http://www.mediainfocenter.orgThe www.MediaInfoCenter.org site was developed and is managed by the Media Management Center at Northwestern University. The Media Management Center is allied with the Kellogg School of Management and the Medill School of Journalism, and has three principal areas of activity. 1) It educates senior level executives from all of the media industries. While they come principally from the United States, there is regular participation from media leaders in Latin America, Europe and Asia. The Media Management Center is also the faculty for a major in media management for MBA's at the Kellogg School. This is the only major of its kind offered by a top five U.S. graduate school of management. 2) The Center participates with media companies in projects that engage some of the most challenging issues to confront the media particularly in strategy, marketing, content, and sales force productivity 3) All of the Center's work is supported by research into many of the media's most complex problems. There is a long list of publications and reports published by the Center. A prime example of its present research can be found at www.readership.org. This is a site based on nearly six million dollars worth of research on what causes consumers to read newspapers and what would cause them to spend more time reading, etc. That work was based on a sample of 37,000 consumers, the largest sample every drawn for inquiry of this sort and covers all facets of print media operation from content to organizational culture and from brand to service.en-us(C) Copyright 2004, MediaInfoCenter.org, Inc. All Rights Reserved.8/28/2008 4:08:45 AM8/28/2008 4:08:45 AMTop Mediahttp://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120546556Newspaper industry veteran Scott McKibben on Tuesday was named executive vice president, chief revenue officer, for the Los Angeles Times Media Group, filling a job considered key to reviving the company's flagging financial fortunes. The appointment of McKibben is the first major move by new Times Publisher Eddy Hartenstein.August 27, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120545996Aug. 27--Writers, editors, and advertising sales representatives for The Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News agreed today to postpone a $25 weekly raise to help the newspapers cut $10 million in costs by the end of this year. Members of the 700-strong Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia voted, 197-79, to push back the raise until Aug. 1, 2009, just a month before the current labor contract with Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C. expires.August 27, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120543492TiVo Inc. hopes to make it easier for consumers to record top television shows by taping recommendations from Entertainment Weekly magazine. The Silicon Valley company on Wednesday plans to announce an agreement with the Time Warner Inc. publication that will let users of TiVo's digital video recorders automatically record shows suggested by the magazine's staff.August 27, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120543467Who is calling the shots at United Artists? MGM owns two-thirds of the historic UA movie label, which holds access to a coveted $500 million in financing raised by Merrill Lynch & Co., but now administered by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. That is money that MGM Studios could use to help dig itself out of its current financial struggles.August 27, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120527377Aug. 26--More than 200 new books are published daily in Japan, and the total market of books and magazines surpasses Â¥2 trillion. But experts say the publishing industry is facing a historic crisis.August 26, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120534575NEW YORK - It was seven more golden days for NBC last week, radiant with Olympics coverage that brought the sort of ratings victory a network dreams of. Overall, the 17-day Beijing Games were a triumph for NBC, and the final week won TV's eight top-rated prime-time slots.August 26, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120536161DENVER _ It was an unprecedented move by Democrats and Republicans this year when they invited hundreds of bloggers to cover their conventions with the same access as _ and in some cases much better than _ the mainstream media. And as the detailed, witty and largely positive online write-ups pour in from the Democratic convention floor this week, it's easy to see why this was a stroke of party-buzz brilliance.August 26, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120551753One of the books you'll see all over the place this fall: "The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life." With Bantam paying $7.2 million for North American rights to the title, expect big promotion _ even though you may not see Buffett on a single talk show.August 27, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120514640The 2008 Summer Games will not go down in history as a watershed online event, even though it drew a record number of viewers on the Web. That's because NBC could have gone further, putting content on more devices, making it easier to access and providing more live coverage.August 26, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120514563Before "the" CW, there was "the" WB, America's first pretentiously named TV network aimed exclusively and unapologetically at viewers younger than age 35. On Wednesday, theWB.com will launch with a menu of old and new shows.August 26, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120495195Aug. 22--Simplified searching: It's bad enough having to hunt around the house for your misplaced cell phone (we suggest checking between the sofa-seat cushions or under your month-old pile of dirty laundry). That brings us to our first item, which is that Verizon reportedly is nearing an agreement to make Google the default search provider on its cell phones, a deal that would give the Mountain View Internet giant a share of Verizon's ad revenue.August 22, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120512355Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. said Monday it was "not for sale" after BusinessWeek magazine said MGM's owners wanted to sell the movie company for $5.2 billion. The company said its owners were committed to growing the studio and denied there was an asking price.August 26, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120512346If not for an epic struggle between alien robots, the streets of Los Angeles might be devoid of major studio drama. Filming of big-budget movies has ground to a virtual halt across the city and much of the county, a slowdown partly driven by scheduling decisions studios made a year ago to prepare for a possible actors strike.August 26, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120512340The entertainment industry is reputed to be recession-proof, but in the current downturn even Hollywood isn't firing on all cylinders. It's still mired in the labor turmoil that began when the Writers Guild of America walked out in November.August 26, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120519990By Melissa Grego and Ben Grossman The on-screen grownups of Swingtown are not the only ones exploring their options, as CBS is courting a new partner for the couple-swapping rookie drama.August 25, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120519993By Alex Weprin, John Eggerton and Ben Grossman ESPN chief George Bodenheimer says ESPN/ABC is "very interested" in future Olympics rights, and will be in on the bidding process for the 2014 Winter Games and 2016 Summer Games.August 25, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120519999ABC News' already lonely Washington bureau will see a further reduction in production, this time due to the departure of an outside client it only recently snagged. An ABC News spokeswoman confirmed that cable network Retirement Living TV is not renewing its contract to produce Daily Cafe out of the ABC bureau's studio.August 25, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120520010And like the other networks, ABC News will also broadcast both conventions in HD for the first time. After being on the road for two weeks, World News and Nightline will return to their New York studios on Sept. 8 and start being produced in HD from there.August 25, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120520055Fox Cable Networks has inked a pact with Comcast to carry the enhanced version of FX and Speed across its systems, giving the networks HD positioning with telco, satellite and cable providers. Largely scheduled to be positioned on HD basic, the enhanced versions of Speed and FX, presented in the 720p format, should be available to all of the operator's HD customers by the end of 2009, according to Fox Cable Networks officials.August 25, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120520070by R. Thomas Umstead BET will join the growing list of cable networks launching scripted series when it debuts the comedy series Somebodies on Sept. 9.August 25, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120520075The operator plans to integrate interactive TV technology, dubbed the Widget Channel framework, being developed by Intel and Yahoo into cable set-tops. The technology, previewed last week at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, is supposed to let developers use Web application tools to quickly write interactive TV "widgets" that can serve up Internet social networking features and content such as weather updates, news and games.August 25, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120472220NEW YORK - NBC says the Beijing Olympics proved so captivating that millions of Americans now need to catch up on some sleep. NBC Universal is giddy following its 17-day Olympics coverage, which ended Sunday with a tape-delayed presentation of the closing ceremonies.August 25, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120462102Aug. 24--Having swiped millions of customers from telephone companies, Comcast Corp. says it plans to jazz up the boring-as-dirt home phone. Comcast's first enhancement to its phone service -- which is being tested in the Coatesville area -- pops the number of an incoming call onto PCs and TVs. It will be offered free to Comcast phone customers, beginning later this year.August 24, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120442402Aug. 23--There's turmoil at the top once again at ValueVision Media Inc., which operates struggling home shopping network ShopNBC. The Eden Prairie-based company ousted CEO Rene Aiu on Friday after five months on the job, while also reporting that second-quarter sales have fallen by a quarter and losses have tripled from a year ago.August 23, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120461008Aug. 24--American consumers seem to be a disgruntled lot as they bang away on their computer keyboards. Unless they are doing a Google search while using an Apple MacBook or iMac.August 24, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120447967Aug. 23--BALLSTON SPA -- Former Wurld Media Inc. Chief Executive Officer Gregory Kerber was sentenced to five years probation Friday as part of a plea deal with Saratoga County prosectors. Kerber, 45, sold off the assets of the once highly successful Internet firm last year in a $4.3 million deal.August 23, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120446877Searching for new sources of revenue, Los Angeles Times Media Group is getting into the real estate business. On Monday, Times Media Group and other partners will launch ZetaBid, a business that will auction foreclosed homes and other properties.August 23, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120446822Jack Landau, 74, a founder of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, died Aug. 9 of complications from emphysema at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va. The committee, a Washington-based legal defense and research center for reporters, was created in 1970, when the nation's news media were facing increasing government subpoenas demanding that reporters name confidential sources.August 23, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120442529Win the gold medal or lose it early Sunday morning, the NBA returns to ABC when its season tips off. Coincidentally, NBC has an out-of-Olympics relationship with beach volleyball.August 22, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120323526NEW YORK - The Wall Street Journal launched a wireless application for BlackBerry smart phones Tuesday as news organizations look for opportunities to tap an emerging market for mobile advertising. The free WSJ.com Mobile Reader will let users view headlines, summaries and full articles - previously viewed articles will be available for some time even if the user loses wireless connectivity.August 19, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120436153Another prediction of the death of newspapers just hit my in-box. U.S. papers' print-ad revenue fell 9.4% in 2007.August 18, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120436154Marriage has been tough on Sirius. Since its July linkup with rival XM, shares of the combined Sirius XM have dipped nearly 40%.August 18, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120425407Managing editor shifts from tabloid RedEye By Michael Oneal | Chicago Tribune reporter August 22, 2008August 22, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120414269Emboldened by this summer's success with "The Dark Knight," Warner Bros.' movie studio is setting a new strategy. But the studio, known for making more big, expensive movies than most rivals, plans to make even more of those -- some centered on properties from its DC Comics unit, such as Batman.August 22, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120423939"Even factoring in a robust 12 percent growth in off-air advertising and a 3 percent climb for network radio, radio advertising is still down 5 percent to $9.9 billion at mid-year." Click here to read the whole story: http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/local-broadcast/e3iea21f1e730544128b91735f81fd6d13August 22, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120413682Verizon Communications Inc. is nearing an agreement with Google Inc. on a wide-ranging partnership, according to people familiar with the situation, in what could be a much-needed jolt for the anemic mobile search business. The deal under discussion, which would make Google the default search provider on Verizon devices and give it a share of ad revenue, is aimed at dramatically simplifying what is now a confusing set of search options for cellphone users.August 22, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120420822Before "the" CW, there was "the" WB, America's first pretentiously named TV network aimed exclusively and unapologetically at viewers under the age of 35. On Wednesday, TheWB.com will launch with a menu of old and new shows.August 22, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120394320Aug. 20--With a growing audience of up to 54 million monthly listeners, Internet radio is one of the biggest trends in digital music. But if you believe the industry's leaders, it's threatened with extinction.August 20, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120394285Aug. 21--Two years ago, Microsoft wowed audiences with technology to explore the world through digital photos. The company demonstrated Photosynth, software that arranges photo sets in their real-world, 3-D context and allows people to navigate smoothly around the canals of Venice, for example, or zoom in to read the serial numbers on the space shuttle's heat shields.August 21, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120380084Intel Corp. and Yahoo Inc. unveiled an ambitious effort Wednesday to marry the TV with the Internet, a goal that has eluded technology and media companies for more than a decade. The software complements a new chip from Intel designed to enable interactive features on TVs, set-top boxes and other gadgets, though it can work with devices that use other chips.August 21, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120412761Aug. 22--Former Boston radio host John DePetro is blaming the missus -- saying his wife is behind the cheating ratings scandal that boosted his Rhode Island radio show and that he had no idea she cooked the books. The station said in a statement that the six bogus Arbitron diaries that benefited WPRO in the spring ratings period were returned by DePetro's wife.August 22, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120404271Aug. 20--Palm Beach Newspapers laid off 13 employees Wednesday, completing the staff reduction the company announced in June. We appreciate all the contributions and work of these employees."August 20, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120378969Comcast is testing new technologies that would slow the transmission of Internet files for its biggest users by as much as 20 minutes during times of heavy network congestion. The tests come as the Federal Communications Commission yesterday released an order that forces Comcast to stop its earlier efforts to block transmission of certain Internet files, a ruling that public interest groups hailed, saying it would prevent network operators from acting as gatekeepers of the Web.August 21, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120397225Aug. 21--Gannett's Central Wisconsin Media Group is cutting 11 full-time positions next month when it closes its Stevens Point production facility, the Wausau Daily Herald reported today. Gannett owns that paper, as well as the Stevens Point Journal, Marshfield News-Herald and Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune in central Wisconsin.August 21, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120395803Aug. 21--Gannett Co. Inc. eliminated 120 full- and part-time positions Tuesday at its six newspapers in New Jersey due to deteriorating business conditions. The layoffs took place at the Asbury Park Press, the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, the Home News Tribune in East Brunswick, the Courier News in Bridgewater, the Daily Record in Parsippany and the Daily Journal in Vineland.August 21, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120394352"At least four more daily papers are planning to drop the Associated Press in the wake of new rates being announced, including The Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Wash, which is trying to cut ties without the required two-year notice."August 21, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120372309Aug. 20--The nation's top media regulator says he doesn't have the power to solve the "single biggest problem" facing media consumers and isn't counting on Congress to act any time soon. But Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin said the inability of cable subscribers to choose among channels is keeping prices high and is a sign that the market isn't working.August 20, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120357411"Local media may be suffering a bit in this weak advertising market--even in the online space. But consumers are still moved to action, especially by established local brands.August 20, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120388777SEATTLE _ She's a Spokane journalist who spent five years and seven drafts perfecting her novel _ an "exciting tale of love, war, spiritual awakening and redemption" _ that got picked up by the biggest English-language publisher in the world. It was a dream fulfilled for Sherry Jones, 46, and Random House was set last week to release "The Jewel of Medina," about Aisha, child bride of the Prophet Muhammad, in 7th century Arabia.August 21, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120357272"Unique visitors to magazine Web sites increased 8.5% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, according to the Magazine Publishers of America, which said 69.7 million people visited a magazine Web site compared to 64.2 million in 2007."August 20, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120390547BRISTOL, Conn. - Major League Baseball and ESPN have signed a new digital rights agreement that will allow it to put baseball content on multiple platforms, including video game consoles and portable players such as iPods. The deal announced Thursday extends and expands the agreement through 2013.August 21, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120357536"Ohio's largest newspaper today offered voluntary buyouts to most of its 370 non-union office workers -- representing nearly a third of The Plain Dealer's 1,200 employees. The newspaper reported on its Web site that the move is part of an effort to reduce expenses as the industry struggles with advertising sale."August 20, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120380086The housing crisis has moved to the magazine rack. Lately, though, the downturn in the real-estate market has cast doubt on reader and advertiser appetite for "shelter" publications that tell people how to spruce up their homes.August 21, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120322783Aug. 19--Google placed well ahead of its Internet search competitors in a recent customer-satisfaction survey, another advantage for the runaway market leader. The University of Michigan American Customer Satisfaction Index, released Monday, also showed Microsoft's search-satisfaction score has been relatively flat since 2003.August 19, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120362711This is huge: A new speech-to-text technology from Google in which you type in a word or a phrase and it searches through YouTube videos to find all the instances where someone said it. Right now, it's being used on YouTube's You Choose video page (youtube.com/youchoose) and applied to all of John McCain and Barack Obama's YouTube videos, both those produced by their campaigns and by everyday folk.August 20, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120347930The Federal Trade Commission commissioner is at the center of the agency's scrutiny of marketing to children by food and beverage companies. He was particularly outspoken in a recent FTC study on the issue, urging marketers to do more to regulate themselves and saying that if they don't, the FTC could step in and do it for them.August 20, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120379591Australian television production and distribution company Southern Star, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax Media Ltd., said it has agreed to sell its 75% stake in Carnival Film & Television Ltd. to General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal for GBP 22.5 million ($42 million). Southern Star Chief Executive Hugh Marks said Carnival, which has produced the television drama "Babylon Hotel" and other shows for the British Broadcasting Corp., had been a worthwhile investment.August 21, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120321815NEW YORK - Chris Russo has signed a five-year contract with Sirius XM Radio to headline a new sports talk channel, less than a week after leaving WFAN's "Mike and the Mad Dog" show. Russo will host the "The Mad Dog Sports Show" live weekdays at 2 p.m ET starting on Sept. 15.August 19, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120380065In a bid to strengthen its global touring business, Live Nation Inc. has formed a partnership with the biggest concert promoter in Latin America, Corporacion Interamericana de Entretenimiento SAB de C.V., known as CIE. Competitors with acts on world tours wouldn't be able to use CIE's venues.August 21, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120354971Aug. 20--What CNN is calling expansion will mean reducing the number of staffers assigned to its bureau in Chicago by 25 percent, to nine from a dozen. "What I want to get away from is [the idea] that this poor guy is going to be holding down the fort for all [CNN outlets] and at the end is going to fall down in a heap of exhaustion," said Nigel Pritchard, a vice president for CNN Worldwide.August 20, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120358305Aug. 20--Warner Brothers executives visited Ford's idle assembly plant in Wixom on Monday, state and studio officials confirmed Tuesday. Warner Brothers spokesman Scott Rowe said the Burbank, Calif., company was in the "exploratory stage at this point," adding that "as a matter of practice, we are consistently scouting out places all over the world."August 20, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120533261Aug. 26--Hollywood studio MGM says it is exploring "enhancements" to its long-term capital structure that could include a stock offering or debt refinancing, but does not plan to put the company on the market. MGM has retained Goldman Sachs to explore options for dealing with its $3.7 billion (£2 billion) of debt.August 26, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120525429NEW YORK - TiVo Inc., a pioneer in digital video recorders, reports earnings for the fiscal second quarter, which ended on July 31, after the closing bell Wednesday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.August 26, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120489300Patricia Thomas is the first to admit she hasn't quite mastered this dictum. The countless kids and parents who have cracked open one of Mrs. Thomas' children's picture books would undoubtedly say the same.August 24, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120483754NEW YORK - Longtime Clinton confidant Lanny Davis and Howard Wolfson, Hillary Clinton's former communications director, once anticipated being very busy at this week's Democratic National Convention. Both see their punditry positions as something like missionary work, and argue that it makes little sense for Democrats not to engage with Fox News Channel viewers, even those they know oppose them.August 25, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120479917Aug. 25--The calls already are flooding in to his morning show on KOMA-FM 92.5. A radio and television icon in Oklahoma City since 1950, Danny Williams says he's really retiring Friday, ending a broadcasting career that began in 1947 on an Austin, Texas, radio station.August 25, 2008http://www.mediainfocenter.org/story.asp?story_id=120424106"Gannett Co. Inc. reported its July revenue fell 12%, adjusted for currency differences between the dollar and British pound." Click here to read the whole stroy: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=100384176August 22, 2008