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Fallon Will Start Late Night on the Web (NYT)
With a new round of shake-ups in late-night television set to begin next year, Lorne Michaels has decided to try to get a jump on things by starting NBC's next edition of Late Night, with its new host Jimmy Fallon, as a nightly entry on the Internet. Fallon has been named as the replacement for Conan O'Brien when O'Brien takes over the Tonight show from Jay Leno next year. TV Week: Leno's NBC run to end in late May or early June of next year.
NBC Sells 90% of Olympic Ads (Hollywood Reporter)
With less than three weeks to the start of the Beijing Games, NBC Universal is poised to announce Monday that it has sold 90% of its Olympics ad inventory. The network reiterated that it was on track to break a record with more than $1 billion in ad sales. The network said the pace of advertising has picked up in recent weeks, thanks to its coverage of Olympics trials during weekend primetime. NYT: With the Games only 19 days away, many at NBC are concerned about how they will be permitted to cover any unscheduled events, like political protests or government crackdowns -- or whether the Chinese government will allow them to cover such things at all.
Sulzberger Navigates Between Past, Present at the Once Old Gray Lady (AdAge)
Arthur Sulzberger Jr. remains on the hook for some things you can just feel -- especially if you just survived the newsroom's first-ever layoffs, a response to declining ad revenue, or you own company stock, which hit its lowest price since 1995 last week. The biggest is a brewing battle royal among international news brands.
Katie Couric Staying at CBS News (Variety)
Katie Couric's not going anywhere. Speculation over her departure from the CBS Evening News had already died down in recent weeks, but Couric and CBS News/Sports president Sean McManus reaffirmed their commitment Friday to the newscast as currently configured. LAT: "I'm very committed to the people here," says Couric.
As Papers Struggle, News is Cut and the Focus Turns Local (NYT)
Almost two-thirds of American newspapers publish less foreign news than they did just three years ago, nearly as many print less national news, and despite new demands on newsrooms like blogs and video, most of them have smaller news staffs, according to a new study. The study is based on a written survey of the top editors at 259 newspapers of all sizes and interviews with a sampling of those editors. E&P: The 57-page study, titled "The Changing Newsroom," documents the effect of layoffs and the industry's financial crunch on newsrooms. It also confirms that in many ways the industry is two businesses: big-city newspapers that are hurting mightily and smaller papers that are in pain but doing fairly well all things considered.
Times Columnist Uncovers His Darkest Story (WaPo)
David Carr's latest subject is a pathetic human being, a thug, a manipulative jerk who uses people and puts his own kids in danger. The New York Times media columnist is writing about himself. He is unsparing as he rips the protective bark off his life, baring his past addictions to crack and alcohol and the utter depths to which he sank. NYT Magazine: Excerpt from Carr's book.
CBS Scores First Obama Interview Abroad (Politico)
Lara Logan, chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News, has landed the coveted first interview with Barack Obama while he's abroad, according to sources familiar with the arrangements. Logan interviewed Obama on Sunday in Afghanistan, where he landed Saturday and then visited U.S. troops in three locations. AP: Is the media playing fair in campaign coverage?
Needing a Star, CNBC Made One in Erin Burnett (NYT)
Erin Burnett's meteoric rise is the most recent example of how television networks try to transform fresh-faced hosts into household names with all the perks -- and hazards -- that sudden celebrity entails. Competing with the Internet and the fledgling Fox Business Network, CNBC has been trolling for new stars, and the network has meticulously managed and promoted Burnett's ascent.
Can Si Newhouse Keep Conde Nast's Gloss Going? (NYT)
Si Newhouse defies the image of the media baron driven by love of limelight, political influence, or money. But largely because of him, Conde -- an arm of his family's privately held Advance Publications -- is unlike any other major publisher. But some wonder whether the company, by choice or necessity, will tighten its belt in the years to come -- and risk losing some of its cachet along the way.
Nielsen Tallying Product Placement Ads (LAT)
A small army of people are employed by research firms and advertisers to track product placement, one of the fastest-growing segments of the advertising industry. Advertisers spent $2.9 billion in 2007 to place their products in TV shows and movies, up 33.7% from the year before, according to media research firm PQ Media. This year spending is projected to hit $3.6 billion, not including "barter" arrangements.
NBC's Silverman Speaks Out on Year One (TV Week)
Ben Silverman joined NBC a year ago this month, teaming up with Marc Graboff to tackle the dual role of chairmen, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. It's been an eventful year, dominated by the disruption of the writers strike and the networks' continuing struggle against ratings erosion. Here Silverman talks about the status of The Office spinoff and whether criticism that he's hurt the NBC brand is fair.
Miley the Sexed-Up Minor Boosts Vanity Fair Sales (Portfolio)
Annnie Leibovitz's outrage-baiting didn't do much for Vogue, but it helped give Vanity Fair its best-selling issue of the year. The June issue of the Conde Nast-owned glossy, featuring a controversially sexy photoshoot with Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus, sold 435,000 newsstand copies, according to ABC Rapid Report.
Sporting News Rolls Out Digital Sports Daily (Mediaweek)
Sporting News plans to launch on July 23 Sporting News Today, a daily editorial product styled after a traditional newspaper but which will be e-mailed each morning to a list of subscribers -- a hybrid format that the company is calling a "daily digital sports newspaper." The new digital newspaper's content will be heavily news driven, aimed at die-hard sports fans on the Internet.
Times Web Editor Landman Says WSJ.com Has Done 'Nothing' (NYO)
New York Times online editor Jon Landman had some choice words for Rupert Murdoch, Robert Thomson, and The Wall Street Journal's online editor, Alan Murray, Friday afternoon. Well, technically speaking, he doesn't name any of those people in his weekly memo, or the paper itself, but in his weekly briefing designed to discuss accomplishments for nytimes.com, he comes out swinging!
Mags Experiment With Mobile (MIN)
Steve Smith: Bridging the print and digital worlds has been a longstanding goal of publishers. Ultimately, I have no doubt at all that the mobile phone will act much like a computer mouse on the physical environment. It will activate the physical world to deliver information and offers to the device. The mode of interactivity is still up for grabs, however.
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