Post dump scheme?

The New York Daily News may have cracked open a print and dump scheme by it's rival the New York Post. Seems like the Post has been running an operation to pump up circ numbers but it all came to an end thanks to the Daily News. Nike reportedly paid for the free give aways but the post didn't feel like getting them to the public. We can't even go on anymore about this at all. This is something Rupert Murdoch should be ashamed of and heads should roll for this. Then again the never did before. [NYDN]

Paper wars continue, but an end could be near

It seems like since the whole Knight Ridder McClatchy thing there has been a war of the papers going on under the radar. The Seattle Times and the parent company of its smaller rival, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, agreed on Thursday to have an arbitrator settle a dispute over their joint operating agreement in a move that could make Seattle a one-newspaper city. The Times and media conglomerate Hearst Corp., which owns the P-I, said they would forgo the right to appeal the case, pending approval from King County Superior Court Judge Greg Canova to move the case to arbitration. We really hope this comes to an end soon. There are more pressing things going on in the media world right now like exactly how much money will Newscorp ask us to pay for some service on Myspace.com in the future. [Reuters]

Newscorp plans to milk Myspace.com and it's members

We had bets going here on how long it would take until Rupert Murdoch and his underlings to start looking at ways to milk us on Myspace. The media giant already is devising plans to make the site even stickier and more profitable, possibly by acquiring so-called "Web 2.0" properties, enabling transactions between members and adding subscription offers. "We're looking for technologies or feature sets that give users tools to participate in the media rather than just sit back," Ross Levinsohn, president of News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media unit, told the annual Bank of America Media, Telecommunications and Entertainment Conference here Thursday. Ok so we should all prepare to pay some kind of monthly fee people!!. [Reuters]

Eisner Watch: Wait....... no one is watching

So poor Mike Eisner can't catch a break from viewers with his new lame duck show. Maybe its the dam stage decor it's pretty dull looking. Well one things for sure with only 95,000 eyes tuned in on debut night, CNBC will do what it did with past lame duck shows. Seriously now come on. After stepping down from one of the biggest media companies the first thing you decide to do is go host your own show to interview people you probably fucked over during your power days. Normal former media honchos would have taken another job with a smaller media company or started one of their own. Some like former Vivendi Universal CEO Jean-Marie Messier simply vanished. (Speaking of which we need to find out what he has been up to for the past few years. Last we heard he opened an investment company called Messier Partners or something like that.) But anyway, our message to you Mr. Eisner even though we know there is no chance in hell you will ever read this but hey its worth a shot. Maybe someone who knows someone who knows you will tell you about our suggestions we are about to make. Here it is: We think you should call it quits with your little talk show, even though we are sure Jeff Zucker did that as soon as he woke up this morning via a black berry message. Take some time off enjoy your money and live a little. When the time is right, either launch a little company advising media companies or hey you can always start a blog. We for one would love to hear what you have to say daily!! Or you can buy a few Knight Ridder newspapers like the ones McClatchy Co. is unloading and start from there. We don't know we're just trying to save you from embarrassment even though we are a little too late for that.

Jann Wenner's Rolling Stone may not cut it in China after all

Just weeks after its launch, the Chinese-language edition of Rolling Stone magazine faces an uncertain future after authorities said they had dissolved its publishing agreement with a local partner. No reason was given for the action taken but at the same time some woman who wouldn't give her name or title, not that we care said that the magazine is till being published. "The term stopped the publication is incorrect," she said. "What we stopped was the publishing cooperation between Rolling Stone and Audiovisual World" the magazine's local partner. She said Audiovisual World still had permission to publish the magazine. For a minute there we thought Jann Wenner screwed things up with his hands on-ness. [AP]

The Davinci Code sales makes Dan Brown happy,but us mad and we don't know why

We don't know what all the fuss is about or we're just plain disconnected. But Author Dan Brown's controversial book The Davinci Code is still selling like hot bread at Barnes & Nobles. We are sure it's being snapped up by pretentious Starbucks drinking need to be seen types who just rolls along with any thing that seems hip at the time only to go home and never read the book. But then again if I was Dan Brown I would so want these dicks to buy my book. We opted to wait for the movie so we can get visual of something close enough to the book. Wait is the movie out yet? See how we usually could care less about stuff like this. [HR]

Shari Redstone likes BIG windows

CBS/Viacom Chairwoman and obvious successor to her money bags daddy, Shari Redstone spoke out loud and clear at the recent Bank of America Media, Telecommunications and Entertainment Conference about the slowly shortening gap between when a movie hits the big screen and when it goes to DVD. "Shrinking windows is bad for business, and I mean everybody's business." With Daddy Sumner looking on Ms. Redstone said she would prefer to go back to the old window of six to seven months between the theatrical and DVD release, at least for some films. She said movie studios are looking at maybe having four-month windows for films targeting younger, less patient audiences, and six- to seven-month windows for older-skewing fare. we are part of the older skewing fare and we have absolutely no patience at all. [HR]

Meredith wants us to Eat

As if we Americans need more ways to gain even more weight. Meredith Corp the company that raided G&J's U.S. business will deliver a new quarterly titled Eat, a food magazine with fast, easy-to-make recipes for busy families. We were under the impression that busy families already have that part under control. Its Called Mcdonalds! Eat debuted on March 28 with a $4.99 cover price and a distribution of 350,000 copies. Kraft is the sole sponsor of Eat's first issue. [Mediaweek]

Lloyd Braun's latest try?

Could this be one of Yahoo Media Chief Lloyd Braun's shot at trying to stay on the good side of Yahoo's top brass? I mean we do think its kind of cool that we can now ask Yahoo! questions and it answers, but we thought that was what AskJeeves was all about. Then again Barry Diller killed Jeeves last month. But all jokes aside, if you post a questions it will be answered by a real person, well by fellow Yahoo members who may or may not know the answer to your question. It's like a message board if you ask us, or you can ask yahoo! [Yahoo! Answers]

Its all aboard with Pecker in New York

AMI Chief David Pecker and his board of directors are reportedly grouping up in New York City fire off some questions about the company's finance structure. "They have created a structure that says run this business for cash [flow] or bad things are going to happen," said Ken Meehan, an assistant editor with Debtwire, which follows stressed companies. Wow, guess this means Bonnie has to cut back on intern Starbucks runs. Pecker has reportedly even shaved off the trademark mustache (HE WHAT????) he sported throughout his publishing career. He has also been spotted flying first-class commercial instead of charter, as he shuttles between AMI's Boca Raton headquarters and its New York City offices. [NYP]

Rupe the flip flopper?

Media Czar Rupert Murdoch can sway a political outcome like the CIA by switching sides like NBA players. His latest backee is none other than Bill's wife Hillary Clinton. Rupe has even made his first move in clearing the way for Hillary by taking out her potential Republican Senate rival in a front-page hit on Saturday Post style. Hmmm, wonder why the sudden interest in Hillary? Does he see her as someone he can get to turn the other cheek when he goes into buying spree to further build Newscorp into an even bigger nasty monster? [NYDN]

Ridder paper bidders aint talking

Knight Ridder is becoming more like a flea market with anyone with money looking for a bargain. But some potential buyers are not saying if they bid for the orphaned papers or not. Some even go as far to ask who...........What papers?? Yah!!! Lee Enterprises which only last year acted much like The McClatchy Co. in buying a far bigger chain, Pulitzer Inc., is known for its profitable operation of Midwestern papers. But spokesperson Dan Hayes wouldn't say Wednesday whether Lee was after any of the papers. Lee, he said, has a strict policy of never commenting on possible deals ?regardless of whether we might be doing something or have no interest whatsoever.? Would someone just buy these papers already please!! [E&P]

Comcast loves NBC

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts should be waking up with a smile on his face this morning. His company and Jeff Zucker's NBC has entered a deal where Comcast will sell popular NBC television shows, such as "Law & Order" and "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," through its video-on-demand service starting in May. So start budgeting that money Comcast subscribers, they have found yet another way to milk you. [Reuters]

LINK GRAB: How much power does Rupert really want?

Rupert Murdoch's Direct TV is looking up Echostar's skirt [Reuters] We still can't beleive Mel Karmazin has a little pussy in him [Reuters] Life & Style names a new Chief gossiper [Mediaweek] Facebook.com founder Mark Zuckerberg's dick is bigger than the value of his company [Valleywag] Hearst Pubs go mobile, but do we care? [MBP] Jupiter sold to Jupiter. Go figure! [MBP] Need a job? MTV is hiring [DM]

Direct TV wants Echostar but daddy may say no again

We didn't even know the folks at Direct TV were allowed to even think it. Now they are letting the media world know that they are still interested in buying smaller rival Echostar. This is yet another push by Rupert Murdoch who controls Direct TV to really rule the world. The two companies tried to merge in 2002, but the deal collapsed under the weight of opposition from the Federal Communications Commission' which believed the combination of the top two satellite companies would stifle competition. No shit! Ya Think?? [Reuters]

Washington has Spanish speaking people too you know

And we thought the only Spanish speaking person in Washington was Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Apparently The Herald in Everett, Washington knows something the rest of us don't. The Herald plans to launch a Spanish-language weekly April 21, called La Raza de Noroeste. [MBP] via [Editor & Publisher]

TheCWnetwork.com

Being the nosy media loving bastards that we are. We wanted to check out if what we think is the web address for the new CWnetwork was live and even had the network's logo with a coming soon message or something. But to our surprise we were greeted by a quote from someone by the name of H.L. Mencken. Forgive our dum asses because we don't know who this person is and we are too lazy to go hunting on the web to find out. [Thecwnetwork.com]

More with Les

You know by now that we love to hate Les, but we respect the guy as a business man...We think. According to reports, Julie Chen's Lover and Boss is said to be looking for a partner to make a bid for Univision. We don't know about you but we think this would be a good fit for Les's CBS. Moonves just a month ago said he wasn't interested in bidding on Univision due to possible regulatory hurdles to controlling two networks. But Les may have found a partner already to help ease these road blocks and hopefully make Sumner and Shari Redstone happy. We still think Tom Freston got the better half though!!! [NYP]

Mike Eisner still can't shut the fuck up

Its looking like it may be a little tough for former Disney dictator Mike Eisner to get used to the fact that other people also have the ability to talk. On his show's premier last night he interviewed Martha Stewart and Sony Corp CEO Howard Stringer but Eisner held back on pushing for more detailed answers from his guests, and even when he did get the detailed answers he would cut them off without allowing them to finish. It sounds much like how he allegedly ran Disney's meetings in his power days. But hey! At least the guy still has some connections in the media world huh? Oh man, what we would do to see Bob Iger on that show!!! [NYP]

Elizabeth Spiers finally unwraps Dealbreaker

The latest blog in the blogesphere is Elizabeth Spiers' Dealbreaker which went live just under 1 hour ago. We like the site so far and would love to have coffee with Liz and the gang some day, but the dudes over at Jossip don't seem to be digging the site too much....we think. [Jossip]

Steve Friedman the katie blocker?

CBS News President Sean McManus' decision to name former "Today" show executive producer Steve Friedman to oversee "The Early Show" show has set tongues wagging at rival network NBC. Seems that Friedman's relationship with Katie Couric — who's considering jumping to CBS (We think) was famously icy in the early 1990s, when she was paired on "Today" with Bryant Gumbel, a close Friedman buddy. [NYDN]

8,000 square foot of Maxim

The first of a series of Maxim Magazine-branded lounges is planned for the oceanfront Royal Palm Hotel in South Beach, Miami. Construction will begin early summer and the venue will open in the fourth quarter of this year. While the Maxim Lounge is being constructed, the Royal Palm Hotel will undergo a multi-million dollar refurbishment to be completed in the fall of 2006. We are so going to be regulars!!! [MBP]

We had no idea Mel Karmazin gets scared

Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin says that he its scary paying Howard Stern $500 Million but its worth it. We think its scary paying $4 for coffee so we can only imagine what Mel must have been going through when he signed off on that huge deal for his pal Howard. "It's scary how much they cost, but I would rather have them and find a way to make money with them rather than compete against them," Karmazin said. [Reuters]

Media Soup: Link Grabs

Broadband Now Mainstream: Noooooooooooooooooo!!! [MBP] we loved this line: Long-suffering CBS News has something to brag about — and it hasn't even heard from Katie Couric. [AP] Sumner's daughter speaks up and says "Heeeeerrrree' Shari [PRN] Facebook.com is for sale and they don't come cheap either [Y!F] First they pushed out Andy Lack now Bertie hates the music biz [Reuters] Myspace.com isn't just for getting laid [CBSNews]

It's Mike Eisner premier night

Former Disney boss Mike Eisner's new talk show premiers tonight and we are sure Bob Iger won't be watching. However the New York Times thinks its worth a look. In the first six shows, Eisner will interview Martha Stewart, Sir Howard Stringer of Sony and Bran Ferren, an industrial designer and special effects engineer. Hmmmm, it sounds like Eisner has blown his load already. Wait....Wouldn't it be crazy to see Bob Iger being interviewed by his former boss? [MBP]

iVillage gives new moms something to pay for

As if they really do need more expense after having a baby, iVillage which recently got snatched up by NBC Universal has launched a new channel for expectant and new mothers dubbed Pregnancy & Baby Plus.The subscription-based offering, available at ivillage.com/pbplus for $24 a year, features both text and video content geared to pregnant women and new moms. The channel's multimedia content represents an amalgamation of video from the in-hospital satellite network the Newborn Channel, along with articles from BabySteps magazine and existing iVillage channels. [MW]

Elizabeth Spiers can we be your friend?

Former Media Bistro Editor Elizabeth Spiers will deliver her new blog to the masses tomorrow, and for some reason we are extremely excited. Why you ask? Well we have been a fan and we really want to become good buddies with Liz and her DealBreaker team. We can shoot her media business scoops and she can link back to us. That would be really great for our traffic!!!! Anyway we can't wait to read all that Liz has to offer and more. [Dealbreaker]

Heavy guys get the girls and more....

Heavy.com seems to be making a lot of noise on the web with 5.5 Million users back in February. Heavy is honed especially for young men. It mixes animation, music, video games, grainy home movies of oddball characters, supermodels in bikinis and pop culture parodies. Often, all of these elements are squished into a single two-minute clip. Advertising is everywhere. Is this the formula that will attract a multimillion dollar offer from a big media firm? [NYT]

FOLLOW UP: Men's Vogue murdered Cargo

We told you we would follow-up on this story and now we have what we hope is the real story behind the sudden death of Cargo which we thought was a great magazine. Apparently Conde Nast's latest addition to the stable Men's Vogue is what happened to Cargo Magazine. The magazine employed about 75 to 80 people and most of them are likely to find themselves out of work. The company is said to be trying to place people elsewhere. Cargo is the second men's shopping magazine Condé has shut in the past six months. Now we are wondering if Men's Vogue will at some point meet the same faith? [NYP]

Cargo mag put to rest

Condenast is reportedly pulling the plug on Cargo Magazine. This is really sad because we really loved this magazine. Guess they didn't have enough people like us. We don't have anymore on this story but as we get more info we will post it so we can all cry together. More to come.....................

Friedman named Morning News Overseer at CBS

First off.....We hope that the pic to the right is of the Steve Friedman this posting is about. Anyway CBS has named Mr. Friedman the man in the morning. He was appointed a vice president of CBS News in charge of morning broadcasts by CBS News President Sean McManus on Monday. He'll supervise four different shows, most notably "The Early Show." [AP]

CNN.com's New homepage guide for dummies

CNN.com not only launched their newly designed homepage, they also included a how to & why guide for dummies. Like we mentioned earlier the site got what we call nip and tuck, nothing major because at a glance it still looks the same to us just a little softer. But for you dummies out their feel free to utilize the image to the right to find out exactly what was done to the site and what it does. [CNN]

Gossip mags are discovering a little thing called the Internet

Not only do they look the same, they are all now doing a mad dash to the internet to try and get back that you read it here first titles. Since gossip fiends can't wait a week to read the latest gossip they go to the numerous gossip blogs and websites who stalk celebs 24/7. “We’ll have the breaking news, but much like the magazine, it will celebrate the celebrity lifestyle,” said Us Weekly editor Janice Min. “I’m hoping it will be the one-stop shop for fashion, beauty and celebrity.” Sorry Janice, there are already dozens of celeb sites claiming to be the one-stop-shop. But good luck on the expansion. [MW]

How to write for RollingStone. Wasn't there a movie like this?

MTV and Rolling Stone are teaming for a reality series that will focus on amateur journalists as they compete for a one-year staff position at the legendary magazine. Mediawiredaily.com has come up with a list of five ways to become a writer for RollingStone. Do one or all of these 5 things and you will be getting cleanliness checkups by Jann Wenner sooner than you think. 5 WAYS TO BECOME A WRITER FOR ROLLINGSTONE Write a feature article on Jann Wenner's favorite band Sit in front of RS headquarters and write articles all day Go up to the RS offices and ask the receptionist to find out how Jann takes his coffee Write Jann a letter telling him why his baby should be named after you Get the RollingStone logo tatooed on your forehead [CNN]

CNN.com gets nip and tuck

CNN.com got a little nip and tuck to soften up their face a bit. But if you're not a person who pay attention to details you wouldn't know. But then again we guess that was the whole point right? [CNN]

Morning Covers: Just when we thought we were out.....

Just when we thought we were out...............The government brings us back in. After 4 years the Feds will release recordings of the hopeless cries and calls of 9/11 victims and the Daily News is carrying the message. The Post on the other hands is sticking to the usual New York City news about some Gambino bookies being busted by the cops. First of all we didn't even know the Gambino clan still existed. Wonder what will happen to the $300K the cops found? [NYDN] [NYP]

New York Mag takes us in between Ron and Ellen

New York Magazine takes us inside the nasty divorce battle between Revlon billionaire Ron Perelman and his wife of 5 and a half years Ellen Barkin. With a networth of $6.1 Billion we are sure a lot of papers were signed before any I do's were said. The article tells the tale of the billionaire born in 1943 on New Years day and how he came to be the husband of an actress after meeting her on Oscar night 1999. Ronald Perelman met Ellen Barkin at the Vanity Fair after-party, he approached her. She remembered his pickup line this way: “So, are you married, or single, or what?” [NYM]

Tom Freston to entertainment conclave: I want to tap India's ass

Tom Freston, the big shot at Viacom and Sumner Redstone's clear successor even though they split the company in two so Les Moonves wouldn't cry, said that he plans to make even more money from movie loving Indians by tapping into their digital business. Said Tommy: When the world sees India, they see its fast-growing economy, its large middle class, its smart and well-educated young people, and its big movie and television audience, anyone would consider it a promised land," And trust us, Tommy knows India. He lived there for several years in the '70's, when he set up an apparel export business here and in Kabul for western buyers. Hmmm is Tom Freston a spy?? Living in India for several years huh?? That export business could have been a front!!! [Reuters]

Ariana Huffington blind to facts

Fellow blogger Arianna Huffington needs to start triple checking before posting. She apologized to readers for a blog posted on her Web site on March 13 that was attributed to actor George Clooney but was actually a compilation of his views. "I now realize that I made a big mistake in posting a blog without clearly identifying that the material in it didn't originate as a blog post, but was pieced together from previous interviews," she wrote. "I'm sorry I didn't see this earlier." What's really happening in this world? [CNN]

Disney making room for the more modern Pixar folks via the pink slip, slip

And we thought Bob Iger was nice. But hey business is business right? You gotta get rid of the old dusty way of creating animated blockbusters and bring in the new shiny Pixar way of doing animation. The Walt Disney Co. plans to shutter an animation facility created by former CEO Michael Eisner. Sources said about 32 animators and other employees at Circle 7 will lose their jobs, while the remaining 136 or so will be assigned to Disney's Feature Animation division. We're sure they will get an even bigger discount when they take their families to Disney world. [Reuters]

Eisner books Martha & Sir Howard

Former Disney dictator Mike Eisner is so serious about his new CNBC talk show "Conversations With Michael Eisner" he booked Martha Stewart and Sony boss Sir Howard Stringer for the debut. "Unlike any other interview program on television, 'Conversations With Michael Eisner' recreates the experience of being at a power lunch with the giants of their industries," said Josh Howard, vice president of long form and special programming at CNBC. "He asks the hard questions of the true entertainment and business elite, with an insider's knowledge of the game." Oh please. Doesn't Donny Deutsch have a show like this already? Thats just the usual new show gab. [NYP]

Its the battle of the catchy headlines again

We so hate when the New York Daily News and Post try too hard to be creative because they end up looking and sounding like jackasses. Who are the dick heads who came up with the corny headlines. We really wish they would just stick to simple headlines with good reporting to go with it. And why is it that the Daily News has the picture of a new Scratch -n- Match winner everyday but we never hear anything else about it. These are probably people paid as part of the marketing campaign to get you to buy the paper and play. But you will only lose. [NYDN] [NYP]

Our hosting company loves to fuck us

We apologize for the lack of new posts yesterday but our current hosting company loves to fuck us and then tell us they will make it up to us by giving us a month free. Yeah like this will make up for a day of posting lost. We are working on changing hosts and when we do we hope we never have to post another message like this again begging for your forgiveness, unless of course we really have to!!!

Lucky and Allure looks good on QVC

When direct mail costs are through the roof and the gazillion subscribers you already have is just not enough, what do you do? You get even more subscribers by seducing them via QVC. Both Lucky and Allure magazine from the house that Si Newhouse built, have been testing this new vehicle and it has been successful for them. Wonder if we will soon see Vogue Editrix Anna Wintour on QVC pitching her mag to the couch potatoes who watch? [MW]

Scratch -N- Sell: The Post and Daily News know you love to gamble

Have you noticed how the scratch and win games are becoming more and more prominent on our daily covers? Well that's because both the Post and the Daily News know that New Yorkers love to gamble. So why not plaster the front covers with game promotions. Come on you know you bought your copy of the Post this morning just so you can get your game card. We know we did!!! [NYP] [NYDN]

Now you can watch "The Office" at the office

NBC will distract you even more at the office when they release 10, 2-minute webisodes of The Office on its website, NBC.com, this summer - the first time the network has created video programs exclusively for the web, according to Mediapost. Hey it's always good to take a break at work, pop some popcorn loosen the tie recline the chair and get into "The office" [MBP]

Now if only the consumer mags applied the same formula

Supplements for pubs like Parade and others seem to be the new norm to drive ad revenue. Its so successful that naturally it will burn out soon with all the start ups trying to get a piece of the cake. Companies are realizing that magazine supplements can deliver big numbers for national marketers. Media buyers say that major benefits include reach and the different mindset readers have on the weekend when more time is taken with the publications. People also tend to read supplements on the day the newspaper is printed, making supplements a popular vehicle for direct response ads. Wait we do?? Supplements usually go in the garbage!! [MPB]

As usual Google is festive

The folks over at Google are probably the most festive group of people ever. Wonder if green beer will be flowing on the Google campus today, or if the pool will be dyed green? God knows its always green in both Sergie and Larry's pockets. Happy St. Patricks day!

Lets do the CBS shuffle

According to the Daily News there is a major talent shuffle about to take place at CBS. Though we are not sure if this will help ratings, we are also not sure if this is a sign that Katie Couric is on her way there. How things shake out depends a lot on how a few current contract talks end up. Word is that once those talks are done, the pieces will start moving. Look for fewer faces on the overcrowded morning news, and perhaps tweaks to the anchor teams elsewhere. Finally some elbow room for the morning news team. [NYDN]

Only Katie Couric knows where Katie Couric is going

And the yapping continues about if and when Katie Couric will go with Les for less. Yesterday Matt Drudge reported that "nervous executives at CBS have been examining tapes of Couric from August 2001 — and nitpicking her performance — when she substituted for a vacationing Tom Brokaw." "Politely put, it's just not there," a "top CBS suit" told Drudge [NYDN]

CNN will poll anything

Ok so who gives a shit that Jessica Simpson turned down a meeting with the President? CNN wants to know because maybe some how this can fit into a news segment? Who knows. Anyway for the record.............We voted. [CNN]

The CW plans to seduce your teenagers

The CW will launch a summer "marketing blitz" so that young adults know "what (the CW) is and where to find it." said an executive. But the question is with all the entertainment kids already have at their finger tips, do they really care to know what the CW is and where to find it? Both CBS Corp. President/CEO and Howard Stern enemy Leslie Moonves and Warner Bros. Entertainment chairman and CEO Barry Meyer were on hand to address a media crowd in Burbank. "We have the joint strength of two strong companies working out of unified interests," he said. "We really are on the same page." Yeah until ratings start going down the toilet, then we will see the best blame game ever. [Reuters]

Up up and away for 2 at Time Inc

After the bleeding comes the healing. Time Inc is still upping people and that could be a good sign..........We think. In Style promoted two to top management positions today.First, Maria Beckett was named group general manager of the fashion and lifestyle cluster of Time Inc. titles which includes In Style , Real Simple, Parents and Essence. [MW]

AOL is in2tv and advertisers

We wonder if Lloyd Braun is watching? AOL's classic TV showcase In2TV has officially launched with four prominent advertisers, including Intel, Kia, Kraft and Hershey's. In2TV, which AOL and its partner Warner Brothers announced last year, is a video-based online channel that allows viewers to stream full-length, ad-supported episodes of a range of classic Warner Brothers shows - from Growing Pains to Falcon Crest to Wonder Woman. But couldn't we just watch TVland for these shows? [MW]

New owner's planning to get "RIDDER" papers

Knight Ridder's CEO is shocked to find out that the company he plans to sell his papers to are planning to sell them off again. It's like the stepchild no one wants. It's terrible," Mr. Ridder said, "the whole thing," referring to the sale and splitting off the papers. "That represents 45 percent of the company," All we can say is, ya should of kept the company in your family's hands. [NYT]

Amp'd Mobile confessions

It's better to be nice to ex employees sometimes.........we think. Two disgruntled ex-employees of Amp'd Mobile - a broadband entertainment company owned in part by Universal Music and MTV Networks - sent a fraudulent e-mail to company officials and outsiders that alleged financial shenanigans and sexual antics inside the Los Angeles-based start-up, according to a lawsuit filed by the company. The e-mail, obtained by The Post, was purported to have been sent by Derek Andersen, the company's chief financial officer, and was titled "Amp'd Mobile Confessions." [NYP]

Dick backtracks

First he sold it to Edgar Bronfman then he talked down on it then he backtracks to save face. Parsons, who engineered the sale of Warner in late 2004 to a private-equity group headed by Bronfman,took a step back yesterday from his disaparaging comments about Warner Music in this week's New Yorker. In a statement given to The Post, Time Warner said: "Dick's comments in the New Yorker responding to Carl Icahn's assertions were not intended to criticize the Warner Music Group. Dick thinks Edgar and his team have done a great job in rebuilding and reviving the company. They've undertaken several new initiatives in the digital music space and have adopted an innovative approach to artist development and discovery - all with impressive results." It's OK Dick we know you're just still pissed off about the whole Icahn thing. Lets face it, Edgar and his team aren't really doing a good job on the hit side of things. [NYP]

No wonder they're worried about Gawker Stalker

Cable news anchor Monica Crowley must be breathing a sigh of relief now that her stalker is on trial for almost driving her to seclusion. But can you imagine the new bread of stalkers who are being incubated by Gawker Stalker? Now budding stalkers can pin point where their object of obsession is and stalk away. But you gotta love it! "I was horrified, terrified to walk around the city where I live, to think this guy was following me," she said of suspect Ronald Martin, 41, in Manhattan Supreme Court. [NYDN]

Media Soup: The day's link grab

In today’s Media Soup: Mike Wallace’s “60 Minutes” is up  [Reuters] Comcast wants all of E! but will Disney let it go [AP] Howard Stern and Les Moonves should just go a round in the ring [Mediaweek] What, did you think CBS wouldn’t hit back? [Foxnews] Time Warner has good credit again [AP] P.Diddy and NBC wants to cook together….dam why? [TVweek]

Gawker stalks the shit out of celebs

Our friends in our head over at Gawker launched the controversial Gawker Stalker today and not everyone is happy about it especially celeb mouthpiece Leslie Sloane Zelnik who says that the government needs to step in and set regulations. But the reality is, celebs are celebs and American wants to know their every move. A little creepy but we all know we fucking love it. [Daily Dish]

USA Networks wants to meet your character

The house Barry Diller once ruled, USA Networks is launching a new site allowing users to create their own character. Yeah they have beaten Tom Freston to the punch and entered the social networking scene. The site, set to launch Monday, is designed as the central component of the network's Characters Welcome branding campaign intended to grab online revenue and drive viewership. "We're asking the viewers to show us their characters, and we think the site can eventually become an incubator for great new characters to live on air," said Alexendra Shapiro, USA Networks' vp marketing. Hmmm not a bad way to discover new talent!! [Reuters]

And we thought Time Warner ruled the world? Viacom: A Short Film tells it differently

See how it all started and marvel at where they are today and the fact that Sumner Redstone is still calling the shots.

Howard rips Les on his own network. Oh yeah Les Moonves has nice teeth

Last Night we thought the producers in the control room of the Late Show with David Letterman would have gotten a call from CBS boss Les Moonves to pull the plug on the Howard Stern Interview but it never happened. Stern came on to chit chat with Dave Letterman and went into an endless rant about Les Moonves being a hypocrite. But isn't everyone in the media business hypocrites? [CBSnews]

No shit

From Cadillacs to Lexus' we are paying for these luxury goodies for free loading members of congress. However some of them aren't raping us that bad. Take for example Rep. Anthony Weiner, he has the third-cheapest lease in Congress -- We only pay $219 a month for his Chevrolet Impala. Hmmm wonder if he has any 22 spinners on there? Wait..... this post sounds like it should have been on Wonkette. Oh well if the media reports it we remix it. [amny]

Will they just make an announcement already

For months now we have been watching to see whether or not Today Show host Katie Couric will make the jump to rival ABC to host the evening news. But this has been dragging on and speculations are still running wild. But an article on the The New York Times' website may finally shine some light on what Katie is really planning to do. According to the article Katie has been displaying some professional restlessness, making it clear that she would like to trade her throne in the morning for the anchor chair in the evening. Guess all that money NBC is paying her and is willing to pay her again just isn't enough for Katie. [NYT]

Will the real hooded man please stand up

Salon.com is blowing the whistle on the identity of a man profiled by The New York Times in a front-page article on Saturday who says he is the iconic hooded figure in a published photograph who was abused by Americans at Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 and 2004. Salon.com seems to have been doing it's home work too. The site bases its challenge on an examination of a set of 280 Abu Ghraib photographs it has been studying for several weeks and an interview with an official of the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, known as the C.I.D., who says the man identified by The Times is not the detainee in the photograph. [NYT]

But will our friend in our head Nick Denton take the money and run?

According to Mediaweek, major media companies are on the prowl for hot web properties. With Newscorp's purchase of Myspace.com and NBC Universals recent purchase of iVillage.com to name a couple, these deals are setting off a feeding frenzy among media companies looking to sink their claws into a juicy heavy traffic web companies. And again Gawker Media was mentioned as a possible target. This isn't the first time we've heard about Gawker being on the block or even sold. There were many rumors circulation on the web that Gawker was sold to Yahoo!. But this came about due to a syndication deal the company entered with Yahoo!. But if the price is right will Nick Denton take the money and run? In a presentation delivered recently to the Online Publishers Association, Tolman Geffs listed Gawker, CNET, Facebook.com, Atom Films, Beliefnet.com, YouTube.com and CollegeHumor.com as the next targets. Well if Gawker is a potential target and they do get sold, we don't think Jessica Cohen or Jesse Oxfeld would have to worry about being pushed out because after all, if the new owners want to keep the traffic coming these to would have to be kept on and of course paid well. So maybe they or Nick Denton wouldn't mind a sale. Nick would get richer, and both Jesse and Jessica would finally get paid. [Mediaweek]

Enews invades the New York Post

E News really wants to get the word about Ryan Seacrest joining their team. What better way to do that than plaster your ad and logo all over the New York Post's Page Six gossip section. Man they really know where to catch the attention of gossip fiends. [Pagesix]

There is nothing wrong with selling yourself if the money is right

Knight Ridder, the second-largest newspaper company in the United States, has agreed to sell itself for about $4.5 billion in cash and stock to the McClatchy Company, a publisher half its size. The deal comes as the newspaper industry is gripped by uncertainty. Readers have begun to drift away from printed newspapers as their Web sites have experienced sharp gains in use. Under the terms of the deal, McClatchy agreed to pay about $67 a share in cash and stock for Knight Ridder, these people said. About 60 percent of the payment will be in cash, while the rest will be in McClatchy shares. [NYT]

And the winner for best headline goes to......

We swear we don't know how the New York Daily News and Post come so close with their headlines but one always sticks out more than the other. Both papers been having a field day with the who Imette murder investigation so much that they actually out time into their headlines. Ok so as we mentioned before one headline sticks out more than the other. The headline that sticks out more than the other is.....................................The New York Post with "Blood Ties". Why do you ask we chose this as the better headline, because The word 'Ties' was accompanied by a picture of two actual tie restraints. Wow right? Yeah we know! [NYP] [NYDN]

Icahn, Time Warner battle tell all via The New Yorker

According to the New York Post a long awaited article will be published today via The New Yorker which details the Time Warner vs. Carl Icahn battle. Time Warner boss Dick Parsons also pulls all stops when talking about Carl Icahn to the magazine saying "He's like a guy trapped in the past, the world has moved. You can't do greenmail anymore. You can call yourself a shareholder activist, but his game is the same." The magazine also lays out how almost immediately after the war began Dick Parsons headed over to Carl Icahn's office to make peace. But Icahn stepped up his attack on Parsons and his senior management. We can't wait to read this. [NYP]

Mediawire desperately seeking friends on Myspace.com

Mediawire daily has officially joined the social networking seen with a profile on Myspace.com. We are looking for friends because we have none. So make sure to take a sec to visit us on Myspace and add us to your friends list and we will add you to ours. Come on we know you have a Myspace.com page so just do it. [Myspace]

Forbes Magazine makes us dream again

Forbes Magazine releases their billionaires list and Martha Stewart and Dreamworks Animation chief Jeff Katzenberg among others no longer carry the status we all have wet dreams about. But then again they're not crying about, at least not that we know of. [Forbes]

Daily link grab:Comcast,Kids, Bravo..............

Comcast to make a decision on it's media spending habits after reviewing presentations from greedy competitors [mediaweek] Maybe they should have Tv ads with math problems in them so kids will remember them [mediaweek] Bravo digs into HBO 6 feet deep (that was a little corny) [mediaweek] Investors rush to snap up Univision stock thanks to Haim in the gang [reuters]

Gossip,Not really our style, but hey...it's media related and its a good brain exercise too

Straight from the New York Post: WHICH gorgeous, auburn-haired network news reporter was caught in the act with a married assignment editor? Seems they ducked into the office of a reporter they thought was out of town, but the other reporter suddenly opened the door and found her colleague giving the boss oral sex. The official story is they were just "talking." Yeah she was talking alright, straight into his mic! Do you think you know who this is? Please do share! email me your answers and we will post them later on.

Newsday staffers sweat it out as editor plays judge

The drama at Newsday continues as angry staff members get shuffled and stuffed elsewhere. One staffer even said the paper is going through an identity crisis. And we ask aren't they all? Staffers have been communicating with union leaders on steps to take and even wanted to have a auditorium style meeting to tell Editor-in-Chief John Mancini and his team a thing or two. In Mancini's own word: "There is always upset and anger when you're reorganizing," Mancini said. "I was happy people felt comfortable enough to speak up." He ended by saying the changes will be unveiled "very shortly." [NYP]

Haim want's Univision

Billionaire television producer Haim Saban, Mexican broadcasting company Grupo Televisa and a group of other well-heeled investors are planning a $12 billion bid for Hispanic television giant Univision. Haim and his boys will be able to do the deal as long as the Univision board doesn't pull a VNU. [NYP]

The morning's covers: Finally a spot of happy news...We think

This weeks daily covers were plastered with images of a murderer until this morning when the murder made room for another on the cover of The New York Post, some kind of miracle in space and SJP. On the cover of the Daily News the murderer moved over a bit to make room for John Gotti Jr. to run and some woman with a huge smile,but who can blame her. She scratched her way to $1 million. [NYDN] [NYP]

Reuters boss Tom Glocer really has a Myspace profile and he really logs on. Well someone does

We know we mentioned it before but we wanted to see if it was really true and if he really logs on. And to our surprise Reuters CEO Tom Glocer has a Myspace.com profile and the last time he logged on was March 5, 2006. So there is such a thing as a grounded media exec. However we don't think Mr. Glocer is successful in the friends department because he only has two and the one that stands out is 'Farmboy'. Did Tom really ad this person to his friends list. Desperation must be setting in.

New York City based executives seem to be making all the money, especially Sirius's Mel Karmazin

The perks for many NYC execs includes everything but a horse and carriage ride. Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin is leader of this pack. Mel Karmazin's riches give him a huge boost on the executive-pay ladder, many other executives in just a mere 12 months also have amassed tens of millions in wealth. [amny]

Walmart to air more boring programming in it's stores via TV One

Walmart and Comcast has signed what could be one of the most boring deals that shouldn't even have been announced. But here we are writing about it anyway. TV One and Premier Retail Networks will work together to create content specially designed for the Wal-Mart Television Network, which is seen in 2,850 stores nationwide. Topics will include fashion, beauty, home and personal finance. [Mediaweek]

See, kids do use text messaging for things other than talking dirty

It's a good thing this mommy was hip to the game and knew how to actually use the text messaging feature on her cell phone or her kid would have been in greater danger. [CNN]

Real Simple, simply promotes and hires

Apparently surviving the Time Inc blood bath, Real Simple has promoted Elizabeth Mayhew to editorial development director, from deputy editor.Mayhew will be in charge of Real Simple TV and branded products and work with the title's Web site, books and special issues. While continuing to report to Real Simple's managing editor, Kristin van Ogtrop, Mayhew will also work with the monthly's business side, led by publisher Steve Sachs, spearheading new business. [mediaweek]

Howard still wants to help Les Moonves out with ratings

Howard Stern is still scheduled to appear on The Late Show with David Letterman on Monday, March 13. This after CBS boss Les Moonves launch a law suit at his former employee. Howard must have a clean heart because his appearance on The Late Show will contribute to ratings. Hey Les give the guy a break. Wait............We forget les Moonves doesn't read blogs. He has his underlings to do that for him. Hey underlings, tell Les to give Howard a break huh! [mediaweek]

The CW Network lands in Phoenix

Warner Bros and CBS's new network The CW has been on a roll getting their foot and hands in every market possible for a full scale invasion. The soon to be launched network has signed a long-term agreement with KASW-TV, Belo's WB affiliate in Phoenix, the 14th largest TV market. With the addition of KASW, CW now has 38 affiliates covering more than 55 percent of the U.S. including 19 stations in the top 20 markets and 26 in the top 30. This network better kick some serious ass when it launches or both Les Moonves and Barry Meyer could be directed to the exit [mediaweek]

VNU to take the money and run........well maybe because ya never know

Dutch media group VNU after finally sticking out for more money seem to have finally gotten the offer they craved. The company agreed to sell itself to a group of six buyout firms for about $9 billion cash. The final bid, subject to 95 percent shareholder approval, is slightly higher than the original bid made by the consortium in February. "Based on a long and careful analysis of various alternatives, including remaining a stand-alone company and breaking up the company, we concluded that this transaction best serves the interests of VNU's shareholders, clients and employees," said Aad Jacobs, chairman of VNU's supervisory board. Yeah! [mw]

Rupert better watch his back

Is Gregory B. Maffei CEO of John Malone's Liberty Media hinting at plans for Rupert Murdoch's News Corp? While reporting Liberty Media's 4Q Loss the exec stated the following: " we continue to search for tax-efficient solution" for Liberty Media's minority stake in News Corp., the global media conglomerate controlled by Rupert Murdoch. In the interim, we hold an asset that we like, and we feel good about, and frankly one that we might be able to exert more influence upon," We're sure Rupy is looking deep into this statement!! [AP]

Wait.........You mean the media does exaggerate?

Rummy claims that off all people the media has over exaggerated the situation in Iraq even saying that the media exaggerated the number of Iraqi deaths? So where does the media get their info? God we just love Rummy's press conferences because they are always filled with classic bound quotes: "From what I've seen thus far, much of the reporting in the U.S. and abroad has exaggerated the situation. The number of attacks on mosques, had been exaggerated. The number of Iraqi deaths had been exaggerated." "Now I can't take a string and tie it to a news report and then trace it back to an al Qaeda media committee meeting. I'm not able to do that at all". "We do know that their goal is to try to break the will; that they consider the center of gravity of this not to be in Iraq, because they know they can't win a battle out there; they consider it to be in Washington, D.C., and in London and in the capitals of the Western world." But didn't Rummy exaggerate the Victory story in the beginning of the war to the media? Maybe this is payback. [CNN]

NBC will saturate iVillage without a doubt

It's no secret that once NBC Universal takes over iVillage that the media giant will flood it with content from it's television networks. Why wouldn't Bob Wright have woman loving shows like "Days of our lives" and "Will & Grace" streaming on iVillage, or even girly movie clips from it's Universal Pictures? However it's just a matter of time until heads roll after the reported $600 Million deal is done. Wait...................Will Jeff Zucker have anything to do with programming on iVillage?

Media soup: This one is made with 100% Mediaweek

Big deal$ will always lead to $$, higher bills or death: The CW building up for a big launch and death of the WB and UPN [MW] NCAA Men's Basketball Championship tournament has $$$ in CBS's eye [MW] Comcast wants some Latino loving [MW] Yeah this is the kind of deadly distraction we talk about [MW]

OH come on!

As if we don't have enough distractions when we're driving at 90 miles per hour, Tivo and Verizon felt the need to put in motion plans to allow TV shows to be recorded on cell phones. Are we as a nation that greedy for entertainment that we have to have it 24 hours a day at our finger tips? Whatever happened to just reading a book? Wait who are we kidding we love this shit! [Reuters]

Shut the F?ck

We found an interesting article about how managers hire the wrong person for the job most of the time because they yap on about themselves the whole interview. So being that there are managers out there who yap through a whole interview, doesn't that indicate that they too may be the wrong person for the job. And doesn't it go up the line to the person who hired said manager and to the person who hired the person who hired said manager?? Maybe there is a whole company out there with a staff made up of the wrong fucking people!! Oh man the horror!!! [B20]

Walmart will need more than Bloggers

The Walmart regime is calling on bloggers to help in their P.R. Campaign. Under assault as never before, Wal-Mart is increasingly looking beyond the mainstream media and working directly with bloggers, feeding them exclusive nuggets of news, suggesting topics for postings and even inviting them to visit its corporate headquarters. But the strategy raises questions about what bloggers, who pride themselves on independence, should disclose to readers. Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, has been forthright with bloggers about the origins of its communications, and the company and its public relations firm, Edelman, say they do not compensate the bloggers. Yeah OK, we are sure there are some bloggers out there with phat Wal-Mart credits! [NYT]

Media BIGS do the Oscars: But wait, Is that Lachlan Murdoch?

Newscorp ruler Rupert Murdoch was also spotted at the VF Oscar bash with wife Wendy Deng and get this.......................his son Lachlan who left Newscorp in a storm (allegedly) and his wife Sarah O'Hare. Has father and son made up?

Media BIGS do the Oscars: Les and Julie

CBS News anchor Julie Chen is 101% sure her job is secure. Afterall she is sleeping with the boss. Above is Julie with her leading man and Howard Stern's current nightmare, CBS Corp CEO Les Moonves.

Media BIGS do the Oscars: Viacom's top brass loves a good party

Above pictured from left to right are Tom Freston, Judy McGrath, John Sykes and Brad Grey. We guess Viacom boss Tom Freston loves to party with his underlings.

Media BIGS do the Oscars: Sumner Redstone does the Vanity Fair Oscar bash

Fresh of the break-up of his media empire, CBS/Viacom Chairman and ruler Sumner Redstone and his teacher wife (though we are sure she hasn't seen the inside of a classroom since the marriage) was in full force at the VF Oscar bash. Wait did any of the movies from Sumner's Paramount Pictures get nominated? We don't know, we are not a Hollywood gossip rag!!!

New York Magazine guides us again

What is New York Magazine without a 'Best of New York' list? The mag blesses us with pages of Eating Shopping Beauty Services Nightlife Kids. Our fave is the list on where to find the best un-round pizza because according to the folks at NYM The appeal of four-sided pizza is growing geometrically. And we thought New Yorkers always loved the four sided pizza!? [NYM]

NBC Universal shells out for iVillage.com

Yup....The big media guys are getting heavy into the internet again. Following in Rupert Murdoch's wrinkled footsteps is NBC Universal big Bob Wright. NBC Universal will shell out $600 Million big ones for the site that loves women. The deal, expected to close in the second quarter, underscores the ambitions of established media companies' to establish a presence on the Internet as the medium develops into a bona-fide alternative to traditional media, like television and newspapers, for both programming and advertising. [Reuters]

Is it us or did Time.com get a nip and tuck?

We may be late with this but what the hell. Time.com looks like it covertly got a little nip and tuck. The site looks much softer with dotted lines and a shorter home page? Seriously is it just us? [Time.com]

Journalists are the new rappers

The Kenyan government hates journalist. The Village Voice suspended an editor for James Frey-ing their cover story. What next people what next? [NYT]

But do we really give a fuck?

As if we are not overly entertained, AOL announced that they will soon offer a paid video on demand over the web service. Is it me or are these media companies repackaging the same thing and selling it to us under a different name. And really how many services do they want us to pay for? Anything to add to the revenue pot! [Reuters]

Rupert's new TV operation inking deals already

My Network TV, Fox’s new prime-time TV network alternative Thursday announced an affiliation agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group for 17 stations covering 11.9 percent of the U.S. The additional 17 Sinclair stations, along with the 10 Fox owned-and-operated stations, bring the new netlet’s coverage to nearly 36 percent of the country. Maybe Lachlan left at a bad time. Look at all the cool things daddy' been doing. First myspace.com and now My Network TV! [MW]

Noooo not that Smokey

Former punching bag of Damon Dash and EIC of America Magazine Smokey Fontaine has been tapped for the top job at men's bi-monthly Giant magazine. Giant serves up news and trivia on entertainment for young men obsessed with movies, television and video games. But the 300,000-circ title is still finding its place with readers and advertisers among the more established entertainment magazines such as Time Inc.'s 1.4 million-circ Entertainment Weekly, and Wenner Media's 1.3 million-circ Rolling Stone. Yeah for Smokey. Wonder what Dash's plans are? More via [Mediaweek]

Media Quicky: Maybe Rupe has a secret profile

Reuters CEO Tom Glocer like many of his employees surfs the web. He surfs it so much that he has a profile on Myspace.com. Hmmmm wonder if Rupert Murdoch has a profile? After all he did pay over $500 million for the site. Our friends in our heads at Jossip has the [scoop]

Spin Magazine will live with it's new sibs in San Fran

The new owners of Spin Magazine is yanking the mag out of NYC for San Francisco so the mag can be with it's new brothers and sisters. The bleeding is said to still be in motion as the mag readies for the move. But will the mag ever get back to it's one time glory? Did Robert Miller, Quincy Jones and David Salzman make the right move? Well at this point they could care less but what will spin look and feel like within another year or two? [sfbt] Our friends in our heads over at Gawker have been following this story so close that its creepy [gawker]

The red is for the debt you will get into

Again......a little off our usual path but Bono really gets around even to the big dogs at Amex. Then again if he can have lunch with George Dubya we are not surprised he was able to get Amex to launch a red card. Maybe you can't get the black card but you can try your luck at the red card. Wait how is your credit?? Ahhh take a shot anyway. [redcard]

The massive proliferation of publications

Former Time Inc boss Don Logan seems to have his finger on the problems facing newstands. “There are too many magazines on newsstands. Everybody needs to prune their portfolio a little bit. Go out to the newsstand and there’s so many out there jammed in that it’s hard to find them. And most of the magazines are not very good…” We know two of the main contributing culprits, American Media and Wenner Media. [Folio]

But does it still fold and smell the same

Not our usual thing to yap about but a newly designed $10 bill is on the way. It seems to have the same colors as the new $20's and $50's. I mean we could care less as long as it smells, folds and spends the same way. At some point these will be duped as well. [FN]

And the fans agree

CNN finally has a poll we gave a shit about. Comedian Dave Chappelle has warned comedy Central that if they aired taped episodes of his show he will not return to the network or something like that. So CNN rolled out the good ol poll and Dave's fans seem to agree with him inching out the no's by 1226 votes.

Tom Freston seems kind of sorry he passed on outbidding Newscorp for Myspace.com

Viacom's CEO Tom Freston seemed like he was kicking himself in the ass for not outbidding Newscorp for super hot networking site Myspace.com. Not only would the site make a perfect fit for the MTV brand it would have been a huge marketing and promo vehicle for the network and it's programming. But Tom Freston seems upbeat or in denial about the whole online networking boom: "We don't believe the game is over. Really, it's just started," Yeah that may be true Tommy boy but Viacom did fuck up on this one. "I would expect within this year you'll see some good social networking capabilities in our company," [reuters]

Is Lloyd Braun giving up on is puppet show?

After proclaiming grand plans to bring elaborately produced sitcoms, talk shows and other television-style programs to the Internet, Lloyd Braun of Yahoo's Media Group said yesterday that he was sharply scaling back those efforts. He said the group would shift its focus to content acquired from other media companies or submitted by users. Does this mean that Lloyd's plan to have puppets report the news is down the Yahoo! toilet? If so then a fucking YAHOO! to that. [NYT]

E! Everywhere to be every where

Making sure to hang on to the coat tail of this Sunday's Oscar ceremonies E! Entertainment TV has signed two exclusive sponsors, Sony and American Express, for its new multi-advertising platform program, E! Everywhere, which it will roll out in conjunction with this Sunday's coverage on E! of the Academy Awards pre-show. Both Sony and Amex will get numerous shots at convincing America to purchase and/or use their products when they each get 30-second spots in the cable telecast, commercial units within E!'s broadband streaming telecast of the show and within the podcast feed, as well as commercial units at the beginning and end of the telecast when it airs on video-on-demand on Comcast and Cox cable systems. [MW]

James Bennet heads to the Atlantic

New York Times reporter James Bennet has been tapped as the new editor of the Atlantic Monthly, nearly four years after the post was last filled by the late Michael Kelly. Kelly stepped down from the editor's job in September 2002 to return to writing but tragically became the first American journalist killed in the Iraq conflict in April 2003. Cullen Murphy, the managing editor, stepped into the breach to run the magazine, but owner David Bradley never gave him the official title. [NYP]

Les' cheap shot

CBS boss Les Moonves is really pissed and he is taking it all out on former employee Howard Stern. CBS yesterday sued Howard Stern, his agent and Sirius Satellite Radio, claiming multiple breaches of his contract while Stern was working for the CBS radio division. In the 43-page document, CBS claims Stern ran afoul of his contract by talking about the new gig at Sirius while still at CBS, and that he and his agent Don Buchwald benefited financially from doing so. "Les Moonves claims it was a secret," Stern said. "He put me on 'David Letterman,' he put me on '60 Minutes.' Just like everyone else, Les Moonves doesn't listen to his own radio stations or TV stations." Les are you really pissed at Howard, or are you pissed at Sumner Redstone for giving Tom Frestom the cooler company to run? [NYDN]