Natasha Richardson's death was indeed tragic, sudden and, yes, a media sensation. Who ever heard of someone hitting their head and then falling dead? Wild. And, proving that celebrities control all trends, sparked a new craze: traumatic hypochondria!

Conde Nast CEO Chuck Townsend says that Conde's Very Bad, No Good, Four-Magazine-Folding Day today marks the end of magazine closures for the company. Although not the end of the hard times.

• More on Condé Nast's decision to shut down four magazines, including Gourmet, Cookie, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride: An estimated 180 people will likely lose their jobs as part of the move, although CEO Chuck Townsend says the company has no plans to shutter any other titles. [NYO, AdAge]
• If Comcast goes ahead with a deal to take a controlling stake in NBC, Jeff Zucker, NBC Universal's CEO, may need to find a new job. [NYP]
• Don Imus' radio show debuted on Fox Business today. [WP]
• Rich Ross, the president of Disney Channels Worldwide, is taking over Walt Disney Studios; he's succeeding Dick Cook, who was ousted on Sept. 16. [NYT]
• Universal Pictures has fired chairmen Marc Shmuger and David Linde. [LAT]
• CBS has been busy ridding YouTube of David Letterman's mea culpa. [NYT]
• Zombieland was No. 1 at the box office this weekend with a $25 million take. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs dropped to second place. [Variety]
• It wasn't all bad news at Condé Nast today: The New Yorker landed its biggest ad buy since 2005 with a $1 million deal with HSBC. [Folio]

In your deathly Monday media column: More details on today's Conde Nast purge, point-counterpoint on Tribune Co's criminal management, an online news operation folds, and a journalist is killed.

Hearing that Gourmet Magazine has died is like learning about the end of Webster's Dictionary, the Washington Monument or Growing Pains re-runs; one less venerable pillar of civilization—even one ignored for years—leaves our world a little less solid.

The results of the Conde Nast Magazine Death Pool are in, stunningly early: the company announced this morning that it's folding Gourmet, Cookie, and two bridal magazines, Elegant Bride and Modern Bride.

Condé Nast CEO Chuck Townsend announced this morning that the company will be shutting down four magazines: Gourmet, Cookie, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride. [WWD]

CBS has been going through YouTube and its own site to erase all mention of David Letterman's sex scandal confession. We don't know why. It's not like that will make this go away. Plus, there's no stopping the internet. [Mediaite]

In the wake of David Letterman's staff scoring stiffy, we decided to look back at some of our favorite media ass-magnets. These are extraordinary examples of why straight guys get in this business in the first place: the crazy poon, bro.

Revered ABC News journalist and mother of two Cokie Roberts knows where she stands on Roman Polanski. And her take on justice involves a shallow grave.

Another former David Letterman fling came out, noting the "love den" he's running at the Ed Sullivan Theater, breathlessly reports the New York Post, the New York Daily News, and whoever else. What's in it? Whips? Chains? Madonna's panties?

• Time Inc. is "not for sale," says Time Warner boss Jeff Bewkes. [DF]
• Meanwhile, Time Inc., Condé Nast, and Hearst are looking to team up and create a "Hulu for magazines." Another winning idea, clearly. [FT, ATD]
• Miramax is fast approaching non-existence. Disney, Miramax's parent, is cutting 50 jobs at the company, leaving it with just 20 employees. [NYT]
• The pros and cons to a marriage between Comcast and NBC. [AdAge]
• The Washington Post and Bloomberg are launching a joint news service. [AP]
• TV Guide dismissed several execs yesterday, including its publisher. [NYP]
• Former Warner Bros. and Yahoo! chief Terry Semel was interested in buying the Nets, but he couldn't compete with Russian mogul Mikhail Prokhorov. [P6]
• Will the David Letterman drama ultimately hurt the show's ratings or send skittish advertisers running for the exits? That's unlikely, say observers. [THR]
• The cover of Sarah Palin's forthcoming (and already best-selling) memoir, Going Rogue, has been revealed. Try to contain your excitement. [AP]

Urb magazine, the hip hop-ish lifestyle mag, is reportedly folding its print edition until further notice and going all-digital. Hip hop magazines remain an endangered species. [via Sage Francis, Byron Crawford]

In your friendly Friday media column: the NYT's standards editor retires, a Russian journokabob scandal, Time Warner really loves this "magazine" business, and the magazine industry has big plans, sure.

It boggles the mind that the man accused of hatching a bizarre scheme to blackmail David Letterman appears to be an experienced and talented television journalist. Here's what we know about Joe Halderman.

Bloomberg and the WaPo have struck a content deal that will shame the LA Times.

Survey says that 70% of online publications will start charging for their oh-so splendid content.

It's your lucky day, Gawker readers, because we are running one of our patented "contests," and the winner of the dubious prize could you be you! This one involves Conde Nast. But any idiot can enter. It's easy.

CityFile just published a groveling retraction of an item it published in July in the face of a defamation suit from Jim Dolan, the truculent chairman of Cablevision, which owns Newsday.

• Comcast denied the rumors yesterday, but it now appears the cable giant is involved in talks to take a controlling stake in NBC Universal. [NYT, NYT]
• It hasn't been smooth sailing for Jay Leno since his primetime show debuted—ratings have been slipping and the critical buzz has been lousy—but now it looks like NBC has another problem to worry about: CBS and ABC have both been actively discouraging their stars from appearing on the show. [LAT]
• Bravo reports it's developing solo series for three of its reality TV stars: Bethenny Frankel, Christian Siriano and Top Chef's Fabio Viviani. [Variety]
• Meanwhile, Logo is casting its gay version of the Real Housewives. [Gawker]
• Maybe the magazine industry isn't dead, after all: American Media plans to launch a new bridal title in early 2010 called Shapebride. [WWD]