BayNewser: The first Spot.Us funded article published in The New York Times — about the Pacific garbage patch — ran this week.

WWD: It has been a tough year for Conde Nast health magazine Self, but things are looking up for 2010: the January issue will carry more than 70 ad pages, the most for a January issue in 20 years.

New York Times: In court today, alleged David Letterman extorter Robert Joel Halderman claims he was only trying to sell Letterman the rights to his story before he sold a book or screenplay proposal to the highest bidder.

Variety: Over 100 people have been laid off at A&E and Lifetime, stemming from the nets’ consolidation.

Huffington Post: Director Barry Levinson blasts New York Times critic Alessandra Stanley.

It was an all-blog morning as GalleyCat editor Jason Boog and AgencySpy‘s Matt Van Hoven welcomed FishbowlNY editor Amanda Ernst to the mediabistro.com Morning Media Menu podcast.

Amanda spoke about the Audit Bureau of Circulation’s semi-annual report due out on Monday and what it might mean for the magazine industry. She also discussed one magazine that is expected to post positive numbers in the upcoming report, Saveur and her recent interview with the epicurean magazine’s publisher Merri Lee Kingsly. Saveur is leaving its competitors in the dust by approaching ad sales in a new and different way, motivated by Kingsly’s unconventional approach, Amanda explained.

Also discussed: Sen. Edward Kennedy‘s upcoming memoir and how it will fare against Dan Brown‘s much-hyped new release and A&E‘s acquisition yesterday of Lifetime.

You can listen to all the past podcasts at BlogTalkRadio.com/mediabistro and call in at 646-929-0321.

A&E Television Networks, which is a joint venture between the Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst Corp. and NBC Universal — has entered into an agreement to acquire Lifetime Entertainment Services, which will put several cable channels under one management team.

The new parent company, which will be called A&E Television Networks, will now encompass many channels including A&E Network, History, Lifetime Television, Lifetime Movie Network, Bio, History International, Lifetime Real Women, History en Español, Military History and Crime & Investigation Network.

Under the terms of the deal, NBCU can “elect or be required to exit the company over a period of up to 15 years,” reported Broadcasting and Cable. If NBCU exits, Hearst and Disney would become 50/50 partners.

Abbe Raven, president and CEO of A&E, will serve as head of the newly combined company. Lifetime’s CEO Andrea Wong, Nancy Dubuc at the History Channel and Robert DiBitetto at A&E will be keeping their positions, and they will all report to Raven, B&C reported.

via B&C and ABC News