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!!!