Is there more to Ross Levinsohn's sudden departure from News Corp?

The question of why Ross Levinsohn resigned his post as head of News Corp's Fox Interactive unit is floating around again and some believe that he may have been canned by News Corp lifer, Peter Chernin for raising cash on the side. What did Chernin want a taste or something? Our friends at Dealbreaker.com came across an interview with Red Herring's Tony Perkins, which they say shines new light on the Levisohn departure. Here’s what Perkins tells the D7TV interviewer: “He got raising money for another deal. So the chief operating officer Peter Chernin, who works for Rupert as his right hand man—when his kids aren’t running the place, called Ross into his office and said, ‘Is this true, that you’re raising this half a billion dollar roll-up fund?...And he [Chernin] goes, ‘Are you either in or your out?’ And he [Levinsohn] said, ‘Well, I guess I’m out.” Was Ross Levinsohn Fired For Raising His Own Fund? [DealBreaker]

Mayor Parsons still has a nice ring to it

It seems as though Time Warner boss Dick Parsons is keeping all his options on the table for when he leaves Time Warner. Clearly one of those options is running for Mayor of NYC. In the past we have cheered Dick on to make the move and then it died down until the question was raised again at the Reuters Media Summit . “This has been my either fate or challenge for 30 years ever since I got out of government,” said Mr. Parsons, 58, who was counsel for Nelson A. Rockefeller when Mr. Rockefeller was governor of New York and when he was vice president, and a senior White House aide under President Gerald R. Ford before going into business. “Everybody’s speculating, ‘He’s just hanging around, waiting for his moment.’ Currently I don’t have any plans to do that.” Hey Dick you already have a good mouthpiece for City Hall in Edward I. Adler. Business Chief Hedges, a Bit, on Running for Mayor [NYT]

Sumner Redstone's yes man Philippe Dauman to yap at media yap fest

New Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman is coming into his own as a media exec. He has been making the usual rounds at premiers for movies released by Viacom's Paramount, there is also the cliche couple shot of him and wife Deborah (right) who by the way looks young enough to be his daughter, then again it could be botox because her face looks plasticy, and then there is an appearance scheduled for The Credit Suisse Media and Telecom Conference where Mr. Dauman will share his views on where the media biz is going and what Viacom is doing to remain relevant. Do what you have to do Philippe until old man Sumner wakes up and smells the bengay realizing that the right person to lead Viacom is MTV's Judy McGrath. yeah we're sticking to our guns on this one. Viacom President and Chief Executive Officer Philippe Dauman to Speak at The Credit Suisse Media and Telecom Week Conference [Viacom]

A tabloid for teens by teens.....kinda

Victorville, California teens are gearing up for their dose of tabloidism. These teens look like they are about to give Bonnie Fuller a run for her money. Ok a little ahead of ourselves as usual. Last minute edits are being made at the Daily Press in Victorville, as the Freedom newspaper prepares to launch High Desert’s newest publication, fresh!nk. The publication is a weekly tabloid, targeting the burgeoning High Desert teen population. It will be available for free at more than 80 locations, including several high schools. “The support has been really amazing,” says Beatriz Valenzuela-Davalos, the editor of fresh!nk. “We have close to 20 teenagers that have committed to write for us. They really have the finger on the pulse and they know what’s happening around here.” We're sure the pulse isn't the only thing they have their fingers on. New Tabloid Reaches CA Teens [MBP]

Tip could have been from the Zucker himself

Our friends in our heads at Gawker back from lunch, posted what they said was a tip from an anonymous tipster claiming that calls were made by some execs within NBC Universal to NBC Universal's 20% French owners at Vivendi urging them to sell because "Jeff Zucker Doesn't know what he is doing" The tip could very well be from Jeff Zucker himself as some kind of reverse psychology campaign. Then again we have to agree with Gawker when they say that (any item that refers to Bob Wright as "beloved" is immediately suspect in there eyes). From the Tipster: Thought you'd want to know that top brass at NBC Universal are so freaked out that beloved [chairman] Bob Wright might leave and be replaced with much-loathed [douchebag] Jeff Zucker, that some have even gone so far as called the French company Vivendi to tell them to sell their remaining share of the company before Bob leaves since Jeff has no idea what he's doing.["The Book of Daniel"]. Most have no respect for Jeff and would rather quit than work for him (i.e., [e.g.]. [new AOL Chair Randy] Falco, [new Discovery Chief Executive David] Zaslav, [top ad sales exec Keith] Turner). Many more to come. Its so funny but almost everything this tipster spoke off sounds just a tad familiar to us. Irresponsible Rumormongering: Jeff Zucker Not Universally Admired? [Gawker]

Afternoon Wire: Disney's Mel Gibson problem, No music to Kim's ears and more....

No music to Kim's ears If you can't bomb him because you don't know what he could hit back with then,stop his music . The Bush administration is banning the sale of certain luxury items to North Korea, including iPods and plasma televisions, aiming to "personally aggravate" leader Kim Jong-Il. The move is believed to be the first-ever U.S. government effort to use trade sanctions to annoy a foreign leader. Is Mel Gibson, Disney's Tom Cruise? Disney has no shame in their promotion game for the upcoming film "Apocalypto"..........oh wait we said that wrong the film is titled "Mel Gibson's Apocalypto" The movie was directed by Gibson, who, in case you've been living under a rock, has gone from being one of Hollywood's most popular stars to persona non grata for launching into an anti-Semitic tirade following an arrest on suspicion of drunk driving in Malibu back in July. But rather than try to hide the fact that Gibson is the director of the film, Disney, whose Buena Vista Pictures unit is distributing the film in the U.S., is going out of its way to remind people that he is the creative force behind it. Company denies News Corp takeover but loves the rumor play on their stock Another company is enjoying a stock spike due to rumors of a takeover by King Rupert's News Corp. Again this seems to be the latest trend where rumors of takeovers are leaked and stocks jump due to the greed of investors hoping to cash in. Fastweb SpA denied a newspaper report saying that it has entered talks to be bought by News Corp's satellite television unit Sky.

Has Time Warner CFO Wayne Pace been a good boy since his high priced hooker bust?

We have no idea what the answer is to the title of this post. But we wanted to revisit the whole Wayne Pace midtown madam bust. Make no mistake about it. Wayne Pace isn't the only media big dawg who pays top dollar for high priced chooche, he was just stupid enough to get caught and outed. When the whole thing blew up we were sure Time Warner boss Dick Parsons not wanting the bad publicity for the company would have canned him, but to our surprise this didn't happen. Over the months we have wondered however if Mr. Pace has been behaving himself or if he isn't, Is he being a bad old man out of state? This may be a huge order but is there anyone out there who can confirm or speculate that Wayne "Pimp Daddy" Pace has been keeping his zipper up or down? Are you a Time Warner employee holding a certain rank and you would love to spill the beans on Mr. Pace or anyone else in the upper echelons of Time Warner. Then go for a gig break dammit and text us from your cell or something, even if it has nothing to do with Wayne Pace's hooker loving ways. Maybe you know what Dick and Jeff had for lunch today or something. tellus@mediawiredaily.com

Huffpost to be a little more original

Ariana Huffington's mega blog Huffpost.com which was launched about 18 months ago as a platform for mouthy celebs to speak their minds will now carry original reporting on the site. Arianna Huffington, said yesterday that the site had hired Melinda Henneberger, a print journalist most recently with Newsweek magazine, as its political editor. The site has about 2.3 million unique visitors a month, making it one of the more popular blog sites. Ms. Huffington said Ms. Henneberger would hire a number of other journalists to begin producing original content, “with attitude.” “Now is the time to generate our own original content,” Ms. Huffington said. “It was always our intention, once we had the money, to hire people to do reporting.” So does this mean Nick Denton could end up loosing Wonkette editor Alex Pareene to the Huff being that he could actually make a living covering DC Gossip? Huffington Post Will Add Original Reporting to Its Blog [NYT]

Morning Wire: And now the morning's worthy media news

MTV's Left Overs Sling Media has announced that they have hired two of Judy McGrath's used and disposed executives from MTV to head a new interactive programming unit.The maker of Slingbox, a set-top box that lets viewers watch cable television on laptops and advanced cellphones, has hired former chief digital officer at MTV Networks Jason Hirschhorn, and former vice president of MTV digital media Ben White, the company said. Hank Plan a no go for Mack Former AIG boss Maurice "Hank" Greenberg has a hard on for the New York Times Co. However he can't seem to find someone else who shares his hard on for the company. But for now at least the Times' stock is responding. Conde Nast's annual ass kissing luncheon.... Yawn!! We don't know if the media over plays this event or if this is really how it goes down in the Conde Nast camp where underlings fight to be seen sitting next to Si Newhouse smelling his old spice. Cindi Leive, the serial "Today" show guest who also doubles as the editor-in-chief of Glamour in her day job, grabbed the most coveted spot, seated at the right hand of Condé Nast Chairman S.I. (Si) Newhouse Jr.

Video Wire: Sumner is one determined old man

Going back in time a bit, we came across this 50 second clip from Conversations with Michael Eisner and man is Sumner Redstone a firecracker. The man clearly is a control freak and plans to rule the Viacom/CBS empires until he checks out.

Afternoon Wire: And now the afternoon's worthy media news

NBC digital chief and possible wild card of GE boss Jeff Immelt Beth Comstock is shocked that NBC.com gets so much traffic but said that the site won't be a portal like Yahoo! Yeeeeeaaah! She also calls Youtube a frienemy. One of the many tabloid editors in King Rupert's stable, Clive Goodman has pleaded guilty for plotting to tap the phones of aides to Britain's royal family, including Prince Charles and his two sons. Folks in the UK are that obsessed with the boring royal family that they would really love to hear Prince Charles having phone sex with Camilla Parker Bowles? One of Martha Stewart's many minions has decided to give her former boss some competition of sorts by leaving to launch her own media business. But we can't believe Cyndi Stivers left over a month ago and we're just now getting wind of this. Then again who the fuck is Cyndi Stivers? Wait she was one of the founders of Time Out New York Jeff Zucker is about to be hated even more when he rolls out another round of NBC 2.0 ism on the West Coast.

The how to's of 2007

Want to know how to be that someone you've always dreamed of being? Want to know how to tell people what to do? Want to know how to be rich? then look no further than Business 2.0's "How to succeed in 2007" feature where they asked 50 of the what they call the brightest minds how they do what they do. Here is how Youtube's Chad Hurley got $1.6 Billion for his little start up: 1. Test first. Launch your product or service before you have funding. See how people respond to it before you have a PowerPoint and business plan - have something people can use, and go from there. 2. Seek outside feedback. As you start building the product, don't assume that you know all the answers. Listen to the community and adapt. We had a lot of our own ideas about how the service would evolve. Coming from PayPal and eBay, we saw YouTube as a powerful way to add video to auctions, but we didn't see anyone using our product that way, so we didn't add features to support it. How to Succeed in 2007 [Business 2.0]

The Dead Horse has left the building

Dealbreaker.com is all grown up now and living in it's own space and we know Liz Spiers couldn't be more happy. Apparently the space they were occupying got so cluttered that Spiers started to smell John Carney smelling her. The new digs looks sweet though. Goodbye Tribeca, Hello Nolita! [Elizabeth Spiers]

You're Hired!

Yeah the title is sooo cliche but that's what the big dawgs at Microsoft told former Trump-ite Carolyn Kepcher. The sometimes butchy looking Kepcher will be a judge on the software giant's "Ultimate Challenge" reality show where she will be, helping to find the next big idea. We're kinda confused though. We thought her next gig would be running a casino or, a chain of hotels or something. Looks like Ms. Kepcher is dead serious about this Hollywood shit. What's next, replacing Paula Abdul on "American Idol"? Kepcher and fellow judges - maternity wear entrepreneur Liz Lange and Chris Caposella, a Microsoft vice president - began hearing ideas on Tuesday in a computer-equipped recreational vehicle parked in Midtown Manhattan. Microsoft to Carolyn: 'You're hired!' [CNNmoney]

Morning Wire: NBC lights the tree online, Florio trades mags for food and more...

Dick praises the thug Time Warner big bear Dick Parsons is praising corporate thug Carl Icahn for having some kind of impact on the world's biggest media company. Parsons yesterday told a Reuters media conference that without Icahn's surprise raid and bust-up attack on Time Warner, the media company might never have gotten its own rescue plan off the ground in a timely way. Former Conde boss trading mags for food Steve Florio the man who sat at the top of the world's most fabulous magazine publisher for 10 years is finally leaving the company for good to get his hands into the stress filled business of selling food. Condé Nast Vice Chairman Steve Florio is going into the restaurant business on the East End near his home in Sag Harbor. Il Tutto Giorno is expected to open in about two weeks. The English translation for the phrase is All Day, which doesn't exactly make sense, but Florio insists the food will be first rate. Strong Interest delays Tribune sale A sale of Tribune Co won't come anytime too soon until maybe early next year as the company has decided to extend the auction to 2007. Tribune said that its advisers, including Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, recommended that the board extend the auction into the first quarter of next year in order to "ensure thorough consideration of all proposals."

Dick Parsons: Private equity firms circled us like vultures

Time Warner big bear Dick Parson at the Reuters Media Summit in New York revealed that men with money were kicking the tires on his company. These private equity guys really have a taste for big media don't they. Which media company will bow down to these money men first? "Probably every private equity firm has approached us about every conceivable" idea, There is more money out here chasing deals, so these guys are out trying to champion or put together anything that you could conceive of. So we've heard every idea that's out there. But our focus is on executing on our strategy." "In theory, if someone came and offered you an amount of money that you felt was greater than you could achieve managing the company as it's currently managed or in some other construction, you'd have to look at that and evaluate that," Parsons said, speaking hypothetically of offers for the whole company or larger parts. "But no one has so far." That's true Dick but this time make sure that what is being offered for the company is hard cash and real stock, and not some hype machine. Because Time Warner fell victim to this already. Few limits for big media buyouts [Reuters]

Dick says Time Warner will burn in 07

The world's biggest media company with one of the weakest performing stock sees 2007 as the year to burn. Time Warner, plans to offer services that let consumers download movies from the Internet that can be burned onto DVDs in 2007, its top executive said on Tuesday. "I expect we will be in a download-to-burn mode in 2007 -- It will be a part of next year's offerings," Richard Parsons, chief executive and chairman of Time Warner, said at the third annual Reuters Media Summit in New York. So to all you bootleggers out there, you no longer have to go the black market way. You can burn legally now........ we think. Time Warner sees "download-to-burn" movies in '07 [Reuters]

Youtube to further distract already distracted mobile-ites

Not to our surprise, Google's Youtube is joning forces with Verizon Wireless which will allow customers to watch Youtube videos. YouTube videos will be viewable on cell phones for the first time under a deal with Verizon Wireless, which will also allow users to upload videos shot with their camera phones. You know, now that we think about it, Youtube should start paying these people for providing content for them. What if all Youtubers were to stop posting videos for a year, Youtube will go to shits. The mobile YouTube service, to be launched in early December, will be offered for no additional fee as part of Verizon's V Cast service, which costs subscribers $15 per month or $3 per day. The companies declined to provide an exact launch day, saying the technologies being employed are still being tested. Verizon Wireless to feature YouTube videos [AP]

Losing out on Myspace really has the MTV guys going all out to get some teen love

Even though Tom Freston was shown the door months ago, the poor bastards at MTV are still making up for him missing out on taking over Myspace.com. MTV said that it will further saturate the World Wide Web with 20 new websites in 2007 in an effort to attract some of the eyes currently occupied by King Rupe's Myspace. Wonder how many of the 20 will actually last? The sites will focus on subjects including music, celebrities, personal growth and spirituality, New York-based Viacom said. They will debut in the first half of 2007. The move is part of an effort by Chief Executive Philippe Dauman to build Internet businesses since he took over for Tom Freston in September. Mika Salmi has his work cut out for him MTV to launch more than 20 websites [LAT]

Media Quicky: NBC calls it like it is while other networks remain in denial

The folks at the peacock network seem to be swinging the biggest balls on TV. The network after what they call (much consultation over the weekend with colleagues, fellow journalists, historians, analysts and members of the military, both present and former) will now refer to the fighting in Iraq as "Civil War" However other networks are still sticking to what the Bush Admin insists on calling an insurgency MONDAY OUTLOOK [Daily Nightly]

Morning Wire: And now the morning's worthy media news, we think

Russian moguls can't drive Way off our media train we just had to touch on this. A rich Russian oil tycoon tried to overtake another car when he lost control of his rare $650,000 Ferrari Enzo riding the curb before slamming into a tree causing the engine to burst into flames. The poor guy is in a coma and his face is said to have been burned badly. But the car man the car.........Oh man! EMI doing a Warner Music? EMI shares shot up when greedy shareholders got word that the company may be in talks to be taken over by a private equity firm. Companies including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. approached London-based EMI and may be prepared to pay 2.5 billion pounds ($4.85 billion) or more, the Financial Times newspaper reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. Knowing EMI's bad luck streak of never being able to close a deal, we wouldn't be surprised if this falls through. We know Edgar Bronfman would love to see that so he can make another run at the company. Media preppies fight it out for title that really doesn't matter CNN's silver haired boy wonder Anderson Cooper was named "Media Person of The Year" back in 2005. This year the fight is on again for the title of "Media Person of The Year" a title that means absolutely nothing. Some of the candidates on the list are not even aware that they are in the running for the title. The poll being conducted by IwantMedia.com went live yesterday. Some names in the running are Tom Freston, Arianna Huffington and Rachel Ray. What, did you think that was the last of the Juice? Even though media giant News Corp pulled the plug on their planned OJ Simpson media blitz because Rupert Murdoch punked out, that doesn't mean other networks wouldn't want some of the Juice. Sure it would be more of the same unless OJ admits to the killings, but you know what, you want to watch. -Shomari Hines

Read-ables this week: Microsoft's soul, a bad guy, auto chicks, us worry?

Businessweek: Microsoft is a new Microsoft and it has a soul thanks to Steve Jobs. At 3:32 p.m. on Oct. 19 an e-mail flashed across the screens of the 230 Microsoft employees working slavishly to bring the Zune music player to market. The sender was their brash team leader, J Allard, 37. The message included a link to an old video of Steve Jobs on YouTube, mocking Microsoft's creativity. "The only problem with Microsoft is that they have no taste," the Apple Computer boss says. "They have absolutely no taste." Time: This week's issue asks why we worry about the wrong things. Funny we thought Time Inc boss Anne Moore was the one worrying about the wrong things when she cut jobs to make it look like she is doing a great job on paper. sorry went off track there for a minute. Anyway the mag's lengthy article on why we worry about the wrong things will make you worry about why you worry about the wrong things by the time you finish reading Newsweek: This week's cover story is about the most dangerous man in Iraq. Its funny because we totally had a different image in our heads of Iraq's bad ass. One way to understand Moqtada al-Sadr is to think of him as a young Mafia don. He aims for respectability, and is willing to kill for it. Yet the extent of his power isn't obvious to the untrained eye. He has no standing army or police force, and the Mahdi Army gunmen he employs have no tanks or aircraft. Village Voice: Cars and chicks always got us off. The two just go together like Jack on the rocks. Village Voice however talks about the new breed of auto chicks. Come on who wouldn't rather see a hot girl bent over the hood of their Range Rover instead of the hairy ass crack of some guy named Alberto?

$1,000 can't buy shit these days

Come on Oprah. You gave away brand new cars for crying out loud. Now you're giving away $1,000 to people so they can use it to change the life of a total stranger? You are clearly under a billionaire's rock for thinking that $1,000 can change some one's life. Then again if you call paying of some one's cell phone bill, changing their life then maybe you're on to something. However Oprahnites seem to think that they can change the world with dinner for three in the city cash. "I would Give it to Zimbabwe orphans whose parents have died of AIDS.Zimbabwe is a nation in extreme crisis. Inflation sours between 400% and 700%. Roughly 1-2 million children are orphaned by the AIDS pandemic. Many roam the nation in search of food and shelter. Child abuse is rampant with sexual assaults on young girls and boys all too often becoming the norm. Life expectancy has dropped to less than 30 years. " "If given $1,000 to change the life of a perfect stranger, I would send the money to Women for Women International. This organization is helping women in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and other countries where women are surviving the tragedies of war. To change the world, we must place our efforts (and money) in empowering women. " We would give it to our local pub as credit to cover our Friday night booze fests for two weeks. Tell Oprah how you'd help a stranger [Yahoo!]

Predictions of a media analyst

Big shot media analyst Jessica Reif Cohen (JRC) rolled out about a dozen predictions on where the media industry is going, who will sell, who will go private and who will dominate. This whole media thing is just one big "My dick is bigger than your dick" business. "There will be three to five large distributors ... there's roughly four or five large content companies, and lots of other players," Cohen told the Reuters Media Summit in New York. "We would expect there'll be consolidation on that side," Cohen said. "Whether its DirecTV and EchoStar, or EchoStar being sold to one of the telephone companies." "I think you'll see with the separation of Viacom and CBS there are things that they used to have and they don't have that they may want to build up again," Cohen said. The last comment sounds a little like former Defense Secy Donald Rumsfeld's classic "Known Unknowns, Known Knowns" blabber. Merrill's Cohen sees media consolidation [Reuters]

CNBC blue balls us until December 4th

OK so maybe we are a little too excited about the up coming relaunch of the all new CNBC.com but so are the folks at NBC. The company has been running none stop ads on sister networks plugging the new launch as if it were some new movie from sibling company Universal Pictures. We have been praying for a redesign for over a year and finally Beth Comstock and company answered our prayers. we took a small tour of the new site and we have to say, we will be more frequent than usual when the site launches next Monday. CNBC.com

Ron Burkle's Carl Icahn like thoughts

Grocery tycoon Ron Burkle who recently bid for media giant Tribune Company along with fellow billionaire Eli Broad in an attempt to join the media elite club, is adding activist to his credit as well, with fresh inspiration from corporate thug Carl Icahn. Burkle, who runs the investment firm Yucaipa, plans to launch a “corporate governance” fund early next year. Burkle says he realized the impact his next fund could have after talking to the veteran investor Kirk Kerkorian, who now rankles the executive ranks of General Motors despite owning just a 10% stake in the ailing carmaker. “He wields tremendous influence,” marvels Burkle, who is intent on doing much the same at much smaller companies. When you're rich, you can buy anything including your very own bully pass. Ronald Burkle Thinks Like an Activist [DealBook]

Media Quicky: The Zuckerization of NBC Universal NOT?

Wait a minute now, so not only does Jeff Zucker, have competition from within the peacock media company from Beth Comstock, now rumors are running wild that he could be could be topped by Yahoo! CEO terry Semel who seems to be on his last leg at the Internet giant. Poor Jeff cant seem to wait in line peacefully.

Les Moonves sets big media's 2007 priority, staying on the Youtube bandwagon

Why aren't we surprised that big media companies will set out on the hunt for what CBS boss Les Moonves is calling the next Youtube? Isn't it a little pre-mature to be looking for the next Youtube being that thee Youtube is only 2 years old? And what does he (Les Moonves) mean when he says they next Youtube, because as far as we know there are websites out there like Youtube. Does he mean popularity wise? U.S. media executives expect another round of frenzied deal-making in 2007 as film, TV and Internet media companies try to reach a new generation of viewers as entertained by each other as by the latest TV show. Though mergers on the scale of AOL's 2001 purchase of Time Warner for more than $100 billion are unlikely, the hunt for what CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves calls the "next YouTube" will be a top media priority next year. Google Inc.'s $1.65 billion purchase of the phenomenally popular online video-sharing site in November served as a wake-up call to traditional media players, whose own projects to court online viewers mostly came up short. Reuters Summit - Media giants to hunt for next YouTube in 2007 [Reuters]

Morning Wire: The Times recycles, King Rupert takes Italy and more...

And now the morning's worthy media news: New York Times takes left overs When short on news, not to worry, all you have to do is recycle Sunday's news from another paper. Just add a funny photo of the subject, and add a snazzy new headline and boom! you got yourself refreshed weekend news for Monday. The NY Times seem to have ran with the same story published Sunday by International Herald Tribune on Viacom grandpa Sumner Redstone's Midway Games battle. King Rupe's invasion As if News Corp isn't providing news and entertainment for enough eyes, King Rupert and company are getting even more in Italy. For those keeping score in the duel between the one-time friends and now competing media barons Rupert Murdoch and Silvio Berlusconi: Mr. Murdoch is slightly ahead on points, but Mr. Berlusconi might still pack a punch. Who said bloggers weren't journalists? Many bloggers describe themselves as journalists. Last week Charles LeBlanc, a rooming house resident who lives on social assistance in Fredericton, New Brunswick, received a court decision establishing his journalistic credentials. The confirmation came last Friday when a judge dismissed charges against Mr. LeBlanc of obstructing a police officer.

Website created for male slackers in the work place now redirects to site said slackers already slack off to

Remember when the good old folks at Time Inc launched their much buzzed about website for men who drag ass at work, Officepirates.com? Well finally the site has disappeared months after it was announced that the site will be shut down due to the fact that Time Inc over estimated the number of male slackers in the work place resulting in weak traffic. Anyway, those slackers that Time Inc thought existed will now be redirected to the Sports Illustrated website where they can finally enjoy what they really slack off to, sports, hot women and occasional ads for their favorite beer. Officepirates.com

Weekend Wire: The round up

And now the weekend's worthy media news: The proper footwear may come in handy this week for Seventeen magazine underlings Atoosa Rubenstein's last day was Wednesday. So what exactly will Seventeen magazine staffers walk into on Monday morning, and do they have the shoes for it? Wall Street Journal teaser The Wall Street Journal published their "50 Women to watch" list carried on the front page of Yahoo! However you must be a paid subscriber for full access to the list. Guess its their way of trying to attract new business. They figured potential prospects would want the complete list so bad they would sign up for the paper. NOPE! not us at least. The Karmazination of a satellite merger We heard it before but are the rumors closer to reality this time around. Former Viacom prexy and current Sirius Satellite Radio CEO Mel Karmazin is sparking the Sirius XM merger rumor mil again. "both stocks went up. So I guess investors think [a merger] could be interesting." Grandpa Sumner losing the game Is Sumner Redstone secretly taking an ass whipping in the video game business? In what should be a golden time for every company in the industry, Midway stock plummeted to $8.53 a share on Friday from a five-year high of $23.16 last December. Redstone and entities controlled by his family hold 88 percent of the outstanding shares.

Weekend Wire: Big media's big bet on digital czars

Its no secret that old big media companies like Viacom, Time Warner, News Corp and others are scrambling to get with the digital times. Some companies like News Corp, are already leading the pack with the purchase of super site Myspace.com. Big media has been hiring digital execs left and right placing big bets on the heads of these individuals hoping to be lead into the digital world where advertisers are spending most of their money these days. In the last few weeks, there has been a stampede of change involving the top Internet executives at big media companies. Most significant, Jonathan F. Miller, the chairman and chief executive of AOL, was replaced at that Time Warner division by Randy Falco, a 31-year veteran of NBC Universal; Ross Levinsohn, the wunderkind who helped Rupert Murdoch snag MySpace last year, left the News Corporation two weeks ago and is being replaced by a cousin, Peter Levinsohn, a Fox TV veteran; and Larry Kramer, who built and sold the site MarketWatch, left his job as digital overseer at CBS after the arrival of Quincy Smith, a former investment banker, as his boss. Seeking Executive to Tame the Digital Future [NYT]

CNN finally answers the question we all have been asking

CNN Prexy Jon Klein said that he feels confident that we will still be at war come the year 2014, killing the hopes and dreams of troops wanting to come home for good. CNN officials announced that they will be carrying the popular news show This Week At War through the 2014 season. "We're confident that we'll have at least eight full seasons worth of material for this property," said CNN President Jonathan Klein during the dedication of the new 11-story TWAW news headquarters in Kuwait City. "And believe me, we're going to be going in some surprising new directions. A premise like this can go on for a generation." The Bush Administration can relax now that CNN has confirmed what they have delayed doing. CNN Renews This Week At War For Next Eight Seasons [The Onion]

Times Co to Jack Welch and friends: Hell No!

These days even being associated with Jack Welch doesn't get you the deal. The former GE boss and some money men buddies put in a bid for The Boston Globe but was rejected by the board of parent company Times Co. Times Co. CEO Janet Robinson wrote in a November 17 letter to the investor group that she took the group's proposal to the company's board but that Times. Co. was not interested in pursuing a sale, the Globe reported, citing two executives who had seen the letter. Hey Jack, Jared Kushner got his paper, so we know you can..........we think! New York Times rejects Welch bid for Globe: report [Reuters]