Archive for November, 2008

Talk to the Newsroom: Sports Editor Tom Jolly

Sunday, November 30th, 2008


Bush Shows a Reflective Side to an Unusual Interviewer

Saturday, November 29th, 2008
An interview of the president carried out by his sister offered reflections on his life in office and beyond.

Executive Pursuits: A Rookie Reports From the Syracuse Sidelines

Saturday, November 29th, 2008
Harry Hurt III takes a turn at sportscasting for ESPN during a football game between Syracuse University and the University of Connecticut.

Robbery Suspected as Motive in Beating Death of Anchor

Saturday, November 29th, 2008
Authorities said they had no reasons to think that television anchor Anne Pressly had been singled out before an assailant entered her home and bludgeoned her.

Advertising: Why Time Stands Still for Watchmakers

Friday, November 28th, 2008
In ad campaigns, most wristwatches are frozen with their hands at 10 and 2, to ?frame the brand and logo.?

SearchDay | Google AdWords Quality Score — That’s Old-School for SEO

Thursday, November 27th, 2008
Today's search engine marketing news and opinion: Google AdWords Quality Score -- That's Old-School for SEO; Six Things You Might Be Doing Wrong (And How to Fix Them); Microsoft Strikes Toolbar Agreement with Sun; and more.

SearchDay | Must We Unlock the Deep Web?

Thursday, November 27th, 2008
Today's search engine marketing news and opinion: Must We Unlock the Deep Web?; Assembling Your Landing Page Optimization Dream Team; Google Updates Search Results for iPhone; and more.

A Critic, Insatiable and Dismissed

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
Even among those who might have seen it coming, many were taken aback at the news that Gael Greene had been fired after 40 years at New York magazine.

TiVo Swings to a Profit

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
The company posted a profit in the third quarter, helped by a payment it received in a patent suit even as revenue declined.

Digital Sales Surpass CDs at Atlantic

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
Atlantic is the first major label to report getting a majority of its revenue from digital sales, not CDs.

Advertising: Radio?s Revenue Falls Even as Audience Grows

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
Radio advertising was down 10 percent last month from October 2007, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau, the 18th consecutive month of declines.

For Luxury Brands, Less Money to Spend on Ads

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
The drop-off in advertising spending by luxury brands means more bad news for magazines and newspapers in the United States.

Hannity to Go It Alone, Without Colmes

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
Sean Hannity would be the sole anchor of the Fox News Channel?s ?Hannity & Colmes? upon the departure of Alan Colmes, people close to the network said.

Book Publisher Suspends New Acquisitions

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which has undergone staff layoffs and other turbulences, has temporarily suspended acquisitions of new manuscripts.

Advertising: The $64,000 Question: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
The economic downturn is renewing interest on Madison Avenue in a marketing mainstay that is particularly popular during tough times: cash giveaways.

Fox Ends Saturday-Morning Cartoons

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
The company said that children?s programming was no longer viable on network television, because of competition from cable channels.

Redstone Weighs Sale of Theaters

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
In order to stave off dismantling his media empire, Sumner M. Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Viacom and CBS, may sell his movie-theater chain.

Box-Office Pulse: Blood Lust Runs Hot

Monday, November 24th, 2008
?Twilight? took a giant bite out of the North American box office over the weekend, selling an estimated $70.6 million in tickets.

For Laid-Off Journalists, Free Blog Accounts

Monday, November 24th, 2008
It?s a long way from $700 billion, but the media start-up Six Apart is introducing its own economic bailout plan for bloggers and journalists.

SearchDay | Universal Search: The (War) Elephant in the Room

Monday, November 24th, 2008
Today's search engine marketing news and opinion: Universal Search: The (War) Elephant in the Room; Build Your SEM Network -- Get LinkedIn; Google's Schmidt Will Not Be Obama's CTO; and more.

TV Decoder: Half of ?Hannity & Colmes? Is Leaving

Monday, November 24th, 2008
Alan Colmes, the longtime liberal half of the Fox News Channel prime time program, will leave the show at the end of the year,

Advertising: Riding Obama?s Coattails, Making a Buck Along the Way

Monday, November 24th, 2008
Merchandise commemorating, celebrating and -- in some instances -- practically canonizing Barack Obama is being sold by companies large and small.

Amanpour to Anchor a Nightly Show on CNN International

Monday, November 24th, 2008
The foreign correspondent will host a nightly program on CNN International, which is retooling its lineup.

Radio Host Has Drug Company Ties

Monday, November 24th, 2008
Dr. Frederick K. Goodwin, a psychiatrist, earned income from drug makers that he didn?t report on his show.

SearchDay | Travel Brands Walking a Social Media Tight Rope

Monday, November 24th, 2008
Today's search engine marketing news and opinion: Travel Brands Walking a Social Media Tight Rope; SES Chicago 2008 Invitation and Primer ; Ballmer Says No to Yahoo Acquisition, Maybe to Search Deal; and more.

Link by Link: In Britain, Outwitting Strict Laws Against Libel

Monday, November 24th, 2008
Reporting on what cannot be reported is something in which the British have much more experience.

Tom Gish, Tenacious Kentucky Newsman, Dies at 82

Monday, November 24th, 2008
Mr. Gish shined a spotlight on corruption and environmental degradation in southeastern Kentucky as an award-winning publisher of The Mountain Eagle of Whitesburg.

Reader?s Digest Pushes on in Weak Climate

Monday, November 24th, 2008
Since she became chief executive 20 months ago, Mary Berner has been a jolt to the system for this stodgiest of media companies.

Help for eBay Shoppers Who Can?t Spell

Monday, November 24th, 2008
A handful of new Web sites are out to help shoppers save money by searching eBay for misspelled brand names.

Foundation Starts Health Policy News Service

Monday, November 24th, 2008
The Kaiser Family Foundation is seeking to fill a niche left by the decline of the traditional news media.

The Media Equation: Google Seduces With Utility

Monday, November 24th, 2008
Some call it Big Brother, but who can resist? It?s just so darn useful.

Actors? Union Talks Break Down

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
The Screen Actors Guild inched closer to a strike after two days of talks with an alliance of Hollywood studios apparently broke down.

The Screens Issue: Multiscreen Mad Men

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
Three gurus from the next generation of advertising debate how best to sell soap in a post-TV world.

After Disney, Eisner Finds a Home Online

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
Michael Eisner has settled into a comfortable post-Disney existence, staking a claim on Web entertainment.

The Screens Issue: If You Liked This, You?re Sure to Love That

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
Basement hackers and amateur mathematicians are competing to improve the program that Netflix uses to recommend DVDs ? and to win $1 million in the process.

Comedy: The Sitcom Digresses

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
How a classic TV-show genre came to embrace an avant-garde narrative form.

Consumed: Repeat Business

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
The selling ? and reselling, and reselling ? of a show that ended a decade ago.

Weinstein Co. Trims Staff

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
The film and television production company started three years ago by the brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein has had a hit-and-miss record.

British Regulators Reject BBC Plan to Add Local Web Video News

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
The decision is a setback to the digital ambitions of the BBC, which has expanded aggressively on the Internet.

For Studio, Vampire Movie Is a Cinderella Story

Friday, November 21st, 2008
Tiny Summit Entertainment finds itself sitting atop one of the biggest pop-culture phenomena of recent years.

Angelina Jolie?s Carefully Orchestrated Image

Friday, November 21st, 2008
The actress pushed for favorable coverage while negotiating magazine rights to pictures of her new twins.

Screen Actors Guild and Studios Negotiating Again

Friday, November 21st, 2008
Representatives for the country?s largest actors? union and an alliance of Hollywood studios met for the first time in four months on Thursday.

Times Cuts Dividend in a Move to Save Cash

Friday, November 21st, 2008
The New York Times Company sharply reduced its dividend just a year and a half after a major increase, as the company seeks to conserve cash amid concern about dwindling profit.

Advertising: Summer in Beijing Was Strong for Sports, but Weak for Ads

Friday, November 21st, 2008
Despite strong television ratings for the Games in vital markets, the Summer Olympics failed to provide the expected surge in advertising in China.

CW Says It Is Retaking Control of Its Sunday TV Lineup

Friday, November 21st, 2008
he CW network has canceled its low-rated Sunday lineup and ended a $15 million deal with Media Rights Capital, the company that produced the shows.

Ailes Agrees to Remain at Fox News 5 More Years

Friday, November 21st, 2008
The News Corporation announced Thursday that Roger Ailes, the chairman and chief executive of Fox News, had signed a new five-year contract with the company.

For ?60 Minutes,? a Jump in Ratings

Thursday, November 20th, 2008
?60 Minutes? on CBS has been the most-watched program in the nation the last two weeks ? including the full episode on Sunday devoted to Steve Kroft?s interview with Barack and Michelle Obama.

Advertising: An Ad Network in Times Square

Thursday, November 20th, 2008
As Walgreens formally opens at 1 Times Square on Thursday, executives are describing plans for the giant signs that will festoon the building on three sides.

PC Magazine, a Flagship for Ziff Davis, Will Cease Printing a Paper Version

Thursday, November 20th, 2008
It is the latest of several magazine publishers to drop a print edition, as advertising plummets and the cost of printing a paper version rises.

Advertising: A Drink Backed by a Sports Hero (Wielding a Mean Game Controller)

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
Dr Pepper plans to announce that it will promote a video game player on bottles that it will distribute nationally.