Web Media Wire Daily
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Readables this week: Late Edition

Published: Wednesday, February 28, 2007

  • Readables is our weekly run down on what’s on your magazine newsstands. We really don’t care if you read any of the magazines we feature, we just want to say our piece on whether the issue is garbage or worth a read.

Businessweek: JetBlue will never be able to live down their recent fuck up, when they held a plane full of passengers hostage for hours. Businessweek rubbed it in their face in their current cover story

Newsweek: You would think that after giving a limb or two for their country, our service men and women would come home to the best care and environment ever, nope.

The Week: Guess who is reportedly back in business? Bin Laden and his boys almost 6 years after 9/11.

Wired: Entertainment is so small these days, it should read, keep out of reach of children to prevent swallowing.

Time: The Sunnis and Shi'ites hate each other. Time attempts to tell us why, but we think we pretty much know how far back this hate is coming from.

RedHerring: In the family of clean energy technologies, so-called "clean coal" is the embarrassing, illegitimate cousin.

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Another Youtube esque launch, this time from Viacom's Nickelodeon

Chad Hurley opened a bag of we don't know what to call it. More and more media companies are doing their own thing when it comes to the online video thing. The latest to hop on the bandwagon is Viacom's Nickelodeon which is launching a kiddie Youtube like site for kids to upload video clips of themselves. Yup, now web predators don't have to search for kids, they have another one stop shop where they can pick chose and refuse.

It's no secret that Viacom and YouTube have had a rocky relationship; the two have not been able to sign a deal over video content, and Viacom has gone ahead and started offering its own videos, complete with embedding code. In a further sign of how Viacom would just as soon create its own alternatives and retain control over its content, its Nickelodeon subsidiary last week announced the "first-ever TV programming block featuring user-generated content provided by kids."

"Nickelodeon's ME:TV is you TV," says Tom Ascheim, Executive Vice President of Nickelodeon, who couldn't make the "YouTube" parallel any more explicit without calling the new program "YouTube for kids."

Nickelodeon launches YouTube clone for kids [ARS Technica]

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POLL: What do you think?

Last week we launched our "Les Is More" campaign where we are calling for CBS CEO Les Moonves to take the CEO seat at Viacom as well, something we call "The Ghosn Act". What is your take on this? Should Les Moonves' CEO time be split between CBS and Viacom?


Should Les Moonves run Viacom & CBS?
YES
NO
HELL NO
MAYBE
NO. PHIL DAUMAN SHOULD CONTINUE TO RUN VIACOM
BRING BACK TOM FRESTON
GIVE THE CEO JOB TO JUDY MCGRATH

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Les's star just keeps shining

Les Moonves's CBS Corp continues to behave well taking home yet another good report card to grandpa Sumner. CBS is now on it's fourth increase since splitting from sister company Viacom and we see a fifth in the near future. Wouldn't some Moonves love do Viacom well?

The CBS Corporation swung to a profit in the fourth quarter, the media company said yesterday. In the period a year ago the company reported a big loss, partly because of a major charge to write down the value of its television and radio businesses.

The chief executive, Leslie Moonves, told analysts that he would continue to make small investments in new media, but that he believed in the long-term growth of the company’s core television, radio and outdoor advertising units.

CBS Reports Quarterly Profit, Bouncing Back From a Year Ago [NYT]

RELATED: LES IS MORE CAMPAIGN

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Morning Wire: And now some of this morning's worthy media news

-Shomari Hines

Les Moonves wants to make March Madness even madder
"Are you fan enough"? because CBS's CSTV wants to know and if so, record yourself being extremely extreme and post it on CSTV's website and maybe you get some shine during March Madness. get really creative people, screaming in the camera won't cut it. Try something crazy like wearing the CSTV flag as underwear and incorporate some baby oil and powder with that.

Media Stocks got hit yesterday too
We have no idea what the hell was going on yesterday, but it was almost as if Wall Street got word that we were about to be attacked yesterday causing the stock market to nose dive.



We all want to know whats going on in the minds of the Dolans

New York sports fans have asked the question all season: What are the Dolans thinking? Now it’s Wall Street’s turn again. The Dolans are thinking that they want to take their company private.

Mel Karmazin's media blitz
Mel Karmazin is going back to his roots as a salesman trying to sell to anyone who will buy his idea of a merged Sirius and XM. He visited the Howard Stern Show on Monday trying to let listeners know that a merger is the best thing for them. This morning Mel will head to Washington in an effort to convince a new group called the House Antitrust Task Force and its overpaid, with our tax dollars members to buy his merger proposal too. Good luck Mel, you'll need it.


Univision's new CEO. Who is the mystery person?
Spanish broadcaster, Univision will reportedly name a new CEO next Tuesday. The board will tap advertising agency OMD Worldwide President and CEO Joe Uva. Current CEO Jerrold Perenchio is expected to step down. Well we didn't expect Perenchio to stay on now did we?

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New gamer in chief at EA

Published: Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Now this is the kind of story Mel Karmazin probably had in his head when he left Viacom after spending years being choked by Sumner Redstone. Unfortunately Sumner is like stone and didn't budge. But luckily for former Electronic Arts Prexy John Riccitiello who left the company back in 2004, EA CEO Larry Probst is budgeable. Riccitiello is back in a major way, but not without a catch or two.

Electronic Arts topper Larry Probst unexpectedly gave up his CEO post Monday but is staying atop the world's No. 1 videogame publisher by taking the new title of executive chairman. John Riccitiello, Probst's former prexy and chief operating officer who left the company in 2004, presumably out of some frustration that he hadn't ascended to the primo post, is returning to take the CEO role. Shift essentially lets Riccitiello return to EA under Probst, but with a higher title and more responsibility.

Electronic Arts names new CEO [Variety]

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Eric Klinenberg's scary media book

-Neil Yoshida

Is author Eric Klinenberg trying to scare his point of view into the minds of whoever buys his book on the dangers of big media. Is he taking credit for the recent deconsolidation of big media. We don't know. We either need coffee or we just don't quite get what he is trying to say. Is he saying he predicted that their would be deconsolidation in big media? Oh forget it.

The North Dakota tragedy -- one death, hundreds sickened -- is the book's sensational scare story of media consolidation. Klinenberg focuses on Big Media's usual suspects -- Clear Channel, Fox, Viacom, Disney, Sinclair -- and accurately details their attempts to Own It All in the 1990s and early 2000s, when the Federal Communications Commission relaxed media ownership rules. The consolidation galvanized a handful of activist groups that warned of an Orwellian future.

But the media landscape has changed radically in just the past year, and Klinenberg bears little blame for having written an incomplete account.Here's a partial list of recent upheavals since he wrote his book: Viacom split in two. Clear Channel is selling its TV stations and one-third of its radio stations. The New York Times sold its TV stations. The Knight Ridder newspaper chain dissolved. Tribune sold TV stations and may yet be broken up. Walt Disney sold its radio stations. Emmis Communications sold its TV stations. Wave after wave of deconsolidation.

Who Owns the Media? [Washing Post]

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Music Wire: Bandier to stop working for the Brits and begin working for the Germans and the Japanese

-Shomari Hines

As EMI Music Publishing loses, Sony ATV gains, or at least so they say. Martin Bandier, the well respected music publishing exec is said to be in talks to take the top job at Sony ATV. Banider was rumored to be on Edgar Bronfman's mind but we guess that didn't play out.
As part of the deal, which is expected to be announced today, sources said that Bandier is also making an investment in Sony ATV - a joint venture between Sony Corp. and trusts formed by singer Michael Jackson - that will allow him to share in the unit's growth. Sources cautioned, however, that Bandier wasn't taking an equity stake in the publisher, which owns the rights to 400,000 songs from acts like Fall Out Boy and John Mayer.

Guess current Sony ATV CEO David Hockman will leave immediately after they give his job away and issue some kind of statement that he wants to spend more time on other things, you know, the default statement made by an exec being shit canned. Then again we could be wrong. Maybe the guy just wants to kick back a bit. Naaah he is being shit canned.

STRIKE UP THE 'BAND'IER AT SONY ATV [NYP]

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Morning Wire: Joosting | Youtubing | Les Moonves, and more in this morning's worthy media news...

-Shomari Hines
  • The Kazaa, Skype, Joost dudes are playing it by the books this time around [NYT]
  • Youtube seduces yet another one to come join them in their big bed of videos [NYT]
  • Time Warner rakes in more cash than News Corp [WSN]
  • Tom Foremski of the Financial Times is getting way ahead of himself saying The capital of the media world is shifting to Silicon Valley from New York. Hey Tom, suck on an ice cube and chill out baby [SiliconValleyWatcher]
  • Old media people had better start wrapping their hands around new media or they will lose their job to some 22 year old who knows how to navigate Youtube [B&C]
  • Oh so Les Moonves only has balls to muscle the little guys? [NYP]

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Morning Wire: And now some of this morning's worthy media news

Published: Monday, February 26, 2007

-Shomari Hines

  • No Viacom clips, oh well [Webprownews]
  • Comedians can be serious too you know [NYT]
  • Note to marketers, stay the hell out of Boston [NYT]
  • Former Paramount Studio boss Sherry Lansing, went home with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscars. [UPI]
  • The Web 2.0 battlefield according to Steve Rosenbaum [SR]
  • Is David Geffen not busy enough during these days? [NYT]
  • Private investor group reportedly looking under EMI's skirt [Reuters]

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Is Mika Salmi, behind Viacom's beef with Youtube?

Going their own way since parent company Viacom yanked all its content of Youtube's tubes, MTV digital prexy Mike Salmi is already whoring MTV's websites by letting users have their way with content. Makes us wonder if Mika is the brains behind Viacom's recent outburst with Youtube. Mika, lets hope this one hits big with MTVers and other entertainment content addicts, because if not, its only a matter of time before you kiss and make up with Chad Hurley.

“We need to open up our Web sites and content both for consumers and for other companies,” Mika Salmi, MTV Networks’ president of global digital media, told Reuters, which said the move was “part of a strategy to bring Viacom’s Web sites up to ‘Web 2.0’ standards.”

If so, it is a new strategy. For most of its history, the MTV sites have been anything but open. Until recently, clips from Comedy Central were available only to those using the Internet Explorer browser, and Macintosh users who wanted to watch a video on VH1’s VSpot broadband service were out of luck. And even now, trying to find a clip from, say, “The Daily Show” often requires an infuriating amount of searching and drilling down through several clicks. And forget about sending your friend a link directly to the video — it cannot be done.



Sharing the Wealth at MTV [NYT]

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People always say kids are expensive


When Univision began broadcasting a show three years ago about the misadventures of 11-year-old identical twin girls who swapped identities after discovering they had been separated at birth, it characterized the episodes as educational programming for children. That decision is expected to cost Univision, the nation’s largest Hispanic network, $24 million in what would be the largest fine the Federal Communications Commission has ever imposed against any company. The penalty is also expected to send a strong signal to broadcasters that they will be expected to meet their required quota of shows that educate and inform children, after years of permissive oversight in this area.

You can't forget the kids man, you just can't forget the kids. The fine should make Les Moonves feel better about the$500,000 fine his company has been trying to get out of for the Janet Jackson nipple slip

Record Fine Expected for Univision [NYT]

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Can someone shave Tribune’s head and stick in rehab please

This Tribune thing is past the point of pain in the ass. The individuals involved can't make up their small minds, and they keep issuing statements that they can't make up their minds. Why is this taking so long? Over the weekend they reportedly comb through some offers and is considering one made by real estate magnate Sam Zell to take the company private. Oh god please let Zell's offer put this thing to rest already!

Tribune, pressured by its long-slumping stock price, appointed a special board committee in September to review the company's prospective offers. The board intends to decide on a plan to increase shareholder value by the end of March, the company said. The board would prefer a recapitalization plan involving a spinoff of Tribune's television stations and the payment of a bid dividend to shareholders, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday on its Web site.

Tribune mulls Zell offer [AP]

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But how sweet does he like his lemonade

Is Mel Karmazin hoping for Oprah to fail in the satellite radio show business? Apparently her failure would be news to his ears as he gears up to face regulators who are already hating on his proposed merger with rival XM.


The queen of all media caused barely a ripple last fall when XM Satellite Radio announced she would get her own channel, "Oprah and Friends." On Wednesday, Sirius CEO Karmazin will trudge up to a Capitol Hill hearing to try and convince lawmakers his proposed merger with rival XM isn't anti-competitive. He could trot out the failure of Winfrey, Martha Stewart, and even Nascar to spark a new-subscriber wave as evidence the universe of audio entertainment extends well beyond the country's two ailing satellite radio businesses.

Already, Karmazin, in starting to frame his argument, has said that satellite radio's real battle isn't Sirius versus XM, but Sirius and XM versus basic television, cable, iPods and every other media device on the planet.

Actually, we think Sirius and XM's real battle will be against the mighty, mighty internet.

OPRAH'S LEMONS MAY MAKE MEL'S LEMONADE [NYP]

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Your kid is the reason for this entire merger shit

And all this time we thought it was due to the demands of greedy shareholders looking to cash in on top of the heap they already have. We thought when Mel Karmazin finally got XM to agree to work towards a merger it was because of his own doing and dream. Apparently we have been wrong all along.

Your teen daughter - with her iPod and MySpace page - is responsible for the multibillion-dollar Sirius-XM and Warner Music Group-EMI merger attempts. That's because behind both proposed couplings is the rise of digital music - particularly on peer-to-peer services where usage is heaviest among 13- to 18-year-olds - and the threat it poses to their survival.

Consider, for example, that within two years roughly 40 percent of all new automobiles - satellite radio's bread-and-butter subscriber base - will come equipped with audio jacks for iPods and other MP3 players.


So shouldn't these teens be present when these companies go up to plead their case?

YOUTHS' DIGITAL HABITS FORCE SATELLITE RADIO, MUSIC MERGERS [NYP]

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Jeff Zucker gives all his underlings, shine on the NBC management page

The Zucker administration is already doing things differently than the Wright administration by expanding the NBC Uni management page on the corporate website to feature the other people who helps to keep NBC Uni steaming ahead. There are some new faces and names, you've probably never seen or heard of. Well except for "The Zucker 3"

NBC Universal Bios

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At least get the parent company name right

The Post's Page Six, well known for their ef ups and extortion plots, efed up again when reporting on the major Oscar parties thrown by Hollywood's talent powerhouses CAA & ICMI and those in attendance.


CAA partner Bryan Lourde had the star power of the night with former Paramount chief Tom Freston and his wife, Kathy, talking to new Paramount head Philip Dauman as Tom Cruise, George Clooney, Sean Penn, Al and Tipper Gore, Jennifer Aniston, Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jerry Seinfeld and Tom Hanks all mingled until early yesterday morning.

Did Grandpa Sumner replace the Viacom name with Paramount or something? Wonder if Tom was giving Phil some tips on how to look cool?

H'WOOD'S UNA-BASH-ED BATTLE [NYP]

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Afternoon Wire: We were having posting issues again, and more in this afternoon's worthy media news

Published: Friday, February 23, 2007

  • We were not able to post for few hours today due to, you know usual technical bullshit which is never on our part.

  • Yeah! We agree. We don't see News Corp dropping green for Maxim Magazine [SeekingAlpha]

  • News Corp.'s Low-Glamour Internet Play? Huh! [Forbes]

  • Time Warner Cable boss caked big time in 2006 [Netscape]

  • Looks like people really believe News Corp would be interested in Dennis Publishing. We just don't see why [StockTrendz]

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LES IS MORE 08: 10 reasons why Les Moonves should run Viacom too

-Shomari Hines

There are so many reasons why Les Moonves should be running sister company Viacom in addition to CBS Corp. Below are ten of those reasons.


  1. Like we said in our "Morning Wire", the man can suck a stack of twenties rolled tight through a garden hose
  2. He seems to be on the ball with CBS's digital strategy
  3. His wife is hotter than Phil Dauman's
  4. The guy is kinda cool
  5. He is the master at UPOD
  6. The guy tans well
  7. Sumner Redstone says he reminds him of himself
  8. He has a better looking face to rep Viacom
  9. He talks the Wall Street lingo
  10. He knows he can do a better job than the stiff suited Phil Dauman

Number 7 should be all the reason Sumner Redstone needs to wake up and smell Les's tanning lotion.

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Morning Wire: The "G" in GQ stands for Giving, and more in this morning's worthy media news...

-Neil Yoshida


  • GQ Magazine wants you to spend money so some of it can be donated to causes related to men, and they hired singer John Legend and launched a new website in an effort to convince you [NYT]
  • Les Moonves, our candidate for Viacom-CBS CEO has cooked up yet another source of revenue for his company. This guy could suck a stack of hundreds rolled tight through a garden hose [NYT]
  • This Warner Music EMI thing is looking up to be another Tribune like back and forth circus [NYP]
  • Elizabeth Arden will still try to get little girls to smell like crazy ass Britney Spears [NYP]
  • Analyst Jeffrey S Thomison has big expectations for Disney [Newratings]
  • Speaking of Disney, the company is adding more ships to its fleet for more people to get sick on [OS]

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This month in JANE, Drew Barrymore has lots to say

Published: Thursday, February 22, 2007

-Neil Yoshida

This month's JANE cover girl is none other than Drew Barrymore and man does this chick have loads to share. Fresh from our inbox is the official press release and comments from the interview.

Drew Barrymore talks to Jane magazine on her past failed marriages and whether she will ever remarry: “If I had known what I know now, I would say to myself, ‘Do not get married before you’re 30, and be together a minimum of five years first. That’s just for me—not my love advice for the world. I feel like I’m the least authoritative person to talk about marriage, because I sorta screwed that whole thing up. As they say, I ‘screwed the pooch’ on marriage. But I never put rules or guidelines on my life. It’s certainly not something I desire one bit right now, but I would like to in the future.”

Full press release after the click

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photo credit: Carter Smith

ACTRESS DREW BARRYMORE TALKS ABOUT FAILED MARRIAGES,
AN UNSTABLE FAMILY LIFE AND BEING OVERTLY SEXUAL


In the (new) March issue of Jane magazine
On newsstands February 27th nationwide

(February 19, 2007 New York, NY) Drew Barrymore talks to Jane magazine on her past failed marriages and whether she will ever remarry: “If I had known what I know now, I would say to myself, ‘Do not get married before you’re 30, and be together a minimum of five years first. That’s just for me—not my love advice for the world. I feel like I’m the least authoritative person to talk about marriage, because I sorta screwed that whole thing up. As they say, I ‘screwed the pooch’ on marriage. But I never put rules or guidelines on my life. It’s certainly not something I desire one bit right now, but I would like to in the future.”

Following are other comments from Drew Barrymore’s interview found in the March issue of Jane:

ON HER UNSTABLE FAMILY LIFE…“I’ve got one wacky family…I understood early that we were not going to have stability. You just have to find your own way and not sit in shit and cry about what you think you don’t have. Get over it.”

ON FLASHING DAVID LETTERMAN ON NATIONAL TV…“I’m thrilled I did that, but no way would I do it now. Man, I was such a sexual, free, fucking nudist little bird running around. I love it. I’m still sensual, but I’m much more modest now. But I think I’ll always be a bit of a wood nymph when it comes to sexuality. It’s like, ‘Fuck it, be free and have the most fun you can.’ ”

ON HER FATHER AND GROWING UP WITHOUT HIM…“My dad was a free bird and didn’t want to be a dad—he was gone from the start. Somehow I grasped that as a kid and didn’t hate him for it. I still don’t. I loved the way he was such a lover of things. I would visit him, and he’d talk about how when he went on his 4 a.m. walk, he could feel the blades of grass under his feet and could tell which ones were broken. When he said that, it brought up an emotion of, ‘I’m just glad there’s someone in the world like this—a real free spirit.’ Even though he was a hippie, he was a fuckin’ rascal. I like that combination because I can only take peace and meditation for so long. I want a little bit of mischievousness.”

ON STAYING ACTIVE…“I’m such a workaholic and so fucking on fire all the time, it bewilders the shit out of me…If you’re interested in something, you have to act on it. When you get ideas, don’t just let them be fleeting thoughts that flow into the universe, so that later you look back and think, ‘God, I wish I had done something about that.’ Just go for it and never be afraid.”

ON BEING THE GODMOTHER OF FRANCES COBAIN, DAUGHTER OF COURTNEY LOVE AND KURT COBAIN…“Courtney and I have not seen each other in a while, so I haven’t had the pleasure of being in Frances’ life for a few years. That’s a great loss for me, and I hope to reconnect with her.”

ON HER MOTHER…“I think my mom is a good person. Maybe we haven’t had a traditional relationship, but as I get older, I’m able to enjoy her more, because I’m not looking at her as a mom but more as a friend.”

ON HAVING A FAMILY AND GETTING OLD…“I would definitely like to have a family one day. I don’t know when or with who, but I don’t picture myself alone and bitter…When I get old, I am not going to be wearing polyester pants. I’m going to wear old Levi’s and Birkenstocks. And hopefully I’ll have enough hair to wear braids.”


2/Jane

ON POLITICS…“I wasn’t raised in a household that talked about politics…I’m a Democrat and a liberal but I will vote Republican if I think it’s for the better candidate. There are Republicans out there I really respect.”

ON WHAT SHE WANTS HER KIDS TO BE LIKE…“I would love for them to become adults who have a positive effect whether that’s through kindness or if they are scientists or humanitarians or entertainers … if they give something back. The last thing I want is a selfish child.”

ON HER FRIENDS…“Beyond any [romantic] relationship I’ve ever had, my friends are the ones who have been consistent rocks in my life. They make me feel like everything will be okay.”

ON LEADERSHIP ROLES AND GENDER…“Men and women are extremely different creatures, period. The older I get, the more I giggle about it. But I would like, as an experiment, to let women run things for a while. What could it hurt? Just try it! If it’s as bad or worse than it is now, we could go right back to the system we’ve got.”

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Oh! you thought we were kidding? Viacomers Join in, you need Les, because Les is More!

-Shomari Hines

We were dead serious when we said this and the more we think about it, the more it makes sense and Sumner Redstone needs to get out of the pool and start looking into putting what we will call from here on out "The Ghosn Act" in affect and hand Les Moonves the keys to Viacom. If Sumner were to activate "The Ghosn Act" , Not only would Wall Street react in a very positive way, the stock would spike. So with that said, we are officially launching our "Moonves for Viacom-CBS CEO" right now at this very moment. Viacomers, jump on this bandwagon and get rid of the lame suit in the corner office. Shari Redstone, talk to daddy and tell him this may not be a bad idea at all. LES IS MORE! Must we come and plaster the front doors of 1515 Broadway with Moonves 08 stickers?

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Wonder if Ross Levinsohn would have made the same play?

-Shomari Hines
Ross Levinsohn's cousin, Peter Levinsohn is getting all strategic at Fox Interactive Media. The company dropped some cash on Strategic Data Corporation (SDC), an Internet advertising technology company indicating that FIM wants to cut its share out of the Internet ad pie. But we have to ask. If Ross Levinsohn was still at the helm of FIM, would this deal have happened? Or would FIM still be busy settling Youtube under its umbrella instead? Then again Rupe probably wouldn't have dropped $1.6 Billion for a two year old company.
According to FIM officials, SDC has built a proprietary technology that provides Web publishers with the ability to better optimize its ad campaigns. FIM says that once SDC’s technology has been incorporated into its network of sites, it will be able to deliver highly targeted display ads on MySpace, IGN, AskMen.com and other sites. Fox has been criticized in the past for its lack of targeting options, particularly on MySpace, where its users provide a wealth of personal information on the site while generating billions of page views each month.

FIM Acquires Internet Ad Tech Company SDC [MediaWeek]

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Does Viacom Need to Get With the Program? Yeah, and have Les run it

-Shomari Hines

It looks like we're not the only ones concerned about Viacom's behavior since the split from CBS. In many ways its kinda like the Britney and Kevin thing. When Viacom and CBS first split everyone was shitting on CBS as the un-glitzy half of the two. But a year after the split CBS is on top and Viacom, is still trying to play catchup and is rapidly losing it's glitz and glamour. You know what? It's its time to launch a "Les for CEO" campaign. Current CEO Phil Dauman is the kinda individual who should hold the CEO title until a permanent CEO is named. Why is he still sitting in Tom Freston's old office? We said it before, Viacom grandpa Sumner Redstone needs to put in place a structure where Les Moonves oversees both CBS and Viacom, the same way that Carlos Ghosn guy oversees both Nissan and Renault. It can work.
John Dvorak concludes that Viacom just doesn't get it--to invoke the omnipresent Internet mantra of the Nineties (hat tip to Victor). As Dvorak sees it, the 100,000 Viacom clips formerly uploaded on YouTube had no value except for marketing, and YouTube and Viacom fans were providing that marketing for free. So Viacom basically flipped its middle finger at free marketing and tens of millions of fans and huffed on over to a firewalled beta site that won't have an audience until June.
Does Viacom Need to Get With the Program? [SeekingAlpha]
Dvorak on Viacom: Old Media Boneheads [Internet Outsider]

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Anchor not afraid to show his assiness

A public figure shoots off his mouth about a provocative subject, unleashing a lot of bad press and popular disapproval. He then realizes his mistake and the depth of public reaction to his comments, and an apology usually follows, preferably on camera. So far, par for the course.But how often do we see one of these loudmouthed characters render an apology while wearing donkey ears -- as if to say, "Yup, I behaved like an ass, and now I have the ears to prove it."Fernando Sánchez Dragó, an anchor with the Madrid-based TV station Telemadrid, now has the dubious distinction of being the first man to observe this unusual practice. He donned the donkey ears during his nightly news broadcast and apologized for comments made in a local newspaper called 20 Minutos (20 Minutes).

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In the interview, Sánchez Dragó was asked about his feelings about Madrid. Never one to miss an opportunity to be controversial, he responded by saying, "Spaniards are among the dirtiest people on earth and as for Madrileños (Madrid citizens), there's no need to say any more." Adding fuel to the fire, he continued: "And the immigrants are even worse. There are no Madrileños anymore. Now they are black, copper-colored, yellow ..."

As news of his remarks filtered through Madrid -- 20 Minutos is distributed free every morning to commuters throughout the city -- events assumed a political overtone. The publication says they print 1,150,000 copies daily, and with editions in 14 different cities. This was perhaps inevitable, given that Sánchez Dragó works for a station that is owned by the Madrid government. Local elections are scheduled to take place in two months and Telemadrid is firmly behind the ruling, conservative Popular Party.

Sánchez Dragó's comments could not have come at a better time for the opposition Socialist Party, which seized upon the issue. They declared the television anchor a xenophobe and said that he did not deserve to anchor a Madrid news telecast given his apparent disdain for the city's inhabitants. The opposition candidate, Miguel Sebastian, accused Sánchez Dragó of insulting his viewers and even went so far as to demand his resignation. As for the offended audience, they reacted with ... well, silence.

No strangers to Sánchez Dragó's antics to whip up controversy, the audience chose to maintain a resolute silence over this latest salvo, letting the politicians talk instead.
And talk they did, until Sánchez Dragó apologized, but not without causing more of a stir. The evening news began in the usual way, and the anchor rendered an apology for his remarks, denying charges of xenophobia.

But then, all of a sudden, halfway through the show, he once again expressed his regret and out came the donkey ears. He did this, he said, "to show his feelings."
When he was questioned later by ABCNEWS.com, he shrugged and said: "I give lots of interviews and tend to say the first thing that comes to my mind. I say things as I feel them. Even the donkey ears were something I thought of just five minutes before the show started."


A colleague of Sánchez Dragó told ABCEWS.com that "nobody knew that he was going to do something like this" even though the anchorman has a reputation for courting controversy. Will his actions set off a new trend of "donkey-eared" apologies? Maybe ears are the new tears, and the ultimate word when it comes to regret? Or maybe Sánchez Dragó just wanted to keep people talking about him.

Francisco Medina reported this story from Madrid.
Copyright © 2007 ABC News Internet Ventures

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DowJones Chairmanship isn't going to Zannino

-Shomari Hines

Perhaps the buck doesn't stop at DowJones CEO Dick Zannino, as the the company announced it will name Peter McPherson as his babysitter -AKA- Chairman. Oh wait, this is probably one of those things where the board doesn't want the Chairman & CEO title being held by one individual.


"I look forward to continuing to work closely in this new capacity with my fellow directors, including Rich Zannino," McPherson said in a statement about the company's CEO. "The board believes Rich and his team are successfully executing the right strategy for the digital era. We are working to increase value for shareholders and customers by building on Dow Jones's heritage of journalistic excellence while developing new ways to provide vital business information to today's global audience."

Dow Jones To Name Peter McPherson Chairman [E&P]

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Music Wire: Yup! EMI trying to find any and everything to deter Warner Music Group invasion

-Shomari Hines

If this time around a deal doesn't happen between Warner Music and EMI, then it just wasn't meant to be at all. EMI and Warner as you all know have been trying get in bed together for years, hell since the Ken Berry days, and still they can't even get to first base. The EMI side seems to be the one this time around who will probably try to get of being taken over by Warner. EMI is more interested in being bought by a private equity firm which would more than likely keep current management in place. Eric Nicoli is reading the writing on the wall. If Warner were to be successful in grabbing EMI he would be out of a job, along with other high level EMI execs. EMI is worried about stuff like European regulatory approval before an official bid is even made. Like the saying goes, cross that bridge when you get there.

Analysts have noted that EMI appears to be reluctant to engage with Warner at the current price and a media report on Thursday said the group was also in talks with a number of private equity firms as potential alternatives. The company declined to comment on the report. Its shares were up 1.1 percent at 244 pence by 1200 GMT.The Financial Times said EMI had held talks with a number of private equity firms including One Equity Partners, a unit of JPMorgan Chase and Co.

EMI highlights regulatory concerns over Warner bid [Reuters]

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Morning Wire: And now this morning's worthy media news aggregation

-Shomari Hines

Marketers are increasingly focused on the effectiveness of their pitches, trying to figure out the return on investment for ad spending.

Public broadcasting will target an underserved audience with the Spanish-language network V-me TV, which launches March 5.

Apax, Blackstone Group and Candover Investments Plc were understood to be in discussions with the privately held company about Trader Media Group, which publishes the Auto Trader advertising guide, the FT said, quoting people close to the situation.

Is EMI looking to derail yet another Warner bid?
Britain's EMI Group Plc. is in talks with a number of private equity firms including One Equity Partners, a unit of JPMorgan Chase and Co., over potential alternatives to a takeover approach from Warner Music Group. Just sit tight and get taken over man jeez.

Bowing to pressure from Motown, makers of the Oscar-nominated film "Dreamgirls" said in ads on Wednesday that the musical was a work of fiction and apologized for any confusion with the legendary record label.
Image: Getty Images

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Break out the booze and the confetti, Viacom's earnings call is right around the corner and we are dumb enough to want to live blog the shit

Published: Wednesday, February 21, 2007

-Neil Yoshida

On Thursday, March 1, Viacom CEO Phil Dauman and company will share Viacom's report card and we're not expecting to hear anything exciting. What we do expect to hear is how they plan to make use of all those websites they're buying up as well as what's in store for Paramount. These calls are freaking yawn fests but we listen in anyway. We will be live blogging the earning's call, why you ask? We have no idea. But it should be fun we think.

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What the f_ck: Someone at NBC Universal wants to keep things the way they were

-Shomari Hines

Upon the announcement of Jeff Zucker's promotion to CEO of NBC Universal, the corporate website was updated almost immediately to give the new boss his new spot atop the management bio page. However, for the last couple of days the management bio page has been switched back to the old line up with Bob Wright still holding the title of CEO of NBC Universal. Is someone holding on to old memories, or is it some kind of tech issue. If you think we're lying, see for yourself after the click

MORE....


NBC Universal

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