nbc
Kings Is Dead, Long Live Kings!
Richard Lawson · 04/07/09 01:47PMShake Up at Variety, The Boston Globe Rallies
cityfile · 04/07/09 11:30AM• Boston Globe staffers are still reacting to the news that the New York Times Co. may shutter the paper in 30 days if certain pay concessions aren't met. The paper announced it plans to raise newsstand prices, and a small group of staffers staged a rally last night in support of the paper. [E&P, WCVB]
• Peter Bart is denying claims he was ousted as Variety's editor. [NYT]
• The AP says that sites that use the company's content will have to obtain permission and share revenue with them, or they'll face "legal action." [NYT]
• Keith Olbermann aired a eulogy for his mom on last night's show. [HP]
• For his part, O'Reilly wasn't too cool with pics of two men kissing. [Gawker]
• Thomson Reuters chief Tom Glocer riffs on the future of the Times. [NYO]
• You can now watch NBC while sitting on PATH trains. Thrilling! [MW]
• Even more thrilling: Playboy has launched its redesigned website. [BR, Folio]
Glory Be: People Are Finally Watching 30 Rock
Richard Lawson · 04/03/09 04:19PMTimes Readers to the Rescue, Spitzer to the Today Show
cityfile · 04/03/09 11:34AM• Bill Keller says that New York Times readers have offered to donate money to keep the paper alive, which is both very sad and very sweet. [Politico, NYP]
• Hearst has asked all of its newspapers to reduce costs by 20 percent. [BN]
• The launch of Oprah's cable network has been pushed back to 2010. [NYP]
• Eliot Spitzer will hit the Today show on Monday, presumably to talk about the financial crisis, not about his personal life. [NYO]
• Tensions are reportedly running high at MSNBC after the network decided to give Ed Schultz a show and bump Norah O'Donnell and David Shuster. [P6]
• Breaking! The media appears to be rather fond of Michelle Obama. [WaPo]
• Last night's series finale of ER generated big ratings for NBC. [NYT]
• Is Google about to acquire Twitter? Not so much, says Kara Swisher. [ATD]
Jay Leno Show Rejected By Boston Affiliate
Ryan Tate · 04/02/09 10:34PMBad Books, Hollywood Pay Cuts, The End of ER
cityfile · 04/02/09 11:59AM• Bill O'Reilly is already threatening to totally ruin 2010: He says he's working on a book about Barack Obama which will come out next year. [NYP]
• Twitter fan Gary Vaynerchuk is getting seven figures to write 10 books about Twitter. And some think the publishing world doesn't "get it"! [WSJ]
• Hollywood is cutting back on the big pay packages for A-list stars. [WSJ]
• Ed Schultz is taking over the 6pm slot on MSNBC with a new show. [HP]
• No joke: Delta will soon sell its in-flight magazine on newsstands. [WWD]
• More on the recent round of layoffs at Condé Nast Digital. [PaidContent]
• Ad man Peter Arnell's disastrous rebranding of Tropicana also led to a 20 percent drop in sales in January and February. Nice work. [AdAge]
• Jon Stewart had a few words of advice for Rush Limbaugh last night. And Stephen Colbert went to town on Glenn Beck. [HP, Buzzfeed]
• NBC will air the final episode of ER tonight with a three-hour "event." [NYT]
It's Settled! Project Runway To Return in August
cityfile · 04/01/09 05:47PMGood news, Project Runway fans: The legal feud between NBC chief Jeff Zucker and Weinstein Co. co-founder Harvey Weinstein over the show's fate has been settled—and it didn't even require having the two face off in a cage fighting match, although that would have been nice, come to think of it. The Weinstein Co. agreed to pay a "multiple millions" to NBC for ripping the show away NBC-owned Bravo and taking it to Lifetime, although Weinstein agreed to hold off airing new episodes until August, which gives Bravo a headstart with their Runway lookalike, The Fashion Show.
VPR Day: Project Runway Armistice Declared
Richard Lawson · 04/01/09 03:17PMAnother Newspaper Goes Bankrupt
cityfile · 03/31/09 11:22AM• The Chicago Sun-Times filed for bankruptcy protection today. [BN, NYT]
• Nielson is planning to cut 1,600 jobs, or 5% of its workforce. [AdAge]
• NBC is keeping the lights on at Friday Night Lights, after all. [NYT]
• Because it has precious other good news to report as it sits in fourth place, NBC says it saved $2 million last year by "going green." Congrats. [AP]
• MTV has ordered up four more seasons of The Real World. [THR]
• Sad news, soap fans: CBS is thinking about pulling the plug on Guiding Light, the longest-running daytime drama on television. [NYM]
• The MPAA reports global box office revenues were up 5.2% in 2008. [THR]
• Disney's TV unit has inked a distribution deal with YouTube. [NYT]
• How bad is the situation at CNN? "It's gotten so bad that Fox's Bill O'Reilly has actually taken to saying kind things about CNN, possibly out of pity." [MM]
Marissa Mayer Is Right 80 Percent of the Time
Owen Thomas · 03/29/09 01:00PMFormer NBC News Business Correspondent Irving R. Levine Dead at 86
John Cook · 03/27/09 04:50PMLayoffs & Cancellations
cityfile · 03/27/09 12:51PM• NBC is chopping 6 shows, including, yes, the Chopping Block. [THR]
• It's rumored Budget Travel has, yes, cut its budget. [Gawker]
• Another stain on Jim Cramer, not that he needs it: In '07, he called Andrew Cuomo a "communist" for proposing mortgage industry regulation. [NYT]
• The Times's Bill Keller sheds some light on yesterday's cuts and layoffs. [E&P]
• Condé Nast's Chuck Townsend sheds light on his staff changes. [AdAge]
• Lionsgate slashed 8 percent of its staff today. [THR]
• Newspaper ad revenue dropped 17.7% in 2008. [E&P]
• Americans spend 8.5 hours a day consuming video content. [NYT]
• Facebook needs a (generous) friend: It's trying to raise $100 million. [PC]
• Cable company Charter Communications is officially bankrupt. [NYT]
Spoiler Alert: The Winner in Monsters vs. Aliens is...Dreamworks!
John Cook · 03/27/09 09:35AMHairy-Chested Mice Menace the Twitterati
Owen Thomas · 03/26/09 04:31PMChuck Todd Is Choking
John Cook · 03/25/09 12:12PMMost Obnoxious Press Questions For Obama: A Roundup
Ryan Tate · 03/24/09 10:15PMThe president fielded questions tonight about his daughters, the attorney general of New York and a kooky Chinese plan for an international currency. Anything on the nitty-gritty of his trillion-dollar bank bailout? Nope.
NBC Falls Behind Univision In Key Ratings Demo
Richard Lawson · 03/24/09 03:54PMNBC's New Amy Poehler Show Doesn't Suck Any Worse Than Other NBC Shows
John Cook · 03/24/09 01:18PMChris Matthews Re-Ups, Condé Cutbacks
cityfile · 03/23/09 11:30AM• You can rest easier now: Now that he's no longer planning to run for Senate, Chris Matthews has signed a new four-year contract with MSNBC. [NYT]
• Howard Dean has signed on to be a CNBC contributor. [HP]
• Major media companies are now looking for a bailout. From Google. [AdAge]
• Jay Leno's chat with Obama was his fourth most-watched show ever. [LAT]
• Some perks may be curtailed at Condé Nast. Like the one that allowed Portfolio editor Joanne Lipman to fly to Davos first-class, possibly. [NYP]
• Advance Publications is instituting mandatory 10-day furloughs and a pension freeze at nearly all of its daily papers, says Steve Newhouse. [E&P]
• Time publisher Don Fries is headed out the door. [NYP]
• NBC is very good at spinning the Times, in case you haven't noticed. [CJR]
• Knowing starring Nic Cage was No. 1 at the box office this weekend. [NYDN]