Let’s Make a Deal…

Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger has built her reputation on the ability to recognize a good thing when she sees it. In the case of sheknows.com, her new website partner, no doubt the latest traffic stats helped do the trick. In April, an astonishing 55 million-plus unique visitors clicked into Evolve Media’s female-centric hub.

Now added to that mix is pattiknows.com, a revamped version of Stanger’s previous official website pattistanger.net. Weekly features include a video advice column from Stanger, a column by her spousal staff members Destin Jude Pfaff and Rachel Federoff, and recipes using aphrodisiac ingredients. From today’s official announcement:

“Based on the size of their audience and their digital expertise, SheKnows was the obvious choice for me to partner with as part of building out my brand,” says Stanger. “I’m able to build a stronger, more loyal fan base online.”

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Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

The latest news about the impending sale of Variety comes courtesy of gigaOM-paidContent senior writer Daniel Frankel. According to his source, just under a dozen groups are currently evaluating the possibility of acquiring the only Hollywood trade behind a paywall:

A Variety staff member who was briefed by management on the status of the sale told paidContent that 11 potential bidders have asked to see the deal book. He wouldn’t disclose who those bidders are…

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It’s been mentioned in recent months as a logical possibility. Now, according to a dispatch in the San Diego Reader (and several other reports), the notion of UT San Diego taking over the Orange County Register has moved to the reality stage.

Per Don Bauder’s blog post:

John Lynch, chief executive of the UT, told the Downtown Lions in a Power Point presentation May 8 that the UT is in final talks to purchase the Orange County Register, Coast Magazine, and 24 local newspapers in Orange County.

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In what ranks as an epic Tinseltown version of killing two birds with one stone, it was announced today that for the next 20 years, the Kodak Theatre will be known as the Dolby Theatre, with the venue’s gold-standard tenant faithfully returning each winter for the duration to throw the annual Academy Awards bash.

From the press release:

“Our ability to swiftly conclude two significant contracts with global entertainment leaders affirms Hollywood as a thriving district,” said Shaul Kuba, co-founder of CIM Group, owners of the Hollywood & Highland Center…

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Among the NBCUniversal headlines being made today at the Digital Upfronts in New York City is the news that Telemundo Media has partnered with movie ticketing behemoth Fandango for Fandango Cine, a Spanish-language Web venture scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The co-branded service will be embedded into telemundo.com, mun2.tv and fandango.com. It will offer movie-related editorial and video programming, as well as of course theater show times and online ticket purchasing. From today’s press release:

“While Hispanics make up about 16% of the U.S. population, they represent 28% of today’s frequent moviegoers, according to Nielsen, and they are nearly twice as likely as general market moviegoers to see a movie on opening weekend,” said Peter Blacker, evp of digital & emerging media, Telemundo Media.

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If and when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sell their south-of-France wedding pictures to the highest bidder (and then presumably donate the proceeds to charity), it will likely fall short of the haul generated by their biological daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. That’s just one of the intriguing tidbits contained in today’s Daily piece by Michelle Ruiz about the celeb shots currently most coveted by Hollywood paparazzi.

The first photos of Shiloh were sold to People magazine for a staggering $6 million, while pictures taken in Africa that confirmed the couple-status of Jolie and Pitt went for around $1 million. Ruiz estimates that Brangelina wedding day pics will net approximately $2 million:

“That’s going to be the wedding of the century,” Gary Morgan, CEO of Splash photo agency, told Flash of the nuptials. He bets the shots will be closely guarded and sold to the highest bidders in the U.S. and abroad. “They’ll revive the industry — for that week, anyway.”

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Huge news this morning out of Menlo Park. Via his Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg announced that his soon-to-go-public company has acquired Instagram for roughly $1 billion in combined cash and stock:

For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests…

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

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A four-day blackout has come to an end as the Tribune Co. and DirecTV have reached a new deal on retransmission consent fees. For local DirecTV customers, this means the return of KTLA and CW programming.

The previous deal between the two sides expired on March 31 and as a result, 23 Tribune Stations across the country and WGN America were pulled from the satellite provider.

“We are extremely pleased to have reached an agreement with DirecTV and to return our valuable news, entertainment and sports programming to DirecTV subscribers,” Nils Larsen, Tribune Broadcasting president, said in a statement. “On behalf of Tribune Broadcasting, I want to thank viewers across all of our markets for their support, understanding and patience during the negotiating process—we truly regret the service interruptions of the last several days.”

Audio and video pioneer Dolby Laboratories are negotiating with the CIM Group for the naming rights to the former Kodak Theatre, according to Bloomberg News.

CIM isn’t expected to reach an agreement right away with the San Francisco based company as they solicit other offers. Kodak signed a 20-year naming rights deal for $72 million in 2000 and managed to break their deal in February after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Negotiations for a new naming rights deal are overlapping with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences negotiations to keep the Oscars at the Hollywood and Highland Center, built exclusively for the award show in 2001.

Stylus Media, a London-based consumer trends data intelligence firm with offices in New York and El Segundo, has a major new backer. This week, it was announced that Hearst Corporation has purchased a 20% share of the company.

Launched in September 2010, Stylus has quickly grown to over 100 staff and 200 major corporate subscribers. Their very slick website features client testimonials like this one from HGTV:

“We’ve only been using Stylus for a few months and have already tapped into it as an excellent resource for researching design trends and creative inspiration. It’s a great way to stay connected and see what great creative minds are up to around the world.”

Stylus was founded by Marc Worth. In the late 1990s, he created a similar fashion industry trends forecasting service, the Worth Global Style Network (WGSN), with his brother. That company was sold in 2005 to Emap.