. [NYDN] [NYP]

The week in covers: America has a secret workforce,DNA and your past, The economy unmasked

Time: Thirty years of migration--mostly illegal--connect a small town in Mexico to New York's wealthy Hamptons. How both sides have benefited, and paid a price. Oh so that's where they all went!! [Time] Newsweek: Want to know how far back your connection goes in time? Want to know if Sumner Redstone is your grand daddy? The this story will shine some light on how DNA can prove all this. [Newsweek] Businessweek: The economy is unmasked and claims to be stronger. But form some reason he can't pick us all up [BW]

Quicky: Pecker keeps on pecking

AMI chief gossiper David Pecker managed to steal away yet another Hachette Filipacchi-ist David Leckey to come join him and Bonnie at AMI. We can only ask who will be stolen next? [Mediaweek]

Jane likes em young and dumb

Editor in Chief Brandon Holley wants to give Jane a makeover to attract younger female readers and encourage them to spend more money on shit they can't afford. Holley will unveil the fruits of a six-month overhaul of the magazine on Feb. 24. The March issue will unveil new departments, reorganized sections, a girly feel and a new attitude."We’re lightening it up and make it more well rounded,” said Holley. "We really want to concentrate on this life stage. [These girls] have a job, roommate, credit card debt, a hangover, and on top of it all, are obsessed with a pair of Marc Jacobs shoes." [Mediaweek]

Page Six, the magazine, oh! how lovely

The New York Post is serious about the gossip business. The paper will launch a glossy 76 page gossip mag called what else but Page Six The Magazine. The mag claims to have never before seen photos of Angelina Jolie. Behind the seen pix of the Victory Secret photo shoot (looking forward to that) And Heidi Klum reveals what really happens backstage at fashion week. We kinda know the answer to this one. It has to do with models taking turns in the bathroom and making loud choking noises, and come out five minutes later looking even more skinny. Wow we are sounding like a celeb gossip rag this morning for some reason. I think we need to get back on track here.

Godaddy.com gets the go

After about 13 versions, Godaddy.com finally got the welcome to air their new ad during the Super Bowl. Here is how the ad will unfold: In the spot, GoDaddy "execs" discuss their dilemma. Then they bring in GoDaddy girl Michelle to plead their case to the "chairman of the board." The strap to Michelle's tiny little top pops in front of the older looking gentlemen. He's so shocked, he covers his mouth with an oxygen mask. I think we would need to see this one for ourselves. [NYDN]

The morning's covers: Drama filled

This morning's covers speak loud with dramatic and bold headlines. However both the New York Post and Daily News added a little something extra for the fashionistas and gossip fiends. [NYDN] [NYP] [ND]

We must lie to succeed.......Sometimes

We tried so hard to ignore this story because it's a total media overkill. What could one more blog possibly say about James Frey and his liar liar book that has not been said? Not only is the book selling out, because I mean we all want to read the lies ourselves, but his profile is getting even bigger. Hey he just may get GQ's man of the year!!!! [NYT]

Chances are your real spouse has one too

CNNmoney.com says find yourself an office wife or husband and you will be more productive and even get a raise. And to think............We thought all you needed was to kiss some ass from time to time and laugh at your bosses lame jokes and tell him how cute his dog is. [CNNmoney]

Dick earns but not enough for Icahn to shut up

Time Warner profits rose 21% but that's still not enough to call off corporate bull dog Carl Icahn who said in a televised interview that: "Dick Parsons is a good guy but unlike me, he doesn't understand the digital age" Ok Mr Icahn and Frank Biondi does? Dick Parsons continues to block Icahn's face from his mind during the conference call and shot out a statement clearly aimed at Icahn: "We continue to consider many strategic alternatives,"A drop in media stocks, in particular Time Warner shares, is "overblown,". We will not experiment with the flavor of the day in the mere hope it might work or because we are impatient,". We have an idea. Why don't Dick Parsons and Carl Icahn do 3 rounds in the ring. Who ever knocks the other one out, gets his way. [NYDN]

Businessweek proves that 827 American's don't approve of the job President Bush is doing

Our recent pollsters over at Businessweek loves to know what their readers think about the commander in chief. Their recent poll shows that 66.9% of their readers don't approve of the President's doings. Then again we are sure the White House isn't losing sleep over the actual number of votes.

T.O.N.Y shares a real cock and bull story

Time Out New York's cover story by Ben Walters is a little on the boring side. The article writes like a love story about how magicians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon met and built a relationship bla blah blah.... It would have been nice to see someone more interesting on the cover. [TONY]

Gibson and Sawyer to play musical chairs for Woodruff

Wow it takes two to fill Bob Woodruff's shoe. ABC will rotate both Charlie Gibson and Martha Stewart's secret half sister Diane Sawyer along side Woodruff's co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas. Will the studio be big enough for all three? Wait, does this mean Charles and Diane are getting paid overtime? [NYT]

Finally CNN asks a question worth answering

Stepping away from their usual out of the box poll questions, CNN.com finally had something to ask us about. The President's SOTU Address sparked their creative minds and they were able to come up with the day's poll question.

The Morning's front pages

Though both the Daily News and Post have tributes to the late Coretta Scott King, only the Daily News thought she was worth the front page. The Post opted for a story on Mayor Bloomberg's gal pal losing her shot a job she has had her eye on. However we loved the Post's State of The Union related headline better! [NYP] [NYDN]