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Ex-TRL Host to Join Extra (P6)
A mere week after the cancellation of MTV's TRL, host Damien Fahey's been snatched up by Extra. "The show called and asked if he would start this weekend as one of their new special correspondents." A rep confirmed that Fahey was in talks with Extra: "There are other networks competing for him, but he's definitely going to give this gig a shot."

Newsprint Costs to Remain Steady (Daily Beast)
In a rare reprieve for the print media, several paper manufacturers are indicating that they will end the price hike that has been crimping newspaper budgets for the past year. The cost of newsprint on the East Coast has risen by 37 percent since last October, to a 12-year high, contributing to wave of downsizing in the beleaguered newspaper industry.

Cygnus, Wasserstein 'Going in Different Directions' (Folio:)
This summer, Wasserstein and Co. emerged as the likely buyer for Cygnus Business Media. A deal was expected to close by the end of August. Now, Wasserstein and Cygnus owners, Boston-based ABRY Partners, are reportedly "going in different directions." "Exclusivity was broken," said the source. "While they still reach out occasionally … [Wasserstein] essentially is on the back burner."

For Two Celebrity Mags, a Reality Check on Readers (WSJ)
Celebrity gossip magazines Life & Style and In Touch are lowering the number of weekly readers they promise to advertisers, a move that reflects the magazine industry's slump. Bumpy sales at the Bauer Publishing Group titles and other celebrity glossies have defied expectations that financially strapped consumers would snap up escapist entertainment.

CW Says It is Retaking Control of Its Sunday TV Lineup (NYT)
An effort by the CW network to sell off part of its prime-time schedule appeared to fall apart Thursday in the wake of low ratings for the Sunday schedule put together by an independent production company. Although the firm, Media Rights Capital, contracted to buy the Sunday hours for a year, the CW said it was ending the deal after three months.

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Roger Ailes Signs New 5-Year Deal with News Corp. (TVNewser)
Roger Ailes has signed a new deal that keeps him at News Corp. for at least another five years. "I'm pleased to continue to work for News Corporation. It is a strong and extremely well positioned company. I look forward to carrying out Mr. Murdoch's legendary vision in the future," says Ailes in a press release. LAT: Ailes is still working to expand the reach of the year-old Fox Business Network, which launched last October as a challenger to CNBC. The channel is now available in about 42 million homes, about half that of its competitor.

Time Inc. Contractually Obligated to Give Brangelina Positive Coverage? (NYT)
When Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt negotiated with People and other celebrity magazines for photos of their newborn twins and an interview, the stars were seeking more than the estimated $14 million they received from the deal. They also wanted a hefty slice of journalistic input -- a promise that the winning magazine's coverage would be positive, not merely in that instance but into the future.

AP to Cut 10% of Staff in '09 (Dow Jones via CNN/Money)
The Associated Press told employees that by some point in 2009, the news cooperative's staff would be 10% less than current levels, according to an internal source. The news cooperative's chief executive, Tom Curley, made the prediction at a meeting held with staffers on Thursday. With more than 4,000 employees, a 10% reduction at the Associated Press would amount to roughly 400 positions.

NYT Co. Cuts Dividend, 'Reevaluates' Assets (Reuters)
The New York Times Co. slashed its dividend by almost three-quarters and said it would cut spending and reevaluate its assets to cope with a slump in advertising revenue that is gouging U.S. newspaper publishers. The Times cut its dividend to 6 cents a share from 23 cents a share, or 74 percent, and said in a statement that it would reduce capital spending and lower its operating costs. NYO: "This was a difficult but necessary decision that will provide us with greater financial flexibility in these uncertain economic times," said Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., Chairman of the Company. NYT: The cut reverses a years-long pattern of regular increases, even as the share price fell. In the spring of 2007, the board raised the dividend to 23 cents, from 17.5 cents, a move that many analysts said was unwise in light of the sharp downturn in the newspaper industry.

Jailed Former Newspaper Magnate Conrad Black Seeks Presidential Pardon (CBC)
Deposed media baron Conrad Black is hoping George W. Bush will grant him clemency. The Department of Justice in Washington has confirmed that Black requested that his 6 and 1/2-year sentence be commuted in the last days of Bush's presidency. Black was convicted of obstructing justice and defrauding shareholders of his former newspaper company, Hollinger International Inc.

Post-Election, The Audience Drifts Away (WaPo)
Ratings for cable TV news and the number of visits to news Web sites built for weeks and then peaked on Election Day, giving the electronic media some of their biggest audiences in years. But since then, TV ratings and online traffic have fallen -- in many cases precipitously -- indicating that viewers and visitors have largely quenched their thirst for political news.

Report: Web Still Growing Despite Recession (Mediaweek)
The days of continuous record setting quarters appear over for now, but online advertising is still growing steadily in the face of a rough economic environment, based on the latest figures. Online ad spending approached $5.9 billion during the third quarter, an increase of 11 percent versus the same quarter in 2007 and up 2 percent versus Q2 of this year.

Conde Nast Folds DNR (Gawker)
Conde Nast is folding DNR, the men's fashion trade magazine. It's also shuttering its website, DNRNews.com. The feeble spin is that WWD will pick up the slack by launching "comprehensive, round-the-clock men's fashion and retail coverage." The company hasn't announced how many layoffs will go along with DNR's death.

The Newspaper Guild's New Pitch: Survival (Forbes)
With the industry sagging, the Newspaper Guild is peddling survival. "I actually think the pendulum is swinging back in our direction in terms of people understanding they do need a voice," says Guild President Bernard Lunzer. The 75-year-old union may lose roughly $200,000 this year and that number may grow next year as layoffs continue -- or as newspapers fold.

C-SPAN's Lamb Says Web is News Future (TV Week)
Brian Lamb sees "the handwriting on the wall" for the cable network he founded, C-SPAN, as well as the rest of television news -- and it's called the Internet. "[President-elect] Barack Obama has already started it," he said, by shifting from a weekly radio address to a weekly video address posted to YouTube.

Longtime Food Critic Gael Greene Out at New York Mag (The Feedbag)
Josh Ozersky: Gael Greene, New York's longtime restaurant critic, has gotten the mitten from the magazine. From our point of view, there's no shame in any of this for either Gael or New York. Greene had a long and unforgettable run at the magazine, but Adam Platt is the chief restaurant critic now, and there's no sense in trying to have two critics. Wowowow: Greene's last column, "The 40 Most Important Restaurants In 40 Years," ran last month in the magazine's 40th anniversary issue.

Ex-Editor Rips Time Inc. Layoff Plans (NYP)
A former top editor at Time Inc. fired off a scathing memo to Executive Vice President Sylvia Auton, the London-based head of the magazine giant's lifestyle group, criticizing her handling of the deep job cuts within her group. "I don't know what Time Inc.'s master plan is -- or if you even have one," writes Susan Haynes, a senior editor at Coastal Living from April 1998 to August 2007.

Should Newspapers Become Online Ad Brokers for Local Businesses? (MediaShift)
Stephen Gray, the managing director of Newspaper Next, says newspapers should help local businesses connect to customers at the point of interest in a product or service. Currently most newspapers are not focused on any kind of local search offering, and cede that ground to Google or Yahoo. But the search engine offerings for local businesses aren't very good, and that presents an opening.

People's Sexiest Man Alive Issue to Include 'Scratch-n-Sniff' Section (Folio:)
People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive issue, which hits newsstands today, includes a section dubbed "Sexy Scents" with "scratch-n-sniff" photos of Gossip Girl actor Chace Crawford, film actor Taye Diggs, Law & Order star Chris Meloni, and U.S. Olympic Team swimmer Michael Phelps -- each of whom "describe the fragrance that makes them feel their sexiest."

NIH: Banning Fast Food Ads Will Make Kids Less Fat (AdAge)
A ban on fast-food advertising to children would cut the national obesity rate by as much as 18%, according to a new study. The study measured the number of fast-food ads kids watched and found a fast-food TV-ad ban for children's programming would reduce the number of overweight children aged 3 to 11 by 18%, and for adolescents (12- to 18-year-olds) by 14%.

TVNewser: Roger Ailes Signs New 5-Year Deal with News Corp.
FishbowlNY: More On The Time Inc. Layoffs
FishbowlDC: 19 Take The Newseum's Buyout Program
FishbowlLA: Variety At Least Can Laugh At Itself
PRNewser: PR Newswire Cuts 25, President Steps Down
GalleyCat Exclusive: Interview: National Book Award Winner Annette Gordon-Reed
UnBeige: Don Fisher's Presidio Museum Might Be Broken Into Pieces
AgencySpy: Michael Phelps: Get That Money, Gonna Make That Money
MobileContentToday: Victoria's Secret TV Comes to MediaFLO
MobileMarketingToday: Macy's Parade Delivers Message From Santa Via Bluetooth
MobileDevicesToday: Microsoft Adds 10 Free Songs A Month To Zune Subscriptions - First Take
MobileAppsToday: AOL Mobile Sync Powered by Funambol

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Peter Matthiessen Takes National Book Award Honors (Galleycat)
Peter Matthiessen won the National Book Award for fiction for his novel, Shadow Country. The decision came as a surprise to many in the audience. One veteran editor allowed that the portion of the 900-plus-page novel he had read was of the highest literary quality, but that he had still been sure the prize would be going to Aleksandar Hemon for The Lazarus Project.

Counter Suit Filed Over "Project Runway" Rights (Reuters)
The Lifetime cable TV network has counter-sued NBC Universal, Bravo, and The Weinstein Company over the rights to the TV program Project Runway in the latest legal action that has left the hit show in limbo. The suit seeks exclusive rights over the fashion design contest starring model Heidi Klum that had been scheduled to jump to the Lifetime Network from its cable TV rival Bravo.

Joe the Plumber Gets Book Deal (NYMag/Daily Intel)
Joe the Plumber, a.k.a. Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, the Ohio voter who became a celebrity in the last, heady weeks of the election, has signed a book deal with small, Texas-based publisher PearlGate Publishing. Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream, as it will be called, will "address Mr. Wurzelbacher's ideas about American values."

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